People of the British Open (Part 1)

This is Part 1 of the People of the British Open.

Cheers from the United Kingdom.

More specifically from Scotland in Turnberry at the site of this week's British Open.

Here are some of the nice people on the grounds I met during practice rounds.

I found the people I met very interesting and enjoyed our little conversations and the chance to get to know them.

Here are 17 pictures direct from the British Open to you.

39 Opens in a Row

Here are two guys I first met walking the golf course on Sunday.

The guy on the right with the big smile is Steve Grimoldby. Can you guess why he is smiling? The Turnberry Open will be his 39th straight. His first one was in 1971 at Royal Birkdale when Lee Trevino won. The next year he saw Trevino win again at Muirfield by one stroke over a guy named Nicklaus.

Steve's buddy is Robert Cornish.

It's a Small World

Here's just well one of the nicest family you will ever meet. It's a small world in that they are from Syracuse, New York, which is about one hour from my hometown of Binghamton.

That's 17-year-old Matthew on the left and 15-year-old Christopher on the right. Mom Carol and Dad Kevin Murphy. They are attending the Open on a Make-A-Wish trip.

When Matthew returns home he will successfully conclude a 2 year treatment program. God bless this beautiful family.

Father and Son

Golf seems always to be associated with father-son relationships. 17-year-old son Robert has played golf for two years and is currently "off-six" which I guess means he has a handicap of six. He started the year being a ten at Alton Golf Club in Birmingham, England. Father's name is Robert Farley.

Two Ladies in Waiting

Here are two ladies that were hanging around the ladies room which I thought was a bit odd. I asked if they were waiting for someone but said no.

When I asked what they would like to say to the guys back in America the one on the left responded "wish you were here." Then the quiet one on the right piped in "no, I wish we were there." Evidently not big golf fans.

Still not sure what they were up to.

VAT Reclaim

VAT Reclaim—what the heck does that mean?

Saving Money

So of course I went inside because inquiring minds want to know and I need to find out for the million people who read this article. Evidently in the United Kingdom (UK) the Value Added Tax (VAT) was recently reduced from 17.5 to 15.0%. So people who bought their tickets before the change, like the two guys on the right, were entitled to a refund by the woman and man on the left.

Two thoughts here.

One is I thought the Value Added Tax was on luxurious things like boats and expensive cars. Two is I forgot England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales make up the UK.

Information Centre

The Information Center, or, as they spell it in the UK, the Information Centre. Since they had no business at the moment I thought I would make their business my business, or at least say hello to them. They seemed to be a well-manned operation.

Letting or Leasing?

Unbeknownst to me I can only ask these ladies about leasing, or as they say in the UK, "letting" a place in St. Andrews for next year's Open. They have a big book of places there, of which the lady on the right told me she personally visited each one.

What I didn’t realize is that the Information Centre was divided up into five different sections, each with a little label on the awning above—from left to right—Tickets, General Enquires (Inquiries?), Programme (no, not another typo) Sales, Travel Information, and 2010 Official Letting Agents.

What Information Do You Have for Me?

Of course my question was, if I wanted to buy a program and a ticket to travel to and stay in St. Andrews next year, who should I speak to?

These three ladies from left to right are Anne, Kristie, and Nicole. Nicole was selling programs while Anne and Kristie were fielding general inquires. So of course I had to inquire as to what people were inquiring about since, after all, it is a center of information.

The No. 1 question was "do you have maps?" The answer is no. well kind of. The real answer is they are in the program which you have to buy for six pounds. Here's the rub with the R&A. Even the daily pairing sheets at the British Open cost you two pounds. Unless you buy the program for six pounds then they are free. If you buy the program on a practice day when there are no pairing sheets then you get a coupon for a free pairing sheet if you come back for a tournament round. Kind of cheesy of you ask me.

Look Before You Ask

The second most popular question is "where can I reclaim the VAT?" As you can see in this picture, the VAT Reclaim booth is right next door to the Information Center.

Open Mouth and Pour

Nicole, the lady on the right in the Information Center—General Inquiries yelled out "the Open Arms is open" and commented under her breath "Scottish guys are not happy when they can't drink." I think it was about 10 a.m. So of course I had to walk across to the Open Arms to further investigate this line of thought and reasoning.

Official Beer of the Open

Evidently Pilsner Urquell is the Official Beer of the Open Championship and you can get it in the Open Arms. Maybe the place should be called "Open Tap?"

Official Beer Drinkers of the Open

The guy on the left is Robert Carson who caddies at Turnberry and had Scott Verplank in the 1994 Open at Turnberry, the one Nick Price won.

His son David is also a caddy here and has Peter Ellebye from Denmark this week. Robert caddies in South Florida in the winter where they like Scottish caddies and evidently tip them well.

His caddy buddy is Paul McDowell a.k.a. "Plum." Don't ask me why—it's a caddy thing. Both are not happy since the course has been closed since last October to do the modifications for hosting the Open after a 15 year gap. Neither thinks Tiger Woods will win here and neither has "enough money to place all the bets they want to."

Get the Picture

Here's a guy I first met at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. I remember him because I saw a kid wanting an autograph get trampled by the gallery of Sergio Garcia.

He is a friend of Sergio and was kind enough to take the boy's hat and have Sergio sign it for him.

He is a photographer with many cameras and knee pads. His name is Alex Jackson and he is from Leeds, England where you can see five Dr. Alistair MacKenzie designed golf courses from the roof of his house. This is his 16th Open and he has done 13 U.S. Opens and 12 PGA Championships but no Masters to date.

Lady Marshal

This is Elizabeth Legget, a lady marshal on the first hole. She is a four handicapper that plays out of Strenreer Golf Club, which is in a town with the same name about 45 minutes south of Turnberry.

I asked her if she ever visited America. She replied that yes she had visited friends in Cleveland, Ohio for two weeks and had a great time. I told her about the Harry Chapin song where he spent two weeks in Watertown, New York one afternoon.

Two Local Mates

Here's two local guys that live right down the road in Girvan, Scotland.

Gift for Tiger

One of the local guys was given an assignment by his six-year old daughter. She drew this picture of Tiger Woods and wanted her dad to give it to him today. Hey, it has an official "Nike swoosh", so maybe he will take it.

Who's the Boss?

I ran into the Official Gang of the Official Beer out on the golf course near the sixth green, which is a long way from the hospitality area. I wondered who was running the Open Arms show and asked who the boss was.

All in all it was a fun day at the British Open meeting people.