"Perfect," muttered the black-clad figure as he reached the top of a towering sand dune, his blond locks camouflaged by a woolly hat, the hands that have made him the world's number one golfer safely encased in black gloves. Buffeted by winds that originated on the other side of the Atlantic, Greg Norman let the essence of links golf soak into his very fibre.
The Great White Shark had just stomped up virgin duneland, from a beach, fittingly, in the circumstances, known as the White Strand, to continue his surveys of Doonbeg. A little over a hundred years ago, when the Black Watch regiment moved out of Limerick to establish a links golf course in Co Clare, they put their eyes on the same piece of land, but they moved further up the coast to Lahinch, simply because there was no rail service to this remote place.
Now, Norman, golfer-designer club manufacturer, was staring greedily at the same dunes. A few hours earlier, the Australian had touched down at Shannon Airport in his private jet and had been whisked off in a helicopter to tour Ballybunion Old and Lahinch, before being dragged away from both courses. He'd wanted to see the Cliffs of Moher, too, but the weather didn't allow it - and, so it was, he experienced his first taste of Doonbeg just the way he would want it if playing in a tournament, with wind, rain and grey skies.
The Australian was yesterday confirmed as the architect for the £12 million development of the course at Doonbeg, a project which has Landmark National (who built Kiawah Island, among others) as the developer. "If I spent the rest of my life building courses, I don't think I'd find a comparable site anywhere," said Norman, cheeks glowing from the wind, still mesmerised by his first view. "It's just spectacular, land made by God. I'm the happiest man in the world."
Doonbeg Golf Resort, which is the working title, will carry the mark of the two-time British Open champion. Getting to the outlying area by road (rather than Greg's nifty chopper) involves a journey through Lisscasey and Kilmihil with the promise, from Chris Cole, the development company's director of golf, that "it'll be like getting to heaven".
The project was initiated by Shannon Development, who secured the 337-acre site which has 1.5 miles of ocean frontage into Doughmore Bay, with dunes rising to 65 feet. It is estimated, however, that some 50 acres - on two pristine areas - will be outof-bounds, so to speak, because of environmental considerations. Indeed, Tom Curtis, from the Office of Public Works, was among those in Norman's entourage yesterday as the Shark examined the proposed route of the 18-hole course.
"I'll be cognisant of the environment," assured Norman, "and sensitive to the duneland. There will be minimal earth movement. I don't envisage any problem with grass growth. In Ballybunion New, I understand they took off the top six inches of top soil and didn't replace it, which is a cardinal sin. In pure agronomy, if you take it off, you store it and put back the same top soil."
He added: "I don't foresee coastal erosion being a problem either; we're fortunate to have rocks at either end of the dunes. In fact, the one place where erosion exists, I'm confident we'll be able to restore."
Situated between Ballybunion and Lahinch, the location of the proposed course - which could be open for play by the spring of 2000, with a 90-bedroom hotel a la a US resort on site - is considered ideal.
"When you consider Ballybunion and Lahinch, the icons of west coast golf, were developed over a hundred years ago, I've got to believe that, heading into the 21st century, with what we know about maps, erosion and environmental issues, drainage and agronomy, we can duplicate and even improve in our course construction," he said.
Norman, whose company has 30 courses in operation or in various stages of development in 12 different countries, has a passion for links courses; and the opportunity to put his signature on one in Ireland proved irresistible. "The three places I really love playing golf are Scotland, Ireland and Australia. You'll be seeing a lot of me," he insisted. "I have a vision of creating a great course.
"I've fallen in love with course design. And I love links: just the sound when hitting the turf face, the flight, it is all so different. My guys have been over here for some time, looking at the land, and all I've heard is them raving about it, so I just had to make a little detour here on my way (from Florida to Australia)."
His plan is to design a course with two loops, or "two returning nines", as he put it. "I want to meander in and out, not have it straight out and straight back like St Andrews or Royal Troon, which can get a bit monotonous. I like to make every hole a challenge; playing with a cross wind, then maybe playing down wind, or into the wind."
Construction is expected to begin next summer, with the resort to include course, golf school, hotel, holiday cottages, leisure and conference facilities and housing. It is estimated 80 people will be employed in its construction, with jobs for 100 people when it is operational.
Come the summer of 2000, Norman expects to be dropping in for a practise round - and, of course, also making playing visits to Ballybunion and Lahinch, rather than mere viewing ones. Judging by his enthusiasm yesterday, when he literally raced over dunes with his entourage in tow, that day can't come soon enough.
