The K Club hosts this week's Irish Challenge and the first thing to note is that we're on the South Course, which is not the one which hosted the Irish Open last year nor the Ryder Cup in 2006. Whereas that famed layout is pure parkland, its sister course goes for the 'inland links' description, always a little oxymoronic but nevertheless instructive.

It reminds me a little of the Belfry, where the Brabazon is another Ryder Cup venue we all know, but the adjacent PGA is much more rugged, which is usually all it takes for a course to throw that word 'links' in there. Neither plays like it's by the sea but one factor which helps is the wind, often a factor here and set to be throughout rounds two and four in particular.

Conor Purcell will arrive bidding for a quick-fire double and I'm kicking myself a little for missing him last week. Purcell's course form at Galgorm Castle was abysmal, enough to look elsewhere, but one thing we should always consider at this level is home comfort. Whether in Northern Ireland or here in the South, that was a potential factor in his favour, and comfort of the course kind would've helped find the second and third, too.

I'll say it again that when you're struggling to turn a profit once flights and hotels are factored into trips to South Africa and then India, Spain then Scandinavia, anything which helps these lower-ranked players feel at ease can be massive. For Purcell, who had been playing well, it was no doubt a huge part of the winning formula, and as he likes it more here at the K Club that double isn't necessarily beyond him.

Returning to the venue, it was used a couple of decades ago on the DP World Tour, and then again two years ago when Todd Clements dominated. Clements has since gone on to win at Albatross in Prague, which is an exposed, resort course, and I also wonder whether Bernardus in the Netherlands could be a good guide. He played well there, as did runner-up Tom McKibbin, and it's very much a modern, inland links.

Clearly, we can't draw as much from wins for Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie and Stephen Dodd. That said, Dodd had won in Ireland a year earlier and Montgomerie was winning on the island for a fourth time. Given that Clements had twice been third from just three previous visits, and that Goosen had done something similar, it could pay to look favourably upon those who've performed well in Ireland in the past.

That's especially true inland, and there's quite a good correlation with Carton House if you dig deep enough. This point might not seem particularly useful when we're more than a decade on from the Irish Open being held there, but the Eisenhower Trophy, a top amateur event, was played at Carton House in 2018. A few players from this field fared OK in that.

All roads lead back to MARC HAMMER, a capable if slightly unreliable youngster from Germany who won the Euram Bank Open two summers ago on what was just his sixth Challenge Tour start.

Second soon after and then third last year, he's made the Grand Final in both seasons at this level which is a decent indication of his talents, and having made five of his last seven cuts he's finally starting to show signs of the consistency which had been lacking.

Weekend issues mean his best finish of the season is 10th place but that was just two starts ago when, on his debut at a funky course, he was third through 54 holes. Then, back at Adamstal, he was sixth entering the final round, so finishes of 10th and 39th across these two aren't a reflection of the promise shown.