A small press centre during a weather delay at a golf tournament can be a bit like the waiting room of a doctor’s surgery. I was reminded of this on Sunday night as I surveyed the scene during the two-hour suspension of play at a soggy Senior Open.
With nervous tension hanging in the air, my golf writing colleagues and I sat slumped in our seats, twiddling our thumbs and mulling over the nuances of our very existence while the wearying silence was occasionally punctuated by creaking groans, resigned sighs, mumbled expletives and muffled squeaks of awkward, unexpected flatulence. All that was missing from this decidedly sombre spectacle was a whispering receptionist informing us that the proctologist was running a tad behind schedule.
As for the golfing schedule? Well, there’s plenty to come yet …
IT'S ALL GO IN GAME'S CRADLE
There’s a heck of a lot of golf on in Scotland this week. Over in the east, the DP World Tour heads to Fairmont St Andrews for the Hero Open. In the west, meanwhile, a shimmering, world class field will be at Dundonald Links for the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open. And, just a hop, skip and modest jump from there is the Scottish Amateur Championship, which gets underway today, at Western Gailes and Gailes Links.
Now, until the golf writers find the missing screws, bolts, nuts and elastic bands that we need to complete or ambitious, yet extremely jerry-built, quantum teleportation vortex, it’s impossible to be in three places at the one time. So, we’ll just have to muddle on.
It's now 100 years since the Scottish Amateur Championship came into being. At a time when the golf world is consumed by the eye-watering millions being tossed about in the LIV Golf pandemonium, the nobility of the amateur game is a blessed escape from the avarice and animosity sweeping through the top end of the professional scene.
And the benefits of an event at both Western Gailes and Gailes Links? Well, there’s the opportunity to devour mince topped with a slootery poached egg, which remains one of the great clubhouse culinary delights. If LIV Golf, ahem, poach that too, then it really is the end.
There should be some fine fare on offer on the course as well with the progress of Scotland’s current bright young thing, Connor Graham, sure to attract a fair bit of interest. Some of my brethren who have watched the 15-year-old at close quarters have oohed and aahed about the Blairgowrie teenager like they were observing the lad who invented sliced bread making a few pieces. Having lost in the semi-finals as a 14-year-old to eventual winner Angus Carrick in 2021, Graham will tee-up with plenty of purpose. He already has a runners-up finish at the Lytham Trophy and a seventh in the St Andrews Links Trophy this season on the men’s circuit while his victory in the R&A’s Junior Open recently elevated his stature.
First things first, though. Graham, and the rest of those in the 264-man field, need to get through 36-holes of strokeplay and be one of the 64 qualifiers for the matchplay phase. That’s when the fun, in this truest form of golf, really starts.
GIRL POWER AS WOMEN TAKE CENTRE STAGE
Back in 2007, the Women’s Scottish Open had been in cold storage for so long, they just about had to chip icicles off the press release that announced its return to the schedule that season. The first prize then was around $30,000. Here in 2022, the burgeoning event backed by Trust Golf is worth $2 million with the winner getting upwards of $225,000.
This week, Dundonald Links will welcome eight of the world’s top-10 and 22 major champions, including Brooke Henderson, fresh from her second major win at the Evian Championship on Sunday.
During a year which saw the US Women’s Open break new ground with a staggering leap to a $10 million prize fund, the good ladies at the top of the tree are now getting some long overdue rewards for their endeavours. Next week’s historic AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield, meanwhile, will be worth a whopping $6.8 million.
Of course, simply throwing money at showpiece events doesn’t guarantee sustainability. Getting young girls into the game at the grassroots, and nurturing a flourishing amateur scene, will always remain the prime objective for golf’s custodians. That said, record-busting prize funds certainly have a role to play in terms of exposure, profile, aspiration and inspiration.
There should be plenty to inspire on Scottish soil over the next fortnight.
RAMSAY SAVOURS HILLSIDE HURRAH
When Richie Ramsay knocked in the winning putt at the Cazoo Classic at Hillside on Sunday, he punched the air with so much gusto, even that very air was left nursing a bruise. The Aberdonian has always been a heart-on-the-sleeve type of golfer and this win, his fourth tour title and a first in seven years, underlined his drive, discipline and dogged determination.
The 39-year-old has stated before that he could step away from tour life at the age of 40 if he is “not motivated”. This latest conquest, and the ecstasy of the winning feeling, will have done wonders for that motivation.
