The 2012 British Open Championship is upon us. It is British Open week for the golf lovers out there. In a press conference the other day Tiger Woods called the British Open Championship his favorite major. As a golf fan I have to agree because it is such a unique event. In the United States we do not get a chance to see very much “Links” golf played on TV. Even when we do it is not true links golf. Here are a few of the things I love about watching the “Open Championship” as the rest of the world calls it.
· Peter Allis- The sound of Peters voice just says it British Open week. The terms he uses, the stories he tells, the pictures he paints with words are priceless
· The bump and run- who does not love seeing a player putt the ball from forty yards off the green
· Flagsticks bent over from gale force winds- they do not stop play because it is a little breezy-play on they say
· Heather, Gorse and all kinds of grasses- in the US we might call it hay or feed but in the British Isles they call it rough
· Berns- those little streams that cross the fairways in strategic spots- not much bigger than a ditch but very penal and cool to look at as a spectator- Of course, Jean Van de Velde may not agree as a player
· Manual scoreboards- I love to see the old, yellow, manual scoreboards- no fancy LED screens for the Open Championship- good old manual scoreboards with some guy behind it flipping names and numbers
· Players struggling- It is fun to watch the best players in the world struggle from time to time- nothing like watching a top athlete staring at the ground, with his hands on hips trying to figure out what just went wrong
· Seeing players from around the globe- it is fun to watch players from around the globe we have never heard of in the US. Remember 1998 when seventeen year old amateur Justin Rose burst onto the scene and almost won the Open?
· Architecture- it is nice to see the shots and scenes captured on TV of the old towns, buildings and houses of the British Isles. There is something comforting about seeing a five hundred year old building
· Tom Watson- he is synonymous with the Open Championship having won it five times. You have to love watching old Tom standing in the fairway arms crossed, rain coming down and him visualizing a shot. Then more times than not executing the shot.
What do you enjoy about the British Open? Leave us a comment and let us know.
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