THE PGA Championship may be the only 72-hole event outside the majors on the European Seniors Tour, but it still has moments of high comedy, writes TIM TAYLOR.

Sitting in the media centre at Slaley makes you privy to some of the chat crackling round on the officials’ walkie talkies from out on the course – and we enjoyed a classic yesterday.

The words “somebody’s nicked the chief marshall’s buggy” rates pretty highly on the Richter scale of potential first-day calamities.

“Yes, it was a scary moment,” said the official concerned, Gordon Smith, a member of the Ramside Hall club and a former Consett committee man. “I found the buggy outside the clubhouse after about 20 minutes and the guy sitting in it said it wasn’t mine.

“At which stage I pointed to the words ‘chief marshall’ on the front of the buggy. He went a bit red in the face, and although I do not know exactly who he was, it turned out to be one of the media contingent! It all ended in smiles, but I was glad to get my buggy back.”

Ian Woosnam took to the course, fortified by the Hexham-made Cranstons pies he had asked Slaley to lay on for him before his arrival.

The Slaley Hall Hotel’s sous chef, Andy Robertson, has stepped down a notch or two from his normal level of cuisine to take personal responsibility for testing each batch of the steak and ale pies to make sure everything is spot-on for the biggest name in the event.

Robertson said: “Every pie I have tasted has been perfect and, at the end of the day, Woosie is a former US Masters champion and an ex-world No 1 who deserves special treatment.

“He liked the pies so much when he came here last year, he wanted a regular supply this time. But he won’t eat all the pies. We’ve got plenty for everybody, even though I have to throw away the ones I test from each batch after I have taken a bite out of them.”