Every 5 years, the British Open comes to St Andrews' Old Course. As it so happens, my flat is only a few minutes walk from the Old Course's iconic 18th hole. I go running around the Old Course often (well, not so much lately because I hurt my knee playing soccer last week). In fact, my flat is so close to the course that a helicopter shot of the course that I just saw on BBC shows my flat. I'm rather lucky, especially since tourists are paying exuberant prices to stay in hotels around here. Though I'm so close, I wasn't sure if I was going to see much or any of the Open. The lowest ticket price I heard of was £40. I didn't really see the point in paying so much money for standing and watching golfers play the same hole. Nevertheless, yesterday I walked down to see how close I could get without paying. I was very surprised where I could go. There is a road next to 18th hole with very nice golf shops, and this road is open for pedestrians to walk around for free. There is a section gated off for those who pay £40 and follow the players around the course on foot, but this section is only slightly better than the free section. From here I was able to watch some players tee off on the 1st and other players putt on the 18th.
Some friends I ran into on this road had been standing here for a while and told me that I had just missed Tiger Woods putt on the 18th. They also told me that Phil Mickelson had just teed off on the 1st. I did see him tee off, but I didn't realize who he was a the time.
Last night I heard that the Old Course is not a particularly hard course as long as the weather is nice. However, this is Scotland, and the course is next to the sea. Thus, it can be a very difficult course. The weather today has been rather temperamental. It has rained and then stop; it has been windy almost all day. Some of the people who did very well yesterday did so because they had clear weather for a couple hours whereas everyone else had crappy weather.
Though I should be reading more for the dissertation, I can't miss the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see some historic golf. I missed Tiger Woods yesterday, but I might try to catch him after dinner tonight. It'll probably be crowded on that road, but hopefully I'll get a descent photograph. I'll be sure to post it up on the blog tomorrow if it happens.
The scoreboard next to the 18th hole
Some players putting on the 18th.
I think Jeong is in this group.
Phil Mickelson is in the background in the upper right.
He's wearing a bright pink shirt.
This is where players tee off for the 1st.
The road where I could see the 18th for free.
You can also see the gated area that costs £40
to enter. It's a little bit of a better view, but not
much better. They do get to follow the players, though.
Did you see the bright pants today? That was what the news covered today. hahaha
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