Horrible, horrible news from Walton Heath; course manager Ian McMillan died yesterday, very suddenly. It was only last week I was with Ian, and he seemed right as rain. Ian was one of the most important figures in the British greenkeeping industry; at Hankley Common he was responsible for overseeing the heath regeneration programme that made the course a beacon for so many others in the area, and he repeated the achievement at Walton Heath. The Senior Open, being held at Walton this July, would have been his crowning achievement; now it will be his memorial.
He will be sadly missed by the whole of the golf world.