The British Open

On Thursday The British Open will begin at Turnberry in Scotland. While I cannot say who will win, my out on a limb pick some guy named Eldrick Tiger Woods, I will say this there may not be a better experience in sports than being at The Open Championship.

I attended The Open in 2004 when it was at St. Andrews. I was there for a practice round and the first round and my mind was blown. The courses are like nothing you have ever seen. Bunkers so deep that you cannot see out of them when you are in them and these are just the fairway bunkers! Heather so thick that you could play with a bright orange ball that was 3 times normal size and you would not be able to find it.

We got there at the start of the first round and started at the first fairway so that we could see Jack tee off. We then walked the course for about 3 hours just trying to see every hole, and at every hole we were stunned by the difficulty and beauty of each hole. We then positioned our self up in the grandstand behind the 2nd hole. In this spot we go to see players hit in to the 2nd Green, hit into the 17th hole, and tee off on 18, it was like golf heaven. It was up on the top of the grandstand that we felt the true test of The Open. The wind was blowing at about 20 MPH and you could feel every gust of cold wind, and I was floored that players were actually playing in the wind because it was at least a 3 club wind.

As we left it had started to rain which once again reminded me how difficult the conditions really are at The Open. We were walking and stopped to see David Duval's group play their approach shots onto the 7th hole. The rain was escalating as one of Duval's playing partners stuck his approach shot to the roar of the crowd. Next to hit was Duval who was fighting a broken umbrella and thick rough. He shanked one way left and after letting out a few F-bombs he took his malfunctioning umbrella and threw it as hard as he could into the hill next to him. The umbrella went probably halfway through as the poor caddie was left to try and pull it out.

It was an amazing display of the emotions that golfers have during a major and it was a perfect end to a mind blowing day of watching golf.

So I beg you if you ever get the chance even if its only for one round go see The British Open at least once before you die because it will be a truly wonderful experience.