The Open Championship Finishing On Monday: "There were a lot more families in the crowd than any of the other days."

Before we leave St. Andrews behind, I'm going to milk every drop out of this remarkable place both here and with my sticks!

Which also means while I'm out and about collecting a few more thoughts and insights from locals, let's try not to dwell too much on the negative. Except that we just had a 10-hour major championship delay, Monday finish and the third such play suspension in a row at an Old Course major. This is not acceptable.

With rumblings around town that the greenkeepers were overruled on a roll-instead-of-mow strategy for the putting surfaces prior to the forecasted winds, the R&A may be directly to blame for not having kept control of the links, making their 60% refund to fans paying 80 pounds a questionable (and unwieldy) solution.

From Martin Dempster's excellent assessment of the week.

High winds, of course, then became the next problem on Saturday but, alas, the R&A initially got it wrong with their attempt to tackle those conditions. Starting play on time was a gamble that should not have been taken and, in fairness, chief executive Peter Dawson did admit that in hindsight. In the final throes of his tenure – Martin Slumbers, who shadowed Dawson at the event, takes over the reins later in the year – a ten-and-a-half-hour suspension of play certainly wouldn’t have been on the wish list for the week. Nor would a decision about refunds and it is safe to say that Dawson may well have some heavy mail bags landing on his desk before heading off into the sunset because 60 per cent on a ticket costing £80 seems like short-changing spectators when they saw less than four hours of golf.

There was a silver lining. Many around town are noting that they either witnessed or heard about an unparalleled day here for golf viewing Monday. Alcohol was virtually non-existent on site and there was an air of youthful excitement thanks to the prices. Dempster writes:

In truth, the decision to extend the event into the Monday for only the second time in its history became the only one available to the R&A and, in a roundabout way, it may have actually helped attract some newcomers to the game.

Taking advantage of a day ticket at £10, many in an attendance of 35,370 may not have been at the event otherwise and, moreover, there were a lot more families in the crowd than any of the other days.

It was also pointed out to me that the corporate world had exited the stage, leaving the day almost solely to golf fans. Combine that with the civility and exuberance in the air, and it's something to note for all the grow the game crowd the next time they sit down to prioritize and set ticket prices, especially in this part of the world.