The Open Championship Finishing On Monday: "There were a lot more families in the crowd than any of the other days."
Before we leave St. Andrews behind, I'm going to milk every drop out of this remarkable place both here and with my sticks!
Which also means while I'm out and about collecting a few more thoughts and insights from locals, let's try not to dwell too much on the negative. Except that we just had a 10-hour major championship delay, Monday finish and the third such play suspension in a row at an Old Course major. This is not acceptable.
With rumblings around town that the greenkeepers were overruled on a roll-instead-of-mow strategy for the putting surfaces prior to the forecasted winds, the R&A may be directly to blame for not having kept control of the links, making their 60% refund to fans paying 80 pounds a questionable (and unwieldy) solution.
From Martin Dempster's excellent assessment of the week.
High winds, of course, then became the next problem on Saturday but, alas, the R&A initially got it wrong with their attempt to tackle those conditions. Starting play on time was a gamble that should not have been taken and, in fairness, chief executive Peter Dawson did admit that in hindsight. In the final throes of his tenure – Martin Slumbers, who shadowed Dawson at the event, takes over the reins later in the year – a ten-and-a-half-hour suspension of play certainly wouldn’t have been on the wish list for the week. Nor would a decision about refunds and it is safe to say that Dawson may well have some heavy mail bags landing on his desk before heading off into the sunset because 60 per cent on a ticket costing £80 seems like short-changing spectators when they saw less than four hours of golf.
There was a silver lining. Many around town are noting that they either witnessed or heard about an unparalleled day here for golf viewing Monday. Alcohol was virtually non-existent on site and there was an air of youthful excitement thanks to the prices. Dempster writes:
In truth, the decision to extend the event into the Monday for only the second time in its history became the only one available to the R&A and, in a roundabout way, it may have actually helped attract some newcomers to the game.
Taking advantage of a day ticket at £10, many in an attendance of 35,370 may not have been at the event otherwise and, moreover, there were a lot more families in the crowd than any of the other days.
It was also pointed out to me that the corporate world had exited the stage, leaving the day almost solely to golf fans. Combine that with the civility and exuberance in the air, and it's something to note for all the grow the game crowd the next time they sit down to prioritize and set ticket prices, especially in this part of the world.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at 04:14 AM
Reader Comments (50)
The replay in 2010 was not attended by the big wigs, and by all reports, there still over 93,000 there, with the crowd largely comprised of supporters of each of the two teams. The feel was great, and a sense the game was returned to the people was frequently describe post-match.
As you say Geoff, The Open's Monday finish may have provided similarly important food for thought.
Record attendance and a great vibe around the course was the result.
I couldn't agree with you more, the fans with their camera phones and regular cameras were constantly interrupting him in his backswing. I was within feet of him commenting about it.
By the way, when do we have a conversation about the suitability of the Old Course to host the Open Championship?
10 pounds is probably to cheep but 80 to high and would like to see $1 donation for the kids that come into the event to help junior golf.
I wonder if the USGA even need to charge for tickets with all the Fox Money
Was this year's Open Championship not compelling enough for you?
Was there not enough drama?
Were the players not required to gear up for the easy holes and gear down for the harder holes to the extent you would have liked to see?
Was the eventual champion not worthy enough?
Was the group of pursuers he beat not diverse enough for you in terms of their playing styles?
Is there no space small enough into which people will try to cram the specious "THE BALL GOES TOO FAR AND IS RUINING THE GAME" narrative?
What a ridiculous attitude. The winds were forecast 4-5 days previous.
The R & A were lucky that the Monday was a local holiday in Fife, so many would not have had to take a day’s holiday.
Hopefully this recurring scenario means that they have less incentive to trick up the next course.
Add me to the list of people who disagree with you: So what if the winning score of -15? As usual at St. Andrews, the cream came to the top. Furthermore, I'd much rather watch holes full of strategy, where you can make birdie if you play them well, but one false step and then it's bogey or worse. And I'd rather have a mix of holes where the easy holes play easy, the hard holes play hard, than to see a drudgery of one back breaking hole after another.
The bagpiper was a busker operating up the street, unfortunately the sound funneled down. "Garde loo" used to be the expression when chantys were emptied out from the top floors of the tenements, before indoor toilets. Need I say more?
I agree on the ticket prices and the corporate thing , but the huge purses and top players making all that money is ALL about corporate money. The players are corporate billboards. Major competitions in all sports are for the rich and near rich. Golf is still a rich man's sport at it's heart. They are talking to Zach Johnson on television right now.....the guy is a corporate billboard....Transamerica...NetJets...McGladery....Oakley.....and , yes , Titleist.
All that aside, Speith was heroic in trying to come back, but it was putting well before the end that cost him this championship, and that was a real surprise and I think speaks to Geoff's well made points along the way about him spending more time on those greens in prep for the tourney.
Also I was surprised at the number of guys who chose to play into 18 green from such an extreme left position. At the end there, Speith was right up against the crowd on the right of 1 fwy, for "Sin's sake..." I know Watson used to play in from the left on 18, but it seemed to me Speith could have had that putt from The Valley right off of one of his standard drives, and it would have been two inches from an eagle rather than a miss at bird.
- History without which the Open would never be held on a course this easy
- Low scores
- Wind and rain (hopefully)
- Drama (most of the time.)
- The Wedge being the most important club in the bag with 10 holes having wedge for 2nd shot
- The Road Hole, which is going to eat most people up
- a reminder of why we play this wonderful game.
Am already planning my next visit.
Just because those controversies didn't involve course conditioning and decisions to be made about weather-related issues, or (if we need to be so nitpicky) trying to rush a group through in fading twilight just so a legendary figure in the game could enjoy his ceremonial goodbye in front of thousands of fans who've appreciated his contributions to their beloved tournament throughout his career... none of this means they're any less human than the heralded Green Coats at Augusta.
Lest we forget... I feel confident in saying that the R&A would never allow the leader of their Championship playing in the last group in the final round to play-up with the group ahead, especially if the two players in the group ahead still have a legit shot at either tying or possibly even winning the tournament outright (based on how Rory might've played the hole otherwise). But that's precisely what occurred last summer at Valhalla, to the absolute bewilderment of Mickelson and Fowler, along with everyone else watching.
And lastly... do we really want to compare the quality of the 2015 US Open layout with the quality of the 2015 Open Championship venue? Seriously?
Constructive criticism is good, indeed. But I think it also helps to keep things in perspective when making said criticisms.
Check the USGA's twitter feed as well: the U.S. Junior Am is being played around 7600 yds.
https://twitter.com/USGA/status/623527104529985536
And for folks who like to second-guess Committee decisions they also had a resumption of play that lasted
a mere 17 minutes when lightning returned.
Can we make this mandatory viewing for all the people complaining about rounds being down and saying the only way to get the number back up is to allow drones and selfies every hole?
Thank you for laying out the argument that TOC allowed a bunched leaderboard, which included more than a few amateurs who presumably have not yet developed the skills to win a major.
Stating the obvious, the guy with the best wedge, won.
I have suggested earlier that it might be time for the R&A to assess the possibility of including 3 holes from, perhaps, the New Course and drop 8, 9 and 10 on the loop. 9 and 10, particularly are short par 4's on a course that has other short par 4's. Perhaps there are three holes on the New that would help provide a better test to determine who is the Champion Golfer of the Year.
I love the town of St Andrews, and playing the Old Course again is high on my bucket list. I simply pose an alternative in this era of 460 cc drivers (which most all of the competitors use, unlike anchored putters).
Record attendance and a great vibe around the course was the result."
Interesting comment Rose. Just talked to a friend of mine who said that very same thing. Said he had never seen so many kids at a pro event, or major, and similar to what you said he felt like the corporate presence was non-existant. Unfortuanately, I don't see the USGA or others adapting for the men's majors. Cash grab. Think about the Ryder Cup, which used to be like the Walker Cup not all that long ago.
US Open was different, there were tons of critics of the greens before the first shot was hit....
And while the R&A can not control the weather, they could do something about the ticket prices. Outrageous.......
Not sure that alcohol was "non-existent".....saw plenty of blithering, staggering drunks on Monday. Perhaps they employed a flask as the concessions were not available.
The Monday finish was kind of neat, but they did screw the pooch on a couple of issues. They knew by Saturday they were having a Monday finish, and probably considered it even on Friday night. That said, there were no concessions available for patrons except a few coffee stand and an ice cream stand. We walked into the village and had to get take away from Dunvegans for food on Monday.
You couldn't find a place to get a soda or a bottle of water on Monday.....Understand vendors might have some issues with additional product for Monday's final round, but not if they knew by Saturday.....poor planning and execution, and lost revenue for sure. I would bet that would not happen at the U.S. Open, Masters for sure, or the PGA Championship.
"sits in my crawl" -- This year the R&A has taken the liberty to charge extra for access to the prime seats in the once "public access" grandstands behind #18 green and #1 tee, and the prime locations in the grandstands on #17. For the most part, the lower reserved "prime" seats behind #18 were virtually empty except for late Monday afternoon. Don't they make enough money from the TV contract and the 80 pounds per ticket prices? Ridiculous, simply ridiculous. The OPEN is for the fans as well........and the R&A is just getting too darn greedy (IMO).......
But for the tournament itself, the play was exciting to say the least, what a great leaderboard on Monday, they work the guys out manning the manual scoreboards on #18 fairway..... Intersting insight: DJ is -31 for rounds Thursday and Friday in the 5 majors prior to the OPEN, and Even Par on the weekends. At the OPEN he as -10 on Thursday and Friday, and +6 for the weekend -- that ain't no caddie making that much difference....the player has to take ownership in his game. There is something missing here with DJ's game on the weekend, especially at the majors. Just saying.
@ Chico, agree re: ZJ, not my favorite, but he hit the shots when he had to.
Speith's undoing was in the second round with 5, yes count them, 5 3-putts! And the double-bogey on #8 (4-putt!!!!) really put him behind the old 8-ball.
BTW, Speith is very, very slow. His group was a hole behind most all the time. Would like to see a rule that players can not walk past the longest drive in their group. To see players or their caddies pacing off their second shots into #18 from inside 100 yards is time consuming.......
Like Golfing Gods however, I can't wait to go back....already planning for 2016 at Troon, and 2021 at TOC for the 150th OPEN. There is no place like St. Andrews for The OPEN......
Does that mean that you don't think he was being sincere?