The Royal & Ancient Golf Club expect records to be shattered at St Andrews,
but not necessarily the kind that Tiger Woods broke at Pebble Beach last
month in the US Open.
In addition to a record entry of 2,465 which has already been whittled down
to a 156-strong field, the R&A bean counters have been busy with their
calculators on other fronts.
Assuming the weather remains warm and dry, officials expect a new record in
beer sales, topping the 400,000 pints sold at Royal Lytham & St Annes in
1996. They also anticipate record crowds consuming more than 300,000 cans of
soft drinks, 15,000 bottles of wine and 12,000 glasses of champagne.
For food, the R&A expects to serve up four tons of bacon, 550 pounds of
smoked salmon and 650pounds of roast beef.
Cleaning up the mess is a squad of 200 schoolchildren, who are working in
teams of 10 and patrolling the Old Course supervised by a teacher. The R&A
expect more than 150 tons of rubbish will be removed from the Old Course.
As for scoring records? That's in the hands of Mother Nature.
Faxon opts for Open
Brad Faxon will defend the BC Open title he won in Endicott, New York, last
September after all - having failed to qualify for the Open at St Andrews.
The 38-year-old American carded 139 during his two qualifying rounds at
Lundin Links to finish two shots out of a place in the field for the main
event which starts on Thursday.
"I love the BC Open,'' said Faxon. "The people there are hurting for a field
after the tournament was switched to be opposite the British Open. It was a
hard call to have go over to Scotland and qualify, but now I haven't made it
I'm going to fly back to New York to play in the BC Open.''
The Ryder Cup veteran still believed he was right to try to qualify for the
Open. "The British Open changes your life if you win,'' he said. "It's not
like there are too many tournaments that do that to you, and I don't have a
whole lot of majors left to play in.''
Faxon also felt he had to come to Scotland after criticising players who skip
the Open a few years ago.
Auction in Cupar
'Far and Sure' - the motto intertwined on an 1895 Scottish silver medal -
captures the mood for the millennium golf memorabilia auction to be held at
Cupar near St Andrews later today.
Many scarce and rare antique golf collectors' items, from clubs and woods, to
ornaments and fine art were among the 600 items on offer through auctioneers
Mullock Madeley.
The 'Far and Sure' medal, from the 'Clarenden Golf Club', is "a stunning
piece which is already attracting global interest," according to auctioneer
John Mullock.
The auction also offered an impressive selection of long nose putters, balls
from the game's different ages, and even four cast-iron golf ball presses.
Monty switches to Callaway ball
Seven times European No 1 Colin Montgomerie has switched to the new Callaway
'Rule 35' ball in time for the Open Championship at St Andrews.
The 37-year-old Scot was already lined up to play with the company's
controversial new ERC driver, which is banned in America, and now he has
emulated Tiger Woods and turned his back on the Titleist ball which he has
used throughout his professional career.
Montgomerie played with the Rule 35 Firm Feel ball in the Smurfit European
Open and Standard Life Loch Lomond, but said he might switch to the Soft Feel
during the Open if the pins were tucked away on the Old Course.
"It comes off the clubface with a lot less spin," said Montgomerie. "I want
to try and win this tournament. It would be a good start for the new ball.
The iron distances are pretty similar but the ball goes further off the tee,
that's its main difference. Around the greens it's a different feel, so I've
been working on the putting and chipping mainly."
Radio harmony at the Open
BBC Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT are to share a licence to provide shot-by-shot
coverage of the Open Championship for the next five years. They will share
access to on-course commentary positions, broadcast studios overlooking the
18th green and the primary interview site.
Peter Dawson, secretary to the R&A, said: "It is particularly fitting for the
Open Championship to have been licensed for the first five years of the new
Millennium to the United Kingdom's two national radio stations for live
commentary. We are pleased to have BBC Radio 5 Live back with a continuing
presence, but equally we welcome talkSPORT as our new and complementary
licensee."
Mike Lewis, the BBC's Controller of Radio Sports Rights, said: "The Open
Championship is the most important event in the golf calendar and so we are
delighted that our award-winning coverage remains available for another five
years to the millions of golf fans who enjoy listening to the Open on 5 Live."
Kelvin Mackenzie, chairman and chief executive of the Wireless Group, owners
of talkSPORT, said: "As a handicap golfer, I will be delighted to turn on to
my own radio station to hear commentary about Tiger Woods' 330-yard drives!"
This year is also the first time that the BBC World Service attends the Open
in its own right - having been granted a licence by the R&A for extended news
coverage but no on-course commentary or one-on-one interviews.
Snead heads champions line-up
Sam Snead, 88, Open winner in 1946, will be the oldest of 22 players who will
take part in the Past Champions Challenge over the 1st, 2nd, 17th and 18th
holes of the Old Course tomorrow.
Play will be in four-balls or three-balls in a best-ball format starting at
4.30pm and for the winning team there will be a cheque for £40,000 made out
to their favourite charity. In addition, each player will be given the
Freedom of the St Andrews Links and receive a commemorative silver plate.
Trust chairman Bill Ritchie will present an embossed certificate and silver
bag tag to each past champion - from Snead to last year's winner Paul Lawrie.
Freedom entitles the holder to play any of the six links courses at St
Andrews and is only granted on special occasions.
The first recipient was Reverend Harcourt Just in the 1940s, and there were
three awards in 1974 - to town clerk Neil Mackenzie and buildings surveyor
Bill Duncan, for helping to create the Links Act, and Gordon Adam, the first
chairman of the links management committee.
The only person to receive it for a golfing achievement is Alex Soutar, a St
Andrean who was the Scottish boys champion in 1962.
Ritchie said: "This is such an important year for St Andrews Links that the
Trustees felt it was appropriate to commemorate it by honouring past Open
Champions in this way. To have them here together at St Andrews is a unique
and historic event, and the Trust is delighted to make these presentations to
these great golfers."
Tomorrow's order of play is as follows: 4.40pm Tom Weiskopf, Tom Lehman, Paul
Lawrie; 4.52pm Robert de Vicenzo, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson; 5.04pm Peter
Thomson, Mark O'Meara, Sandy Lyle, Mark Calcavecchia; 5.16pm Bob Charles,
Bill Rogers, Nick Price, John Daly; 5.28pm Sam Snead, Nick Faldo, Ian
Baker-Finch, Justin Leonard; 5.40pm Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Tony Jacklin,
Seve Ballesteros.
*A busy week continued for Snead today when Wilson, whose equipment he has
used since 1937, presented him with a cake modelled on his trademark hat in
the public exhibition tent at St Andrews. Also on display at the Wilson stand
were the clubs used by Snead (1946), Daly (1995) and Lawrie (1999) when they
won their Open crowns.
Win a round with Seve
Visitors to the Mizuno stand at St Andrews can win an all-expenses-paid trip
to Spain plus a round of golf with three times Open champion Seve
Ballesteros.
The second prize is one of only two Mizuno bags, with the 'Open 2000'
branding down the side, that have been created for the tournament. The other
will be used by Ballesteros during this year's championship.
Anyone visiting the Mizuno stand before 5pm on Wednesday, July 19 will be
able to enter the prize draw.
St Andrews project goes bust
A proposed luxury members' club based at St Andrews has gone bust after its
official opening was put on hold in May.
Liquidators, who moved in on the £9 million Gateway development, said the
project had failed because it had been too ambitious.
Matt Henderson, a liquidator from Grant Thornton, said: "We believe this
project has not succeeded because of optimistic estimates made by the company
of the number of individuals willing to take out membership prior to the
completion of the building."
Online auction to follow Open
A 20-day golf memorabilia auction will immediately follow the Open courtesy
of eBay.co.uk, Britain's largest person-to-person online trading community.
Among the 300 or so items on offer are a W&J Dunn Driving Putter (c.1860) and
Open Championship programmes from 1936.
Graham Rowley, a golf antiquarian from Stourbridge in the West Midlands,
said: "There's an enormous market out there for golf memorabilia but usually
the valuable pieces are only put on bidding blocks in selective auctions,
making them unavailable to many people. eBay.co.uk allows everyone who loves
golf to participate."
Other items up for bidding include (estimated values in brackets): a Hal
Ludlow bronze statue of Harry Vardon 1905 (£3,000); a left-handed Bobby Jones
'Calamity Jane Putter' (£300); rare, out-of-print, hardcover golf books
(£1,500); a signed Tom Morris postcard dated around 1900 (£800); a 1927
limited edition copy of "Down the Fairway", signed by Bobby Jones (£4,000);
an 1875 gutta percha golf ball mould (£3,000); an original 1969 Ryder Cup
captain's money clip (£650).
Grass roots support
St Andrews Links Trust, custodians of the Old Course, have extended their
deal with Scottish Grass Machinery to supply Textron mowers, aerator
equipment, golf cars and utility vehicles.
Having worked with the Trust since 1996, the £10 million company has secured
a £500,000 extension to its initial contract at St Andrews through to 2001.
Under the terms of the deal, SGM will provide round-the-clock support to the
greenkeeping staff throughout the Championship.
Doctors Seve and Monty
Seve Ballesteros and Colin Montgomerie received honorary Doctor of Laws
degrees from the University of St Andrews today.
Acting Principal of the University, Professor Colin Vincent, said: "Colin
Montgomerie and Seve Ballesteros have undoubtedly made a tremendous
contribution to golf and to St Andrews as the "Home of Golf". It is
particularly appropriate to honour their achievements during the millennium
Open".
The University conferred honorary degrees upon Jack Nicklaus in 1984 and Gary
Player in 1995.
Train trouble for Thomson
Peter Thomson may have won the Open five times, but even he could not make a
British train run on time.
The 70-year-old Australian was guest of honour on a newly named Scotrail
train, the Old Course Hotel, St Andrews, as it pulled out of London's King's
Cross station en route to the Home of Golf.
But after reaching Edinburgh without incident, the high-speed engine was
suddenly pulled out of service and after a two-hour delay Thomson and his
entourage completed their journey on a crowded local train which stopped 11
times during the 30 or so miles to St Andrews.
Thomson's connection with the Old Course Hotel dates back to 1995 when he
designed the Duke's Course which is three miles inland from St Andrews.
Open and St Andrews on screen
'The Magnificent Eight - St Andrews' and 'The Open Century', video chronicles
of the Auld Grey Toun and the Open respectively, have been released by Green
Umbrella.
The St Andrews film, priced at £12.99, charts the evolution of the Home of
Golf, intertwined with the emergence of golf as a sport, and footage includes
interviews with multiple Open champions Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Peter
Thomson.
'The Open Century', available for £19.99, has been written and narrated by
the Daily Mail's Ian Wooldridge, and features interviews many of the great
champions.
Caddies' Hall of Fame
The Professional Caddie Association (PCA) is to induct four nominees into its
Hall of Fame at St Andrews this evening.
The PCA has selected Willie Aitchinson, James 'Tip' Anderson, Pete Coleman
and Alfie Fyles for induction at Rusacks Hotel, and is seeking sponsors to
help fund a proposed permanent Caddie Hall of Fame near St Andrews.
"Caddies have been in the game for over 500 years," said PCA founder Dennis
Cone. "We've now got over 2,400 members and we're excited about the overall
attention we're getting."
The American-based organisation will officially open its US headquarters near
the World Golf Village in St Augustine, Florida next March.
For further details, email: pca@pcaworldwide.com
Another trophy for Woods
As if Tiger Woods doesn't have enough trophies, the world No 1 received a
special Millennium Award at St Andrews today to mark his phenomenal victory
in last month's US Open at Pebble Beach.
The 17-inch sterling silver statuette of Harry Vardon, winner of six Opens
and one US Open, was designed by Jersey-based Gerald Palmer and was presented
to Woods by top European senior golfer Tommy Horton.
Blind date
The2000 World Blind Golf Championship will be staged at the Marriott
Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club near Edinburgh from September 11-13.
Tournament patrons include TV commentators Alex Hay and Dougie Donnelly along
with comedian Ronnie Corbett.
