Merseyside Musings

It's T-minus twenty-one hours until the opening kick-off jump ball first pitch tee shot of the Open Championship, so let's catch up on the tourney buzz:

Shackelford seems mostly pleased with what he's seen since arriving from Aberdeen, in a post titled

"Royal Liverpool: Flat, Tight, High Rough, OB And Pretty Neat."  I'll let him explain:

Pretty much every mark against a golf course is contained in that headline, and yet it's hard not to be charmed by this links. I've heard from trusted sources that Royal Liverpool exudes a singular beauty without all the tournament infrastructure, if nothing else for the sheer flatness of the terrain.

I know what he means with that singular beauty comment, as seen in this picture I've run previously of

Theresa and her caddie.  It's quite the flat property, but the turf is spectacularly consistent and exudes a quiet charm.  

Everyone has been all over the internal OB issues, and with the change in routing it factors in on the Open's 18th (and, obviously 72nd) hole.  In a Golf Channel piece last evening we learned that the right side of the grandstands will be OB, so let's cross our fingers and hope it doesn't come into play at a crucial juncture.

Here's Shack on this subject from a post at The Loop:

The internal OB on the third hole.

At first glimpse Royal Liverpool appears as it's been billed for over a century: flattish and far from visually inspiring. But study the contours, bunkering and constantly changing hole sequencing, and this year's British Open host quietly wins you over with its graceful way. 

One feature still not sitting well: the internal out-of-bounds jutting violently into the third and 18th holes. The boundary is a "cop" mound supported by rough and topped by white OB stakes with thin, tightly mown turf to help delineate a painted line. The linear and stark presentation highlights how little the OB is defending a natural boundary but rather merely guarding what is normally the practice ground (it's the corporate and spectator village during The Open). Adding to the objectionable nature: the infrastructure for the village is set back from play, leaving tight emerald-green turf to play from if a ball is just barely over the cops.

The video below is an overview of the first hole, but I believe it will "auto-play you through all eighteen:

Kind of an oddly claustrophobic feeling on the first tee (the members' 17th), as it's right against the back side of the bleachers for the home hole (the members' sixteenth).  Claustrophobia is not a common affliction in links golf, excepting of course in the pot bunkers.

Bradley Klein has also posted a hole-by-hole guide at Golfweek.

In that Loop item, Shack tells us that the internal OB was not a factor in the 2006 event except for one player.  Anyone care to venture a wild guess as to the identity of this unfortunate soul?  Anyone...Bueller?

Mercifully in 2006, the internal OB wasn't much of an issue for the leaders. Only one player had a major dustup, posting a second round eight after tee shot and second shot out-of-bounds balls. You won't be surprised to learn who it was. 

John Daly.

What were the odds?  It should be noted that there was little wind to speak of in '06, so our mileage may vary.

We've all heard from Sir Nick that the tough is knee, or was it waist deep.... Luke Kerr Dineen is on top...errr at least on the case:

U.S. Open rough may be heavy, but it's got nothing on the British Open in length. 

The rough just off the fairway at Royal Liverpool is generally about a foot high, but there are spots around the course that are much higher. You have to miss it pretty big to find the really long stuff, but the rough about 25 yards left off the tee on the third (which comes into play because of the tight out-of-bounds on the right), 14th, 16th and 17th holes gets about five feet high.

Skeptical, are we?

Courtesy of Shack, I'll also link you to this Eric Hepworth gallery of stunning photos of the Hoylake links.

There have been reports that the course is surprisingly soft, but Shack added this addendum to his post early this morning:

I'm going to amend one comment regarding the golf course softness. With a full day of sun

Tuesday, a late evening stroll revealed a noticeable difference in firmness. If the rain holds off today, we should start to see some nice bounce in the ground. However, the forecast is calling for something today, with more possibilities for "thundery" stuff this weekend.

As noted, the weather forecast isn't great.  Mostly single-digit winds, but mentions of rain and, most unusual over there, a prediction of thunderstorms.   Because lightning is such a rare occurrence, we must hope that they have adequate precautions.  The players will, of course, be taken care of, but there will be many people out there and no natural protection from lightning.

In other Open Championship news, our Phil faithfully discharged hos obligations in returning the Claret Jug to the R&A's Peter Dawson.  Not to worry, Phil and the Jug got along famously for their brief time together:

"It's been a really fun year with the jug because I've been able to share it with a lot of the family and friends that have been helpful throughout my career," Mickelson said Monday. "I've been able to share it in my corporate outings and at my local clubs where I go play. They appreciate what it means to hold such a famous trophy. And it was fun to see the faces of the people that have such respect and reverence for the game of golf and this championship, and what it means to be able to take a picture with it or drink a sip out of it."

And lest you think that Phil sounds cavalier about it, he made sure that said sips were only of the good stuff:

Some of those sips included a 1990 bottle or two of Romanee-Conti, which goes for about $40,000 a bottle. 

"One of the things that I stressed is that we have to treat the Claret Jug with reverence and respect that it deserves and only put good stuff in it. There was no bad stuff allowed," Mickelson said with a smile. "And that was the best bottle that was ever put in there."

But all America wants to know, did you wash it by hand or is the Claret Jug dishwasher safe?

For those unfamiliar with the history, the Claret Jug was not the original Open Championship prize, as per this rather long excerpt: 

Why is the British Open trophy called the "Claret Jug," and what is it's history? 

The trophy awarded to the winner of The Open Championship is officially known as the Championship Cup, but it is much more commonly called the "Claret Jug" because, well, it's a claret jug. 

Claret is a dry red wine produced in the famous French winemaking region of Bordeaux. The British Open trophy was made in the style of silver jugs used to serve claret at 19th Century gatherings. 

But the winner of The Open Championship hasn't always received the Claret Jug as the trophy. The first handful of winners were awarded a belt. That's right, a belt. Or "Challenge Belt," as it was designated at the time. 

The first Open Championship was played in 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club, and that year also marked the first awarding of the belt. 

The belt was made of a wide, red Morocco leather and was adorned with silver buckles and emblems. This (seemingly) gaudy "trophy" might still be the British Open trophy today but for the golfing prowess of Young Tom Morris. 

Prestwick hosted each of the first 11 British Opens, awarding the belt each year, which the winner would have to return to the club. But Prestwick's rules included one that stated that the belt would become the permanent property of any golfer winning the Open Championship in three consecutive years. 

When Young Tom Morris won in 1870, it was his third consecutive victory (he would win a fourth in 1872) and he walked off with the Challenge Belt.

Suddenly, the British Open no longer had a trophy to award. And Prestwick didn't have the wherewithal to commission one on its own. 

So the club members at Prestwick came up with the idea of sharing the Open Championship with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Prestwick proposed that the three clubs take turns staging the Open, and chip-in equally toward the creation of a new trophy. 

While the clubs tried to figure out what to do, 1871 came and went without an Open Championship being played. Finally, the clubs agreed to share the Open, and each contributed money for a new trophy. How much money? About £10 each, for a total cost of the trophy of £30. 

When Young Tom Morris won the 1872 Open, the trophy was not yet ready. So the 1873 winner - Tom Kidd - was the first awarded the Claret Jug. 

That original Claret Jug from 1873 has permanently resided at the R&A since 1927. The trophy that is presented to the British Open winner each year is a copy of the original, which the winner gets to keep for a year before returning it to the R&A to be passed on to the next champion.

That concludes our history lesson for this morning.