SOUTHPORT, England — There’s something different about the Open Championship. Maybe it’s a cliché or the American in me that feels that way, but since I started coming to the event back in 2005, it’s been one of the tournaments I most look forward to covering because of just how unique the environment is. And while I grow nervous that the supersizing of the championship threatens to erode that feeling, walking around the first few days here at Royal Birkdale has allowed me to see some of the “only at the Open” sights that still thrill me.
Allow me then to share some of them with you:
I took this photo at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday. Already a bit too hot for some to walk around, so why not lounge. Have to admit, the number of “chairs” was pretty small; feel like in Opens past there have been dozens of them to enjoy. I’m hoping the R&A might wheel out a few more as the week rolls on. It’s going to be warm and crispy, so this feels like a good alternative viewing area for a journalist fan.
Craft services is the way many tournament organizers approach feeding fans, which leads to a uniform look and feel for all the different places around the course that offer food and drinks. Not at the Open. The village-style set up of assorted food trucks provides a more quaint atmosphere. And I’m pretty sure they don’t serve duck burgers next to tacos at the Masters.
My colleague, Christropher Powers, thinks everybody’s infatuation with the ice cream trucks at the Open is a lot of nonsense. His argument: They have soft-serve ice cream pretty much everywhere. Yet, it just hits different over here, especially when you get it with a piece of the delicious U.K. chocalate creation known as a Flake. And if it weren’t such a big deal, why do so many players traditionally treat themselves to a cone during the Open?!?
No golfer wants to play from the sand. And neither do golf fans. With many Open Championship venues set up around practice ranges or, as is the case at St. Andrews, nearby courses, the R&A gates off the random pot bunker that’s not in play for the tournament and hopefully isn’t something spectors stumble into.
The commentary on the Open Radio broadcast is simply sublime—a mix of enchanting British voices with some American reporters that offers a very vivid picture of the action for those who aren’t able to see it. American fans can luckily now hear it in the U.S. on the PGA Tour/Sirius XM Radio channel. It’s worth a listen.
We mentioned how it’s been a warm summer in England already, but it’s also been a surprisingly sunny week thus far at Royal Birkdale. Predtctably, the sunscreen stations that have been built around the course have come in pretty handy for anyone hoping to avoid going full lobster the next few days.
You never know when you might need a few moments of reflection during the day. We’re curious if multi-faith includes being able to speak with the Golf Gods.
OK … so every course that hosts a tournament usually has a clubhouse. But seriously, there are few as iconic (in whatever way you want to interpret the word) that the one at Royal Birkdale.
Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.