The Open

Tomorrow starts one of the grandest events in sports, The Open. This year they are playing Carnoustie, a place where golf began. People have been playing the game there for 350 years. With St. Andrews, this is the place where th grand game was born.
This is a links course, seaside and unadorned. The grass is fescue and . with the exception of the greens, it is not watered and you take the course as you find it. This year, no rain, so the course is hard as a brick and the ball is rolling up to 100 yards. The greens are also hard, but kept slow to keep the wind from blowing it around. The wind can be awful, but is expected to be moderate this week and the rain should be light.
However, the weather forecast almost does not matter Along the North Sea weather changes almost whimsically. I have seen it go from dry and mild with a little breezy to hard rain, heavy wind and 55 degrees, then become sunny, still and 80, All in 1 round.
It is said that because of the hard greens and fairways, you must play the ball along the ground, uet Nicklaus and Watson hit it high and won. No one has any idea how this will go and that is what makes it fun.
Watching the Open is like stepping back in time. This is where the game was born.   There is so much tradition and beauty. Such things are not much valued today and that is a shame. Spend some time this week and see why remembering the past can be a fine thing.