One of the advantages of moving a few miles north west of St Andrews just over a year ago, was the fact that come July 2007 I will only be a 20 minute drive from Carnoustie for the Open Championship.
The Open Championship has a special place in my heart. The first one I ever went to was Bill Rogers’ win at the 1981 Open at Royal St George’s, being easily accessible for a 15 year old in his home county of Kent.
In fact as soon as one Open finishes I look forward to the next. I always make sure I have nothing booked for the third week in July. It is almost like a pilgrimage, having been to Lytham St Annes, Muirfield, Sandwich, Troon, St Andrews, and Hoylake in the past six years.
In 2005 my wife and I hired a lovely cottage two and half miles from the Old Course. It was amazing, arriving on the Saturday the week before, I went every single day. Often I would have to get up at half five in the morning, so as I had enough time to walk the two and half miles to the course in time to catch Tiger practicing. I always felt sorry for all the fans that arrived later on the practice day hoping to see the world number one on the course – oblivious to the fact that he likes to start his round at six in the morning. This means the crowds on the front nine can be as small as hundred people, fantastic for getting close up photographs – as seen below:
I guess I made a pact with myself during this week to at least discover more about St Andrews and hopefully move there one day. Little was I to know that just sixteenth months later I would have moved lock stock and barrel to the Home of Golf. Now fast track another thirteen months I’m looking forward to 2007 just around the corner and the Open at Carnoustie in July.
Through this blog I intend to write about the lead up to the Open Championship and give an account you won’t get in the main stream media.
One other blog doing the exact same thing is the excellent site Carnoustiegolflinks.co.uk/blog. This is a fun blog to visit and in particular there are a number of videos that give a great insight into the build up and preparation for the Open. I recommend you view the following short videos on:
The Head GreenKeeper:
Watch Sand Reid the head greenkeeper on the Carnoustie Championship course here.
The Links Superintendent:
Watch John Philp the links superintendent on the Carnoustie Championship course here.
The Caddy Master:
Watch Martin Roy talk about his day to day duties as the caddy master on the Carnoustie Championship course here and also here on YouTube.
The Head Tee Starter:
Watch Alec the head tee starter describe his daily dutirs on the Carnoustie Championship course here.
The Tea Hut:
This video features the famous Tea Hunt situated between the 10th green on the Championship and the 5th Green on the Burnside The Tea Hut. Here and also here on Youtube Robin Wardlaw chats about the importance of the tea hut and which famous players have signed the guest book!
The R and A:
Watch an interview with Fiona Gilbert the new Open Championship Administration Assistant from the R and A on this page or on YouTube.
Listen to an interview with Lynn and Karrie from the R and A on this page.
Sky Sports:
Watch an interview with Simon Golding a Sky Sports T.V. director during his visit to Carnoustie Golf Links for a Sir Steve Redgrave charity golf match here and here on YouTube.
