Dear AGW Members,
Hello all,
I’d just like to bring you up to date regarding matters relating to the forthcoming US Open, the Open, and the AGW dinner, plus a note on the Masters.
US Open:
As you might have heard the USGA, in their infinite wisdom, have chosen a new course that is shaping up to be a logistical nightmare. Ian Poulter has tweeted that it has all the makings of being a farce inside the ropes and it’s certainly heading that way outside them as well. The course is apparently so difficult to walk precious few armbands will be made available, and the ‘lucky’ recipients will find out when they check in for the week. The allocation of rooms for the official hotel had already gone by the time I applied two days after receiving the form and there’s no shuttle from the other media hotel. I know the GWAA have made clear their dissatisfaction, while the USGA didn’t even bother inviting the AGW to the meeting they had at the Masters outlining everything. I’ve made my feelings known to Pete Kowalski and hopefully we’ll get some sort of co-operation going forward. But in the meantime, on top of the eight or nine hour time difference affecting most of us, this looks like being yet another in a long line of US Opens that’s just a pain in the backside to cover.
Open Championship:
What a breath of fresh air the Royal and Ancient are in comparison to the USGA. Those who were at the meeting at St Andrews recently will have been encouraged, like I was, by the arrangements that have been put in place for July. OK, the media centre (located in the car park beside the British Golf Museum) will involve an extra 50 yard walk and a bridge to cross to get to the first tee, but the plus side of this is the bridge will also be one used by the players, so hopefully there will be the opportunity to grab the odd word or two during practice days. The cramped area for flash interviews in 2010 has been replaced by the workable system we’ve become accustomed to at more recent Opens, and there will be inside the ropes access behind the 17th and the 18thgreen. At the former, it will be in the usual spot behind the wall, while at the latter, there will be an area for media in front of the whizz-bang new grandstand going up next to the R&A clubhouse. There will be a new digital scoreboard this year and we will have a lot of input regarding the details it carries. To this end, I’m expecting some correspondence from Malcolm Booth shortly, which I will share with you all when I get it. The idea is to get your feedback and then, together with Bernie, we’ll collate all the opinions and form a consensus, which we can then present to Malcolm.
AGW Dinner:
The bad news is there’s no tent acreage on site this year big enough to accommodate our dinner. The good news is the R&A, as an alternative, have secured us the ballroom at the Old Course hotel for our use, and we’re grateful for their help. Personally, I think we’ve come out comfortably on the right side of this deal. Not only does the ballroom accommodate a few more people, with room for about 340 (we normally have to limit the numbers to about 320) but hopefully we should be able to persuade a few players who are staying there to join us for the evening. One problem we might have is getting our golfer of the year to attend, since Rory McIlroy is required at the Champions’ Dinner that evening. But hopefully we’ll be able to come up with something.
Ticket prices will be the same as last year i e £50.
Masters:
Things appeared to go as smoothly as ever with the one perennial exception of the flash area, which was worse than ever this year. Our secretary Bernie let the green jackets know in no uncertain terms during a meeting on Saturday morning, describing the arrangements as ‘the worst we see on tour all year.’ There is a willingness to try to get it right going forward, however, within the usual Augusta constraints, so if anyone has any ideas please forward them to me and I shall pass them on to Steve Ethun.
Thanks,
Derek Lawrenson, AGW Chairman,
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