The Open 2009. Through the eyes of Martin Vousden.

A roundup of Open thoughts from our man on the fairway with his finger on the pulse of world golf. Tough to swing a golf club when you’re doing that…

It’s not Open for you guys
Spare a thought, if you will, for Taco Remkes of The Netherlands (that’s ‘Holland’ to you and me); Peter Lawrie of Ireland, and Englishmen Daniel Willet and Mark Foster. All four took part at Sunningdale in Final International Qualifying for the Open Championship, played superbly, fired seven-under par for two rounds – and lost out in a playoff.

Better to be like Simon Khan, who played like a donkey, shot nine over par and, after his morning round of 77 must have known that the sort of miracle he needed in the afternoon was last seen circa 1500 BC when golf was played with the jawbone of an ass and Moses told the Red Sea to part (you can find the reference in Genesis 14:2 as you ask).

Credit to Khan for slogging through the afternoon round and not developing a sudden-onset injury but at least he knew his fate was sealed tighter than a duck’s backside before he set out after lunch. The other four I mentioned, who shot 68, 67, 66 and 63 respectively in the morning, knew they were playing well and in with a real chance of making golf’s flagship event at Turnberry in July.

Lawrie and Foster have appeared in nine Opens between them but for Remkes and Willett, getting to the Ayshire coast for the biggest event in golf would have been a virgin experience, so they must be bitterly disappointed not to have lost their Open cherry.

But they are not, of course, the only people to miss out. Among those who didn’t make it at Sunningdale, and therefore need a stellar performance over the next few weeks to get into the Open starting line-up are Thomas Bjorn, Andrew Coltart, Alastair Forsyth, Nick Dougherty, Marc Warren, Niclas Fasth, Stephen Gallacher, Steve Webster and Bradley Dredge.

Time is running out but professional sport is a crueller mistress than Madam Whiplash, and golf is the cruellest of all.

Flannelled Fools?
Speaking of The Open, it is de riguer in some quarters to consistently paint the people who stage it – the R&A (I beg their pardons; The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews) – as a bunch of blazered old farts who sit around all day drinking pink gins and who are, in consequence, completely out of step with the needs and feelings of everyday golfers. I beg to differ.

I have met a number of R&A members and staff, many of whom sit on or chair influential committees, and what always strikes me is that above all else they have the good of the game at the heart of everything they do. Yes, there’s a tendency in their ranks towards captains of industry and the sort of breeding that makes them familiar with horses and well-spoken in that cut glass kind of way that the ruling classes have, but the organisation, and people who serve it, never forget that they are here to benefit golf, and not be privileged recipients of its largesse.

Okay, the R&A is sexist, which is unforgiveable, and not too long ago it changed its constitution in order that women would be continued to be excluded from the club (it split into two parts; the golf club for members, which still doesn’t allow women across the clubhouse threshold, and the guardian of the rules and host of golf events, which has to be seen to be an equal opportunities organisation).

That sneaky little manoeuvre doesn’t really fool anyone but, that one major caveat aside, the R&A is philanthropic, pours millions of pounds into the game around the world every year, and by heaven it knows how to stage a Major golf event. Not only that, they make it look effortless – ‘All in a day’s work, Old Boy.’

Time for some scenery
Every year, incidentally, the R&A (bless ‘em I say) invites members of the Association of Golf Writers to play the Open venue, in order that we might write our preview features from recent first-hand knowledge. It was good to be reminded of what a stunningly attractive venue Turnberry is.

Carnoustie, let’s face it, is uglier than a red-headed stepchild, St Andrews looks like the dark side of the moon and a number of other Open sites may be near the sea but it’s never really a visual feature. At Turnberry, though, you get that superb stretch of outward holes right along the shoreline, culminating in the magnificent 9th, with its tee halfway out to the lighthouse, or so it seems.

Look out also this year for major changes to the 10th and 16th holes, which significantly improve what was already a pretty stunning challenge. It has always been the Open’s most scenically attractive venue and now it looks as if it has some bite to go with all that charm.

To read more from Martin, click here or here

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