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British Open 2009 at Turnberry, part 2, the first Open
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Wille Park, winner of the first British Open
Read the 138th British Open at Turnberry, part 1
The modern game of golf was born in Scotland around the 12th century, with shepherds knocking stones into rabbit holes in the place where the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews now lies. Although under the Act of Parliament of 1457, under James II, it was decreed that "golfe be utterly cryit doun and not usit," as the pursuit of golf was apparently distracting men from archery practice and weakening the defence against the threat of invading English armies, the sport in Scotland became wildly popular.
By the 1800s, a string of rough courses was found along the rugged southwestern coastline, and the first professional golf competition, the Open Championship, was played on the morning of Wednesday, October 17th, 1860. Eight men were seen to make their way towards the wind-blown sandhills of Prestwick, each carrying an assortment of wooden implements and each dressed in heavy tweed coats buttoned over baggy trousers, with "cheesecutters" or bowlers on their heads and hefty "tackety" boots on their feet. Like prisoners under guard, they were accompanied by four members of the gentry whose role it was to monitor their every move.
A former caddie, Willie Park beat the legendary Old Tom Morris by two strokes to win the inaugural championship; he won again in 1863, 1866 and 1875, and was runner up four times. The Scots remained dominant in the early years.
Site of this week's 138th Open Championship, Turnberry, near Prestwick on the Ayrshire coast, hosted the Open in 1977, when Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus went head to head, with Watson eking out a one-stroke victory in what became known as the "Duel in the Sun"
On Scotland’s southwest coast are clustered more golf courses than anywhere in Europe, and there are several eminently playable clubs within a short drive of Turnberry. For many visiting golfers, Royal Troon tops the list when it comes to true Scottish links style and beauty, with a long and venerable history and a beautiful clubhouse. The track was first played in 1878 and hosted the British Open seven times. A parade of challenging, narrow, windy seaside holes lead to the famous “Postage Stamp,”one of the tiniest greens in golf--Tiger Woods triple bogied it 1997. The back nine heads away from the coast into sandy hills, and unfortunately, into the noise of Prestwick Airport. Take time to browse the absolutely fabulous pro shop, and have lunch––isolated from club members, nice, nonetheless.
More on golf on Scotland's Ayrshire coast, from the Visit Scotland Web site, with permission:
"There are the Gailes courses, Glasgow and Western, there is Kilmarnock Barassie with 27 classic holes across the fence from Troon and Prestwick, and Irvine Bogside. All four are Open Championship qualifying courses. Just down the coast and only 6 miles from Turnberry is the delightful layout of the Girvan Golf Club. At Troon are Lochgreen and Fullarton, public courses which, if they did not live in the shadow of their famous Open Championship cousin, would command even more notoriety. Then there is Ayr Belleisle, a classic inland layout from the hand of the master golf course designer, James Braid. Many miss it in their headlong rush to reach Prestwick and Troon, while the discerning take time to relish this wonderful setting and delight in the challenge of one of the finest inland public links courses in Britain.
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Turnbery in Scotland, site of the 138th Open Championship
For even more golfing pleasure take the ferry from Ardrossan and sail the short crossing to the Isle of Arran. Make the short journey across the island to Blackwaterfoot to the gem of gems, the Shiskine Golf Club. Twelve holes only here, but what joy! Fiona Brown, a delightful lady who has run the Shiskine pro shop for more than a decade, will explain to you how to play the 'Twa Burns', the 'Shelf', 'Hades', 'Paradise' and the others, she'll even give you a map. But even the redoubtable Ms Brown will not be able to tell you how to play the famous Par 3 'Crow's Nest'. That is a matter for you, your mashie and your imagination.
Visitors to Ayrshire, Arran and Cumbrae can take advantage of no fewer than three golf passes that will make their visit even better value than it will be anyway. The Arran Golf Pass includes Shiskine and six other courses including Machrie Bay. The Ayrshire Open Qualifier Card offers guaranteed tee times at Glasgow Gailes, Barassie, Irvine Bogside and the Kintyre course at Turnberry, while the South Ayrshire Golf Breaker Pass offers six rounds over seven consecutive days on eight courses including Ayr Belleisle, Girvan and Lochgreen."
Stay tuned here for Part 3 and Part 4 of British Open 2009 at Turnberry:
a review of the Turnberry Resort, headquarters for the British Open
the Colin Montgomery Links Golf Academy
Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com, Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She follows the little white ball around the world and blogs golf travel at bestgolf.typepad.com/blog/
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