Mac,
The gowfers have started to tee off and here I am almost as far from the scene of the action as could be imagined. The Open won by Severiano Ballasteros at St. Andrews in 1984 encapsulated, for me, all that is so wonderful about golf. The beauty of the surroundings and the buccaneering style that so depicted Seve’s approach to golf captured my imagination and cemented my passion for this “the greatest gemme”.
Such were my imaginings, this evening, that I dipped back into the official Open Golf Annual for 1984. Therein Pat Ward-Thomas has written a piece “Homage to a Peerless Golfer” describing Bobby Jones accepting the Freedom of the City. Ward-Thomas cites Bobby Jones likening The Old Course to a “wise old lady, whimsically tolerant of my impatience, but ready to reveal the secrets of her complex being, if I would only take the trouble to study and learn”.
I am looking forward immensely to seeing who amongst today’s clutch of players has taken these well-founded words to heart. Fore! Fore! Fore!
Colin