Golf column: Countdown is on for the Open Championship

By Peter Cassidy | Wednesday, March 9, 2011 11:51

THREE months to go before the highly anticipated British Open Championship, known these days as the Open Championship.

This famous event will be played from July 14-17 at Royal St George's Golf Club, which in its own right has a history which would rival any other golf club in the world.

The Open has been held at Royal St George's on 13 previous occasions, dating back as far as 1894. I have rummaged through some archives but have, however, struggled to find any significant Sky footage of this event, which makes me question how golfing fans of old actually enjoyed such landmark events.

Perhaps they actually attended? Yes it's true. We are definitely spoilt with the offerings available on TV today and oddly enough appear to have lost sight of the concept that hands-on live attendance is by far the best means to appreciate such events.

I heard of a couple of blokes that flew to Aussie to watch the Masters a couple of years back, stayed in a luxurious hotel and sat in the lobby bar watching the event on Sky for four days. Just bizarre!

Now, the 1894 British Open had 11,000 people in attendance as far as I can ascertain, which for back then was no mean feat.

Here are some interesting statistics. Over the last 150 years of the Open event, only 11 courses have been used. As mentioned before, Royal St Georges has been played on 13 previous occasions, the last being in 2003 when first-time Open player Ben Curtis (US) won in what was described as "play beyond his experience".

The course is located in southern England, in Sandwich, which is in Kent, and Curtis was quoted to have said, "I always play best when I'm down South and this seems to be no different."

Royal St George's is famous for many other sporting highlights too. In 1993 my favourite player of all time, Greg Norman, shot the lowest-ever winning final-round score with an astonishing 64. Understanding that the course is over 7000 yards and has a par of 71, it is unlikely this last-round winning score will ever be beaten - although it would be great to witness.

Now there sure is a lot of activity on the domestic front, starting with the Tauranga Golf Club's TuwhareToa Maori Golf Society tournament. This event will be held on Saturday, March 19, and is open to all and any golfers looking for a day out. Contact Alec Wikaira on 07 386 8423 for info. All proceeds to Christchurch Earthquake relief.

Marton Golf Club also has a frantic calendar this month. This coming Saturday the club's normal programme has been deferred and an event to raise money for the Christchurch Mayoralty Earthquake fund has been organised instead. The entry is nominal and by all accounts there will be plenty of fun had by all who attend. You can email your entries to secretary@martongolfclub.co.nz or contact Barrie Moar on 06 327 6887 for more info or to register your interest. Entries will close at 9.30am on the day of the event.

Marton is also hosting an event on Sunday. This event is to raise money for yet another extremely worthwhile charity in the form of the Ronald MacDonald House in Wellington. You can contact Terry Hammond if you would like to know a little more about this tournament on 06 327 7501.

Wanganui Golf Club is hosting the regional veterans golf tournament on Monday, March 21. So if you are a vet, have that Monday free and feel like ripping into a fiercely competitive environment, contact the Wanganui Golf Club on 06 349 0559 and find out more.

All the best to David Hodge and Natalie Scott, who are tying the knot this weekend. Hodge is known for his work as groundsman at the Wanganui Golf Club, good luck and all the best from all your golfing buddies.

For a bit of fun over the next few weeks I will be asking questions on the British Open in this column.

All you have to do is email the answer to pcassidy@xtra.co.nz, and all correct answers will go into the draw for weekly naming rights as Wanganui's leading golf historian. Your name will be published!

This week's question is: Which player after three rounds overcame the biggest deficit to go on to win the Open? Name, year and by how many?

Good golfing for the rest of the week and email your info and answers on pcassidy@xtra.co.nz. Come on you other clubs!!!