It was great to see all my golfing heroes up at Sunningdale last week for the Seniors British Open. They were all there, Faldo, Norman, Torrance, Langer and Tom Watson. Surrounded by trees Sunningdale is a heathland course west of London and just a few miles away from Wentworth, it has 2 courses the Old and the New. The Old Course was designed by Willie Park Jr in 1901 and the New by Harry Colt in 1923. Recently both courses have undergone renovation work mainly to the bunkers by Artchitect Martin Hawtree. The club emblem is an oak tree after the huge oak tree standing majestically beside the 18th green. Recently the course has hosted the Seve Trophy, Open qualifying and British Ladies Open in 2008 won by 21-year-old Ji-Yai Shin. The Old course is rated by many as one of the best courses in the world.
The Seniors Open had added interest for me, working with the staging team at the European Tour I produced the course graphics for the event. Planning for such an event is huge and began over 12 months ago. Work on site began over a month ago to erect the stands, tented village structures and putting in place the thousands of metres of cables for TV and communications.
The event also brings an added boost to the local shops with a noticable amount of extra business being done by the small shops, pubs and cafes. From our 1st floor office we have the perfect spot for people watching which can be great fun in a town like Sunningdale.
Watching the players of yesterday brings back many great memories, but don’t be fooled these guys can still hit the ball and the hunger can still be seen. After 4 fascinating rounds Loren Roberts eventually won in a play-off. Many big names were narrowly beaten as the final leader board shows.
Looking back it really was a great event, from the relaxed atmosphere to the exciting golf. It was so nice to see the crowds of young fans queueing up for autographs and the friendly banter between the players.
A last mention for our Director Michael King who along with being a member at Sunningdale is an ex-player and without injury would have been in there at the end as his great friend Sam Torrance was.
Wednesday evening in Madrid. What to do? The first rule of traveling is never to eat in the hotel – if you eat there, all you ever see is airport, golf course and hotel. So, taxi to Plaza Mayor. Stroll around for several hours. Stop in several bars. The great thing about Spain is that if you order a beer, you get a small plate of olives, or salad, or vegetables, meat or fish. In Italy it would be called Antipasti. In Spain, it’s tapas or, for the really hungry, ‘raciones’. So, you can wander, stop at a bar, have a drink and something to nibble on; then wander off again, only to repeat the process when you find another bar that looks interesting. Hours later, it’s time to go back to the hotel, not having sat down to a meal, but having eaten more than enough. And having seen a lot of a beautiful city. Perfect.
Italy’s Diana Luna hit 18 greens en route to a stunning final round of 68 and claimed her first tour win in five years at the AIB Ladies Irish Open supported by Failte Ireland. She said she enjoys Ireland. “The people and the atmosphere are so great. We always play great courses; links is my favourite,” she said.
“It is a very rare occurrence”, according to Yvonne Cassidy, Tournament Director of the AIB Ladies Irish Open for the Ladies European Tour, for every one of Europe’s top 40 ranked professionals to enter for a tournament. This demonstrates the success of the event in 2008 on the Portmarnock Links club and clearly establishing it is as one of the premier events on the Ladies European Tour.
During the event Laura Davies was made an Honorary Member of The Links Golf Society at the AIB Ladies Irish Open supported by Fáilte Ireland. The English star was awarded the first female honorary membership, in recognition of a lifetime of achievement in women’s golf.
From this weeks Spike Bar – by John Hopkins, Internet Sports Writer of the Year
Portmarnock Links is a course of two halves. You make your score on the outward nine holes, which are flat and quite open, and then hope to hang on to it on the inward nine holes which wend their way through sand dunes – a lengthy tongue of shallow dune land as the late, great Pat Ward-Thomas described it – by the side of the Irish Sea a few miles north of Dublin. Bernhard Langer is credited with the design of the course but Stan Eby from European Golf Design did all the work and deserves more credit.
Click to read the Times online Spike Bar
