Gary Player Interrupts His Memories Of Lytham To Advocate Spending Money On Kids Instead Of Changing Golf Courses

Gary Player files a lovely Observer remembrance of his win at Lytham, though it is short on details about nearly losing his ball on 18--that is peppered with anecdotes and tips on playing the course.

Included is this nice little sidetrack of a rant.

They have made deeper and more riveted bunkers on the 2nd and other holes at Lytham, although the fact they have to do that concerns me on a wider scale. Lytham is hosting the greatest golf tournament on earth and they have to change the golf course.

It is happening everywhere, at the cost of hundreds of millions of pounds. And why? All that needs to happen is that the ball needs to be slowed down in the professional game. They shouldn't have to make changes to these great golf courses; money wasted on that should be spent on youth, the trustees of prosperity.

Tiger Ably Describes Rough "Almost Unplayable" In Spots; UK Papers Declare His Shock, Horror And Sadness!

Last night I read but could not post Bob Harig's story catching up with Tiger Woods following his Sunday practice round at Lytham.

Tiger described what he saw:

Woods noted that the rough is more difficult than he remembered it at Lytham, likely due to the prolific rain the area has seen. "In some places, it is almost unplayable,'' he said.

Nonetheless, Woods was thankful to see the course on a relatively nice day, with the sun shining and the wind blowing.

Yet The Guardian described Woods as "shocked," the Daily Mail says Woods "fears" the hay, the BBC says he is "questioning" the tall stuff, the Mirror says he was less than "polite," while the Telegraph offered the more modest suggestion that Tiger is "keen to avoid" the rough.

The Open Is Coming! Which Means This Site Will Fly Into Full Open Championship Mode

I'm off to work on some stories for next year's Open Championship, to review Trump International Scotland for Golf World, and to take in the Scottish Open this weekend. This will be followed by next week's coverage of the Open Championship from Royal Lytham for Golf World and GolfDigest.com.

After the Open, I have a dream round of golf in the greater Edinburgh area on tap (details, photos and video likely at some point). This will be followed by a few days of vacation.

So bear with me the next three weeks as posting frequency, times and content will vary depending on WiFi access, the news, media regulations, moods, the weather or the need to withhold certain observations for magazine stories.

But as always, your submissions for blog worthy stories will be greatly appreciated. And a special thanks to the art department for the "stamp" mastheads.

Don't Expect A Fast, Firm And Fiery Lytham...

Daily Mail Reporter says June was the wettest in the UK since records began.

Provisional figures showed the UK received 145.3mm (5.7 inches) during June, beating the previous record of 136.2mm (5.4 inches) seen in June 2007 - and more than double the average for June of 64.9mm (2.5 inches)
It is the second month this year to see record-breaking amounts of rain, after this April became the wettest in the records dating back more than a century to 1910.

June saw long, prolonged rainfall and short but exceptionally heavy showers, and ended with freak storms which battered areas of the Midlands and the North East.

Punters Beware: Early Open Championship Line

One of the things I love about the Open Championship: wagering! I hope there's a parlor somewhere between Lytham and the swank Premier Inn media hotel, because from what I hear of Lytham and its anti-driver, lush rough setup, I smell some value selections in these odds.

Some names I'll be throwing money away on if they stay at these prices:

RICKIE FOWLER 30/1
GRAEME McDOWELL 30/1
PADRAIG HARRINGTON 30/1
ERNIE ELS 40/1
LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN 40/1
NICOLAS COLSAERTS 60/1
PAUL LAWRIE 60/1
FRANCESCO MOLINARI 80/1
HENRIK STENSON 80/1
BRANDEN GRACE 100/1
FIELD (all others) 8/1

No Cabrera-Bello!?

These Guys Really Want To Play The Open Championship

Jeff Rude reporting on the amazing scoring by Harris English (-17, 123!), Greg Owen (afternoon 61) Stephen Ames (another afternoon 61) and other qualifiers in Plano, Texas while battling for eight spots into July's Open Championship.

“I kind of lost track of how many straight birdies I made,” said English, 22, who ranks 77th in Tour earnings and has a best finish of tied for eighth at the RBC Heritage.

The 60 gave him a four-stroke midway lead. It featured an eagle and eight birdies. He eagled his second hole of the day, No. 10, making a 4-footer.

“I was relaxed,” he said. “I had some fun. I was striking the ball really well. In fact, I was doing everything really well.”

So well that he missed only three greens in regulation over 36 holes. “I just never got out of position,” he said.

English, who got on Tour by tying for 13th at last year’s Q-School finals,

Oh...don't say that! Q-School bad, Q-School bad, Q-School bad...

says his bucket list includes skydiving, flying in an F16 and driving a NASCAR vehicle. Soon he can cross the Open off the list.

And I know you'll be shocked to learn that Rory Sabbatini was one of twelve WD's. Shocked!

Contrasted nicely by playoff qualifier Bob Estes:

Estes has played in 10 Opens, with a tie for eighth in 1995 his best finish. The four-time Tour winner long has called the Open his favorite event.

“As far as I’m concerned it’s THE tournament,” said Estes, who grew up in Abilene and starred at Texas. “It’s the one I want to win the most. Guys who don’t get it, I feel sorry for. Most of them are high-ball hitters who didn’t grow up in the wind like me.”

R&A's Dawson: Distance Explosion Caused By Geezers Going Away, Flatbellies Taking Their Place

I finally worked my way through the R&A media day transcripts and there are the usual insights and occasional comments that Peter Dawson will probably regret. There are some fun comments about Peter Alliss and slow play. But mostly, there's the indefensible discussion of remodeling courses to accommodate regulatory ineptitude, starting with this suggestion as to why the added distance at Lytham is not a big deal.

So the course is two and a half percent longer.  As I always say every year, instead of hitting it 100 yards, you'll have to hit it 102?.  So it's not revolutionary on length, but it does bring the course up closer to many of the others in overall distance.

So if you are only adding 2 yards to an approach shot, and it's not revolutionary, then why set such a bad example or commit to the expense in the first place?

Q.  Is Lytham pushed to the limit in terms of yardage?  I know it's a tight site.

PETER DAWSON:  There's always room to do something, but we're very close to the maximum to be honest.  There are one or two holes you could perhaps get another 20 yards out of, but that would probably spoil the holes, so we're happy at this length.  As you know, we've said that if hitting distances start to increase, we'll have to do something about it to that end.  But this golf course, as many others on The Open‑‑ that we use for The Open are at the distance they're going to be.  We don't envisage lengthening courses going forward.

Ohhh....there's a statement he'll regret!

Here was the inevitable next phase of the spin cycle...

Q.  (Inaudible.)

PETER DAWSON:  Well, what we've seen in the last year is an uptick of four yards I think it is on the PGA Tour but not on the European Tour or elsewhere in the world.  When you analyse that uptick, it's largely caused by new young players coming into the field and replacing older players who are moving on to the Senior Tour rather than individual players hitting the ball further.  That isn't happening.

And while there certainly is truth to a Corey Pavin being replaced by a Keegan Bradley, does he really think such activity is moving the PGA Tour number four yards? More importantly: "that isn't happening." Distance increases.

But we have our eye closely on it, and I think it's still true to say that we have not seen a significant uptick since the joint statement of principles in 2002.  But we've got our eye very closely on it.

Very closely!

And now for the rally killer of the day...

Q.  This will be the third time in four years they've played a par‑70.  Is that a concern?

And our worst question of 2012 goes to the man in the back from the Lytham Light And Shopper.

On Peter Aliss, who ESPN now slips into the Open telecast for about 15 minutes while someone takes a bathroom break.

Q.  I appreciate the BBC's trump card is the fact that the coverage is available to everyone.  How much of a trump card does Peter Alliss remain to you?

PETER DAWSON:  Well, you've still got the odd gem in there.  I know Peter causes quite a lot of polarisation of opinions, and many people I talk to still enjoy him very, very much and a number don't.  I think on balance he's an asset, but he's getting‑‑ not getting any younger.  I don't think so how long he'll carry on for.  But he's been the voice of golf for a long, long time over here.  And very interesting, if you go to America and talk about Peter Alliss, they think he is the God of the profession.

And this on long putters...

The subject is being looked at more from a rules of golf and method of stroke angle than it is from a length of club angle, and the reason for that is that if you thought you were going to do something about long putters by saying the putter may be no more than 40 inches long, that would still allow short people perhaps to belly putt but not tall people. 

That'd have to be someone pretty short!

Jim McArthur of the championship department made an interesting comment in response to the slow play question.

JIM McARTHUR:  Interestingly enough, I think when Bobby Locke won his Open Championship here at Royal Lytham he was reprimanded for slow play, and he took three and a half hours.

PETER DAWSON:  If you go back long enough when people were playing two rounds in a day at the Open, it's an indicator how pace of play has moved.

JIM McARTHUR:  We are very concerned about it, but we're doing everything we possibly can.  It is something where we need cooperation from other organisations, as well, to do anything.

Translation: Until the PGA Tour sets the precedent, the USGA and R&A are handcuffed. And we know the PGA Tour does not believe slow play is a problem. Well, Tim Finchem does not.

And finally, back to messing with golf courses...Dawson says his work is done!

Q.  (Inaudible.)

PETER DAWSON:  Well, usually we, first of all, discuss the need for modifications with the venue, with the club, and if the club is happy to embark on a programme of modifications, it's a process between the club, the R&A and the architect.  Sometimes the club will have architects that are experienced in its course, and other times we have used architects that we have been accustomed to, if you like, and used at Open venues.  That has resulted in a slightly closed process, which has troubled me once or twice, but the work that Martin Hawtrey (SP.) and Martin Ebert have done for us has been of a very high quality, and we're very happy with it.

I think we're coming to the end now of the course adjustment programme that we started ten years ago.  Of the upcoming venues, they have all now had the treatment, as it were, so we've pretty much finished the programme.  But we've been very happy with the work that's been done, and I think all the clubs and venues have, too.

The treatment work, as it were, is done. We shall see!

R&A Announces Course Lengthening Designed To Make 'Tee It Forward' Appealing To Royal Lytham Members

Bernie McGuire with the gory details on this year's R&A rejigged venue.

Dawson said the biggest changes were made to the seventh, 10th and 11th holes. The 10th is 52 yards longer compared to 11 years ago, while No. 7 is 35 yards longer and has a completely new green. The 11th now measures 592 yards - 56 yards longer than last time.

The only holes that have not been changed are the par-4 fourth and par-3 12th.

"The course will still be a challenge for the modern player, and players will have to remember there are over 200 bunkers on Royal Lytham," Dawson said at a news conference.

And how many of those were added by the R&A?

R&A Giving Top Amateurs An Open Spot, Will They Ever Take It?

The Royal and Ancient will be awarding an Open Championship spot to the World Amateur Golf Ranking's No. 1 player at the end of the "summer session." UCLA's Patrick Cantlay gets the first such exemption, but will he or any other future No. 1's remain an amateur long enough to use the exemption?
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