Proud Scots host an Open
By Art Spander
GULLANE, Scotland – The church is in ruins now, but what do you expect? It’s 900 years old. That body of water? The Firth of Forth – we’d say Forth Estuary – lapping at the shore. And on the other side sits the magical land of Fife, beyond hills, St. Andrews.
Gullane, a tiny, historic town of granite and golf, of the Muirfield course, of the Honourable Society of Edinburgh Golfers, where another Open Championship begins Thursday on fairways too brown and under skies too blue.
Scotland, where the game originated. Scotland, the land of kings and kilts, of whins and whisky. Scotland, where the summer days seen to go on forever.
Such a proud people, the Scots. “You think if Andy Murray were English,” asked John Huggan, a writer and Scotsman, “the London papers would have called him a Brit?” We know the answer, and so does Huggan. Murray is a Scot.
He’s their man, from Dunblane, across the Forth, just the way golf is their game. They gave it to the world, and now for the 142nd Open the world, Americans, South Africans, Australians, Swedes, is coming to Scotland to seek the oldest of trophies, the Claret Jug.
“Scots wha hae,” it’s the national song, lyrics by Robert Burns, who also wrote the words to "Auld Acquaintance". “Scots Who Have,” it translates, “who have” with Wallace bled.
Patriotism is always in fashion here. The talk is of separatism, of government independent of Great Britain, which wouldn’t be so great if Scotland seceded. But that’s all speculation, much as who might be the Open winner.
What should we expect, other than huge crowds? Could Tiger Woods, the 8-1 betting choice, finally win another major? Might Justin Rose, an Englishman (although born in South Africa) make it a rare double and add this one to his U.S. Open victory of last month?
So open is the Open. Even Phil Mickelson, who only twice in 19 previous Opens even has contended, is given a good chance, undoubtedly because he won last weekend’s run-up, the Scottish Open.
What will it take for a golfer to take the Open? Accuracy off the tee, because the fairways are so hard balls are liable to skip into rough that, like a field of ripe wheat, is waist-high. A fine putting stroke on greens both large and rolling. And fortune.
Back in 1972, when Jack Nicklaus was going for the Grand Slam, having won the Masters and at Pebble Beach the U.S. Open, he was edged by Lee Trevino at Muirfield.
In the second round, Trevino’s shot out of sand at the 7th would have flown the green -- except it smacked the flag and dropped straight down for a tap-in par. In the final round, Trevino was short of 17 but chipped in for a par. Skill or luck? Probably some of both.
Linksland courses on which the Open is always played have uneven fairways, and the ball can take some strange bounces. Yet Nicklaus correctly pointed out that the people who get the best bounces are the people who make the best shots.
“The key to the rough,” said Phil Mickelson, stating the obvious, “is staying out of it. I feel the setup is extremely fair, because given the firmness of the fairways, and as much as the ball is running, you have to have a little bit of room to maneuver and keep the ball in play. The setup has allowed for that.”
Still, there will be players chopping out of long grass, after they stomp in seeking their ball. That’s golf on a links.
The area around the Open venue has been labeled Scotland’s Golf Coast. That’s not inaccurate.
Including Muirfield, there are 22 courses in a 10-mile stretch, courses called Kilspindie and Craigielaw and North Berwick, courses that every local has played and endorses.
On Sunday and Monday, some of the pros took a break from their Muirfield practice rounds to play North Berwick (pronounced "Berrick"), where there’s a brick wall in front of the 14th green and the 15th is the original and much replicated Redan Hole.
Numerous American journalists here for the Open are staying in a wee burg, Aberlady, at the Kilspindie House, a former village school dating from 1739 that some 40 years ago was turned into a hotel. It’s run efficiently by a gentleman named Malcolm Duck.
Duck is a restaurateur. Duck is also a golfer. But that’s understood. He’s a Scot.