Hoylake, England – The first sign that the standard operating procedures for pro golf aren’t being followed here might have been when handshakes and congratulations were offered all around the grounds at Royal Liverpool Golf Club – because of how brown the lawn was.
When you’re hosting the national championship for the first time since 1967, when four personable local lads with mop-top hairdos were all the rage, it’s terribly, terribly important that everything goes well. So maybe it’s understandable there could be joy in sitting around watching grass grow.
Next up on the elemental hit parade is wind – as in, if it doesn’t blow, this 135th British Open just might possibly end up as the second coming of the B.C. Open, your average, run-of-the-mill event.
“The ideal scenario would be to get some,” admitted John Heggarty, the club’s head pro. “About 15 miles an hour would be fantastic. Much more than that would bring its own problems.”
It seems bated breath is as much a part of the third major of the 2006 season as afternoon tea. While Royal Liverpool definitely has the heritage of a British Open – Walter Hagen won the 1924 championship here and Bobby Jones took the title in 1930 en route to his Grand Slam – there are some who feel the course is indeed too antiquated to deal with today’s big boppers. If that proves to be true, well, the Beatles never got back together, and as far as golf is concerned, Liverpool could end up lonely again.
There are four par-5 holes, each of which is eminently reachable in two shots, so in effect, the 7,258-yard track will be playing to a par 68, critics say. In addition, they continue, there’s a decided lack of drama – one reason why, instead of playing the course as it’s laid out, the Open’s opening hole actually will be the third. That way, No. 16, a 560-yard par 5, will become the finishing hole, and with it – at least, the hope goes – the excitement of having a player needing to birdie or perhaps eagle to win.
Because of its lengthy absence from the Open rotation, Hoylake, as it’s known locally, is even more of an unproven commodity. Even Tom Watson, a five-time champion who’s seemingly old enough to be on a first-name basis with the Morrises – Old and Young Tom – said Monday he had never played it before.
Hence, the importance of Monday, which many of the participants in the 156-player field spent getting their first taste of the course.
“I think it’s going to be a better test than I thought it was going to be from everything that I’d heard. People may be surprised how well it holds up,” Bart Bryant said shortly after his practice round. “I’m going to soak it all in (today) – one day is not enough, but it’s hard to tell.
“If the wind blows hard here, it could really play tough. It has some really tight holes. I thought last year at St. Andrews, for the most part, you could keep it out of the long hay if you played smart. Here, you’re going to hit it in the hay regardless of how smart you are.”
Rod Pampling, the 2004 International champion, said he has played two practice rounds here, with the wind blowing from a different direction each time.
“There are extreme differences in how each of these holes plays with wind,” he said. “Even so, I don’t think this course is obsolete. There are a lot of 450-yard par 4s, and that’s never an obsolete number.
“It’s getting pretty firm and fast out there, and it’s dry, so it could come down to getting a few lucky kicks.
“I think that makes it a classic British Open.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
