Later on we watched Patrick Reed playing into the 17th green, a par 5 with a hollow on the left and a dune on the right of the green. He spent ages dropping balls into the hollow and chipping to every conceivable pin position from there. The reason? He knows that if he’s going for the green in two, he’ll have to play a shot into the green in such a way that if it misses the putting surface it HAS to finish left of the green - right of it would leave zero chance of getting up and down. He also hit long putts from the back of the green to the front but never the other way. Again, he knows that a long shot in would easily bounce past the pin and leave a long putt back to the front. At this level the players are preparing their strategy like a game of chess, working out the next move in advance and increasing their odds of shooting a good score. If you’re going to The Open, see if you can get a sense for when they’re playing safe and when they’re going for a dangerous shot with bail out options. If you do go, the public park and ride is situated next to the Southport Pleasure Land Park, you can just drive there instead of going past the course. Personally I would park at a railway station nearby and get the train in, the station is right next to the course or you can park on someone’s drive less than a mile away for £5, just Google it. A rep came in the shop last week who supplies flags to be sold at the Open and used for autograph hunters, they normally supply 13,000 of them but this year they’ve upped it to 25,000 as they think it’s going to be the biggest attendance ever, the atmosphere should be awesome. Best idea of the week? A new app which you can use in the grandstand behind the 1st tee to order food and drink and they’ll deliver it directly to your seat!! I hope you enjoy the pictures from Royal Birkdale including the aargh moment when I saw the message above the exit barriers! |