Just a thought: Am I the only person in St. Andrews this week who finds it odd that the £75 entry fee for the Women’s British Open is £50 less than the cost of one round of golf over the Old Course?
By the way, if you're wondering why the pace of play has been so slow, here are just a couple of examples. On day one, after the trio of Louise Stahle, Stacy Prammanasudh and Nicole Castrale had hit their tee-shots at the last hole, two of the three felt unable to hit their approaches without first laboriously pacing out the distance from their balls all the way to the pin. I won't say which two were responsible for this nonsense, but neither one was Castrale.
It gets worse though. Today, Se Ri Pak dumped her approach to the opening hole in the Swilcan Burn in front of the green. She then — unbelievably — asked for a ruling. Eight minutes later, the official arrived, took one look and told her to drop her ball on the fairway side of the water under penalty of one shot. If Pak had even a basic knowledge of golf's rules, all of the above could, of course, have been avoided.
There is one more reason for the slowness of the convoy: the sheer number of shots being expended. Michelle Wie, for example, has just taken an age over a triple bogey at the 13th that will surely see her missing the cut. With five holes to play, the struggling teenager is seven over par and on her way home.
Strangely, she has a rotten record in this event, but Scotland's Catriona Matthew ("Beany" to her friends) is at last living up to her linksland pedigree here at St. Andrews. With a fourth birdie of the day, the 37-year old from North Berwick is suddenly two shots off the lead and tied for third place alongside another Brit, Rebecca Hudson and Louise Friberg of Sweden.
Third at Sunningdale as long ago as 2001, Matthew has been a surprising failure whenever this championship has been played by the seaside. Not once has she finished in the top-20 and twice she has missed the cut.
"While it is true that links golf is what I am most familiar with, I have to admit that my record in this event has been more than disappointing," she said a couple of weeks ago. "Just about the only time I have done even reasonably well was at Sunningdale a few years ago. And that is an inland course! I have no idea what the problem is. If I did I would do something about it!"
And that she seems to be doing, even if, against the wind, she has a long way to go before the end of her day.
There goes my bet. In at five under par, 141, Wendy Ward has taken over the clubhouse lead from the trio on three under. Round in 70, Ward played a fine round, five birdies outnumbering the two bogeys she made at the 11th and 18th, both of which she three-putted.
The back nine is getting more difficult though. With the ever-shifting wind now against and from the right heading home, the onus is now on the players to score well going out, before hanging on to what they have over the closing holes. Which is just what Ward, a four-time winner on the LPGA Tour, did.
"Going out, I was able to hit shots with pretty much my normal ball flight, but coming back I was hitting them maybe forehead high," she claimed. "I had worked on those shots during my practice rounds, so I was ready for what was required."
Things are looking even better for Ward, in fact. Long-time leader Lorena Ochoa’s first bogey of the tournament — courtesy of three putts at the 11th — has her back to six under par and, with the tough back nine to come, she will have her work cut out to stay ahead of Ward’s total.
The cut, incidentally, looks as if it will fall at either three or four over par, maybe five over if the wind-speed increases. Whatever the final total that represents pretty good golf by the leading 65 players (and ties).
Had your correspondent been a betting man, he'd have wagered some of his hard-earned 'Caley Dosh' (local slang for Scottish money) on three under par leading at the end of the day. If I had taken the plunge, however, things would not be looking too good right now. Not only has the overnight leader, Lorena Ochoa, played the first seven holes in one under par — into an ever-strengthening wind — to be seven under the card, US Solheim Cup player Wendy Ward has made it to five under courtesy of a wind-assisted birdie at the long 14th.
Mention must also be made of the three birdies in succession from the third made by Beth Daniel. The veteran American is now two under par alongside Scotland's number one player, Catriona Matthew, who has made birdies at the second and sixth today.
Still, much can happen on the Old Course, especially in the bunkers, so those on three under — Annika Sorenstam, Uri Fudoh and Sherri Steinhauer — can still harbour hopes of a nice long lie in tomorrow morning.
To the great delight of tournament press officer Colin Callander — who has money on here at odds of 50-1 — Sherri Steinhauer confirmed her status as the pre-eminent links player of her generation with a round of 71 today. Added to her opening 72, the three-time British Open champion moved to three under par and is surely poised to make a run at yet another title.
"I'm not sure what it is," she said in response to a question as to why she does so well on windswept links. "I do know that I love the imagination. I love to play a low ball. There's a lot of touch and feel involved. I go a lot on instinct out there."
Whatever the reason or reasons, Steinhauer took advantage of her early draw to play the sort of steady round that will be required all over again tomorrow. Three birdies more than compensated for the lone shot she dropped at the par-4 12th, where she three-putted from the front of the two-tiered green.
The birdie Juli Inkster made on the tenth hole to be six under par for the round and level par for the tournament proved to be the seven-time major champion's last of the day. A string of pars followed, broken only by a bogey at the par-4 15th. Still, the 47-year old Californian made it back to the R&A clubhouse with a round of 68, the second best score of the championship so far and a total of 147 that will surely see her safely through to the weekend.
"It is just a different course out there today," she acknowledged. "I'm kind of hoping we get a little wind out there this afternoon. It means a lot to me to play this weekend, that's for sure. You don't want to come over here and have to go home early.
"The course is actually tougher than I thought it would be. Even though you think you can drive it anywhere you really can't depending on the pin placement. In order to make birdies you have to drive it into the right spots and today I did that."
Hold those earlier thoughts. As so often happens in this part of the world, the wind has switched. Downwind first thing this morning, the front nine is now playing into the prevailing westerly wind, a fact that will not please the later starters one little bit. It isn't that the course is any harder or easier in that wind, but the fact that those with early tee-times will have played almost the whole course downwind.
One who just missed out on the benefits of that change in wind direction was Annika Sorenstam, whose 71 has her on 143, three under par. The world number three — that still sounds strange — did, however, get to play her first seven holes in what was almost a flat calm before the wind kicked up into her face coming home.
I'm very happy with my position and my play," she claimed."It was nice to get out early and beat the wind to an extent. And the greens were nice and smooth, too."
The Swede — who acknowledged the benefit she is getting from using Tiger Woods' yardage book — is probably right to like where she stands. With the wind kicking up nicely and the first round leader. Lorena Ochoa, out later, the likelihood is that three under par will not be too far off the top of the leaderboard by day's end.
Not that Sorenstam was going to be sitting around doing nothing exactly. After a quick lunch and some practice, she was off to the all-female St. Rule club that makes its home on the right side of the 18th fairway to receive honourary membership. "A great honour," she said.
Never mind coping with the vagaries of links golf over the world's most famous course, perhaps the biggest adjustment for the non-UK born players in the field here at St. Andrews is in dealing with the assembled press core. In every British media centre there are many agendas. Some journalists are there to cover the golf and the golfers. But there are others for whom the birdies and bogeys are secondary to the more salacious requirements of their respective sports desks.
Take page 15 in "The Sun" this morning. One day after the Times ran a piece on the sexual orientation of various LPGA Tour members, Britain's biggest-selling tabloid, not known for its deep interest in any or all things golfing, has pictures of six lady golfers in various stages of undress. Under the headlines, "All Eyes on Birdie Babes at the Open" and "Six Over Phwoar," Natalie Gulbis. Annika Sorenstam, Anna Rawson, Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie and Sophie Sandolo are shown. Two of them are even playing golf, albeit Sorenstam is wearing a bikini as she follows through.
Damn, I'm proud to be British. Not.
Golf at the highest level is rarely a speedy affair, but this is ridiculous. Inevitably slowed down by the fact that the first group out on the opening day took as much as four hours 40 minutes to complete 18 holes, Annika Sorenstam was just one of the later starters who took six hours to get round the Old Course. Some, in fact, were unable to complete their rounds — in a country where darkness at this time of year does not fall until almost 10pm.
This is clearly unacceptable, even on a course that has so many double greens.
My friend and colleague, Ron Sirak, who covers the LPGA Tour for Golf World, reports that, on the LPGA Tour, as many as five minutes pass from the moment the pin is removed from the hole until it is replaced. On the Champions Tour, that figure is three minutes 15 seconds and on the PGA Tour is 15 seconds longer.
In other words, the ladies are playing too slowly, especially on the greens, where they are adding 27 minutes to every round compared with their male counterparts. Get a move on girls.
As is often the case in this part of the world, the weather forecast for the second day of the Women's British open has so far been notable only for its complete lack of accuracy. In place of the projected 25mph winds howling over the Old Course there is a gentle breeze from the east that has the front nine — in contrast with yesterday — playing a lot easier. Good scores today will have to made on the way out.
Which is exactly what Juli Inkster has done. Apparently on the way home after an opening 79, the seven-time major champion nipped to the turn in 31 shots, five under par, and birdied the tenth for good measure. Suddenly, the Californian is level par for the tournament and only one shot behind Annika Sorenstam, who has failed to take advantage of the benign conditions and sits even par for the day, one under for the championship.
One other to make early progress today is Sherri Steinhauer. Three times a winner of this event, the American has yet to drop a shot through 12 holes and is now three under par, three shots behind the overnight leader, Lorena Ochoa.
For days on end now I've been listening to player after player saying how wonderful it is that the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews is allowing the lady golfers competing here at the Women's British Open into the old clubhouse behind the first tee on the Old Course. And, to be sure, it is nice that the all-male membership of golf's ruling body (outside Mexico and the United States) has for once relaxed its misogynistic and out-dated regulations regarding the presence of women inside one of the game's most iconic buildings.
But let's get real people. The headline on this story should read, "R&A behave like normal people shock." While their gesture is to be welcomed in this, the early part of the 21st century, it is hardly earth shattering. No, they didn't have to do it; but yes, they should have done it decades ago.
Part of the reason why the R&A has been enjoying such acclaim this week is that so many people — particularly those from the United States — are unaware of the fact that the Old Course is a public facility, open to all golfers of whatever gender, colour or creed. The R&A does not therefore own golf's most famous course; it belongs to the people of St. Andrews. And the R&A is only one of many golf clubs who have the right to play over the hallowed links; another, the St. Rule club that makes its home on the right side of the 18th fairway, is, in fact, open only to women. Which makes it no better — or worse — than the R&A in my book.
Anyway, let's keep this whole clubhouse thing in perspective. While it has a certain symbolic significance, in the broad scheme of things nothing has changed. Next week women will again be barred from entering. Next week women will gain be barred from viewing the captain's balls in the trophy room. And next week, Laura Davies would be forced to change her shoes in the car park rather than choosing to do so as she is this week.
As Laura put it, "Why would I go somewhere I'm not welcome?"
Why indeed?
Speaking as a Scot, I have to say I have been more than a little amused by the 'love fest' that has been conducted over the last couple of days between the lady professionals making their maiden visits to St. Andrews and the Old Course itself. To a woman, they have made the sorts of noises everyone makes when seeing the worlds most famous and influential links for the first time. And every single one of them has stopped for the obligatory picture on the Swilcan Bridge, over which every great golfer in history — bar Ben Hogan — has walked.
"It's just an amazing place," swooned Ai Maiyzato. "I can feel the history."
"This is really big," enthused the LPGA Tour’s newest champion, Natalie Gulbis. "There is a lot of tradition here."
"It's the greatest honour to play here," gushed Michelle Wie. "It has quickly become almost one of my favourite golf courses. It's so interesting."
Tomorrow, however, the real work begins and the players will have to forget being tourists long enough to put their game faces on. And it's going to be fascinating watching how they cope with the unique challenges of the Old Course, especially given a weather forecast that calls for breezy, changeable conditions that will surely test every club in their bags. And their patience.
One hopes, however, that the wind and rain don't cross the line that separates challenging from a bit silly. I have to say I do worry about the possible consequences of a player disappearing into the depths of a St. Andrews bunker and not reappearing until many shots have been expended. In those places, technique is secondary to sheer strength, something many of the more diminutive players do not have in abundance.
"I sincerely hope the weather is kind," agrees former Ryder Cup player and now television commentator, Peter Alliss, who played in the Open Championship here at St. Andrews as a 16-year old back in 1946. "Last week at Muirfield the Senior Open was interesting but conditions and the course set up were a bit severe for many of the old fellahs.
"I hope it is better on both counts this week. I don't see the point in the ladies battling away in wind and rain. I'd like them to enjoy the experience and not do a Bobby Jones, who tore up his card in frustration before storming off and vowing never to return."
That would be disappointing — and a bit silly. It is, after all, a long walk back from the 11th green where Jones had his long ago strop. —John Huggan
Photo: Getty Images
One of the great tragedies of golf in the early part of the 21st century was the 2005 Open Championship at St. Andrews. While the world's oldest event managed to identify the world's best player -- Tiger Woods -- the manner in which the world's most famous venue was presented would surely have had Old Tom Morris spinning wildly in his grave.
For one thing, that Open was surely the first in history to be 'played' on four courses, there being tees on the Old, the Eden, the New and, most ludicrously, the Himalayas putting course. And for another, the Old Course, the model for strategic and intelligent golf the world over, was suddenly all but swamped by long grass. All, of course, because of the often silly distances today's leading men can hit their super-charged golf balls with their super-charged clubs.
The Old Course is -- or should be -- golf's most interesting venue. As the ultimate and original links, it showcases perfectly a form of the game that is largely lost to the top-level players. If one takes the view that the longer the golf ball spends on the ground, the more interesting the game becomes, then a fast-running Old Course is the definitive work on the subject. In comparison, your typical PGA Tour venue is a child’s colouring book, one where all the crayoning gets done between easily defined lines.
In its purest sense, the Old Course offers little or no restraint to a player's imagination and flair. On almost every hole there are choices to be made about angles, positioning and ball-flight. On the very best holes, the very best players have a chance to separate themselves from their competition by dint of their ability to first see the strategic options, then choose the right one for them.
Sadly, there was little of that back in 2005. On a links where the punishment for less than strict adherence to the perfect position has always been a more difficult angle into the flag -- one offering the good player an opportunity to distinguish himself from the less-good -- the rough reduced everyone to the same hapless level. Does anyone really think that the virtual elimination of the risky recovery shot makes golf more exciting? This was point-missing on a grand scale.
Happily, things are going to be very different this week. Hosting the best lady golfers in the world for the first time in its long history, the Old Course is going to be shown in its most interesting light. As former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy recently pointed out, the ladies are going to be "playing the course like we are supposed to." Where the leading men are able to either blast their drivers way over the fearsome pot bunkers, or lay up well short of them, the shorter-hitting ladies will be forced to hit their drivers from most tees and thread their way between the hazards.
"The Old Course is going to be a fascinating test for us all," agrees Scotland's number one player, Catriona Matthew, who played a practice round over the Old Course a couple of weeks ago. "The bunkers are going to be right in play for us, much more than they seem to be for the men these days. They seem to whack right over them. In contrast, we’ll have to 'take them on' and try to manoeuvre our drives between the bunkers. Which is what it is all about around here."
Hallelujah. Proper golf on a properly set up course. I for one can't wait to watch it. -- John Huggan.
