The Open Championship…

This is not any old photograph of any old amateur golfer on any old tee box…

This is yours truly on the 16^th tee at Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland which will stage the 154^th Open Championship staring tomorrow. Hosting the world’s best golfers to determine who is the ‘Champion Golfer’ of 2025.

The 16^th hole is called Calamity Corner and as the name suggests it is something of a card wrecker.

A 236 par 3, stroke index 4, where anything right of the green is completely dead. Par on this hole is a good score. But I fear that in the Open this week, some players chances will be dashed at Calamity Corner.

Golf has much going for it… time spent with friends and the camaraderie, being outside and the beauty of the course, the cruelty and the occasional kindness of the game, the handicap system allowing all abilities to tee it up and compete with one another…

But also, the chance for ordinary golfers to play on the same courses on which the feted Championships are staged and where the greatest players and legends of sport have won and lost.

No chance of ever playing tennis on Centre Court at Wimbledon, football at Wembley or cricket at Lords… but a round at Royal Portrush on the Donluce links is possible…

How did I fare on this treacherous hole? What club did I hit?

236 yards into wind, obviously, I hit Driver (1 wood).

Our tee was forward but not so far forward that a 3 wood would be needed.

My ball found the back of the green leaving forty feet downhill with two putts for an unlikely par on the fourth hardest hole on one of the hardest golf courses in the world.

This week I will be glued to The Open Championship, looking out for the marquee players but also the guys who have come through qualifying and will be hoping for a good week. The 156 players in the field are all elite golfers and each have the physical ability to win but not will be able to summon the mental strength when they need it the most.

Everyone has heard of Rory McIlroy but Marco Penge, anyone? A young English guy who has only just gained his card to play on the main tour – but what a player he is and what a romantic winner he would be.

Two unknowns, Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton won the Open in recent memory – making my point perfectly and what Open Links hinges on with my fictional hero Ricky Randal.

The 153^rd Open will be a routine Championship for the household names, but for others it will be their first and last Open.

So good luck to everyone in the field, and particularly on the 16^th hole, Calamity Corner.

And to conclude, did I make my par on this famous hole?

It is a rare thing that I write a blog so far in advance, but as soon as my ball dropped for my par, I knew that I would write about it and when I would publish it.

 

Open Links, with all my proceeds to Anthony Nolan is available here