Open Championship Notes

It'll be here before we know it, so let's talk about all things Open Championship-related...

A Little History - In a long=ago post I noted that the R & A had put its Pathe newsreel library up on YouTube.  That's quite the treasure trove of history, and goes back to the 1914 Open.  In that very Open, Harry Vardon (fresh off his shocking loss to Frances Ouimet in the U.S. Open the prior September) won his record sixth claret jug.  Here's what the boys were wearing that year:

As Alex Myers helpfully notes, that was the 54th Open Championship.... I can't tell, is he wearing Ashworth or Adidas?

Shack is thinking along similar lines, posting this video of the 1929 Ladies' Open Championship:

Very impressive galleries, don't you think?

At that first post, Alex has other such videos of Hogan (1953) and Palmer (1962).  He continues into more modern times, but a viewer warning is called for.  If you have the slightest bit of yipping in your short putting, nay if you've ever missed inside of three feet, do not, I repeat DO NOT, watch the video of Doug Sanders from 1970.

Shack has a later post devoted to Bobby Jones videos here.  He channels his inner-Gatsby to fawn over this one with period music:

Wasn't that a time?  Just a reminder that Jones famously quit (it's somewhat in dispute as to whether he actually tore up his scorecard, because he finished the round and actually played the fourth round as well) on the famed 11th hole in the third round of the 1921 Open Championship.  He didn't like the place initially, though later came to love it.... maybe we'll get to all that at a later time.

Shack also includes this Critical Past (and I don't really know who that is) of Jones playing with Roger Wethered (that's his sister Joyce winning in the video above) and the crowd stampeding over the Road Hole green, which I believe is the final round match in the 1930 Amateur:

But this is Shack's fave, Jones finishing his 1927 Open Championship victory and being lifted onto the shoulders of the crowd:

Why is it his favorite?  For tow good reasons that I'll let me explain:

The AP game story from the time (unbylined) makes for fun reading because it describes the reaction to Jones finishing his round and says he was in the ninth of 27 pairs to go out (yikes playing behind that stampede). The story that ran in papers across America includes this epic description of the R&A clubhouse when pointing out how Jones was leaving theClaret Jug behind for safe keeping. Someone had WiFi issues! Excuse me, typewriter ribbon problems...

The announcement was made before a crowd of several thousand persons jamming the spacious St. Andrews eighteenth green and terraces around the drab old stone pile which houses the potentates of the royal and ancient game, awaiting the presentation ceremony.

Drab old stone pile, indeed!  Those colonists can be so cheeky!

Video, Modern - Shack warns us that there's more historical videos in our future, and I say keep them coming...But a brief break is an opportunity to post this helpful R & A flyover of the Old.  Here's Geoff's thoughts on what you should be looking for:

It's a bit scattered and nonsensical in the route taken (including heading over holes that are not even on the Old Course). But the piece is educational on a number of levels. 

First, watch the initial move down the 18th so you can get a good look at the first hole to theRoad hole green, a configuration used when the course is played in reverse. 

Also note the boundaries, which play such a role here (except of course when the R&A places a tee on the other side of one of them because the ball goes too far). They are all to the right of the golfers, so a righty with a pronouced draw or a lefty with the ability to cut the ball on cue can alleviate many fears pretty easily. (Paging Bubba Watson!).

Mostly, just soak up the many intricate bumps and bunkers that make the place endlessly fascinating and nuanced.

Did you know that one day of the year they play the course in reverse, which was the original routing?  

As Geoff hints, it's really an amazing piece of land....from the distance it's as flat as a pancake, with maybe three feet of elevation change from high point to low point.  But, and it's a really big but, it's got the craziest assortment of humps, hollows, crags (is that a word?), hillocks and other words staring in "H" that I can't remember.  

I'd add a couple of thoughts... first, the massive double greens are something to behold.  Despite how good these guys are, we'll see players on the wrong side of them at times, leading to the type of play no one can ever practice.

Also, the those large bushes visible from the air are gorse, a no-go zone for a golfer.  The bushes are prickly and impart a sticky substance onto anything that touches them.  There is nothing that can be done with a golf ball within their confines, and even reaching a visible ball for the purposes of identification can be a profound challenge.  Can you say unplayable lie?  I thought you could...

Need a Good Travel Agent - I'll go to my grave (not soon, so don't get excited) thinking that our Jordan is making a big unforced error, but first I suggest that you click here and listen to Shack and Charlie Rymer debate the issue.  

Now when I join a debate club I should only be so lucky as to have Charlie Rymer on the other side of the issue.  And our Geoff should reconsider his appeal to authority to Rex Hoggard, whose major contribution to a debate about preparation leading up to an important event is to remind us of Jordan's schedule AFTER winning the Masters.  And that includes a stunning admission against interest that Jordan played crappy in the first round....Ummmm, Rex, isn't that what we're trying to avoid here?

I though there were three important omissions from this debate, and Geoff tackles the first in a follow-up post:

The elephant in the room was lack of discussion of the major physiologic effects of jet

lag, especially travelling West to East. All best players address this by arriving 1-2 WEEKS prior if they expect to play well and/or WIN. Examples, Tiger fishing trips with O'Meara, Phil playing Scottish and arriving 10 days or more prior, etc. It is impossible to understand why Jordan and his advisers would not be aware of, and address this. Out here we all love Jordan and pray for his success. I think it is tragic for him, with this great chance at history, to not take every precaution in protecting his ability to play his best golf ever.

 The typical response to this is that Jordan is 21 (actually he'll turn 22 before the Open), but that's non-responsive to me.  Yes a younger person will recover more quickly, but why take the risk?

The second issue is something called the Scottish Open, played this year at Gullane, perhaps a two-hour drive from St. Andrews.  If Charlie's basic point is that Jordan likes to play a week before a major, isn't this the logical place for him to peg it?  

Lastly, no one has spoken of the demands on Jordan when he gets to St. Andrews.  Everyone is going to want a piece of him, and he might find that he has less time for his prep work than he expects.  

If I had Jordan's ear, I'd send him over a full two weeks early.  I'd have Greller and him do his prep work the week before the Open, acclimating to the time zones and local conditions with plenty of time to spare.  He can then tee it up at Gullane and give the Scottish Open a boost, most importantly avoiding entirely the risk of the ultimate nightmare scenario of a delayed finish in Iowa.  

Jordan is not going to win the Slam, it's just too inconceivable in this day and age....too many good golfers, too many variables (ask Tiger about the weather) and far too much pressure.  But when this is over, doesn't Jordan want to be able to look back and say that he gave it his all?  That he put in the preparation and focused completely on the next one...  Geoff is completely right that they'll be playing the John Deere for years to come.  They'll be happy to accept his marker for future appearance...in fact, if you read between the lines in my post when this first reared its head, they're shocked that he's playing this year.

In fact, I'll leave you with an odd thought, that perhaps Jordan shares my estimate of his chances at the Slam, so why break with his usual schedule over a pipe dream?