As part of our on-going preparation for The 147th Open, Sandy Reid (Links Superintendent) and myself spent a few days down at The 146th Open at Royal Birkdale during the practice days and the Thursday of the tournament.
One of our own – greenkeeper Craig Kerr
We met up with Course Manager Chris Whittle and spoke about how preparation had gone with things on, as well as off the course. This was Chris’ fifth Open, having prepared the course for the event twice before at Royal Birkdale, in 1998 and 2008, and also at Muirfield in 1992. His first Open experience was as Deputy Course Manager for the 1974 Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Not all our time at The Open was spent on the golf course watching golf though. The main part of the trip was to look at how space around the course was taken up with the likes of the T.V. compound, contractors compound, practice range, tour trucks etc. as well as looking at grandstands and spectator movement. The reason for this is that these are things which are a common factor at every Open Championship, at every major championship in fact and it’s something that we are going to have to keep on top of when our turn comes round next year.
STRI on the course at Royal Birkdale
We also met up with Craig Kerr, our man helping out on The Open Support Team this year. The Open Support Team is a group of greenkeepers from each of the venues on The Open rota, along with a group of select BIGGA members, who all lend their hand to the home greenkeepers in getting the course ready for each and every day of the Championship. Craig was down the week before and the week of the tournament and was involved in various tasks from cutting greens to cutting fairways to raking bunkers. All jobs that need to be done every day in a tournament.
At the Carnoustie Country stand
Each year we go to The Open we make a point of catching up with the STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute). These are the guys who are responsible for collecting data during the run up and the week itself, measurements collated include firmness, smoothness, trueness, moisture and green speeds. These measurements together with up to date weather forecasts are very useful in planning what goes on in a day.
And thanks must also go to the Angus Council’s Carnoustie Country team who were promoting Carnoustie 2018 at Birkdale, including our latest Environmental Guide for Carnoustie Golf Links, which you can read here.
Words by Craig Boath, Head Greenkeeper of the Championship course