All this reminds me of those pithy little vignettes before Pink Floyd songs that really expose the old English mentality that I must admit, I like.. The one before Wish you were here which was a little BBC on the radio play highlights it best to me.. I remember Paul Turner another guy (if you read the whats wrong with GCA threads as most will not remember him nor I from the old days) listening to these plays while traveling around the UK and Europe.. I digress.
But it reminds me of a bunch of salmon coloured trousers R&A members (without Mr. Huntley!) and public school chaps gathering around with a tasty claret discussing Deal:
Nigel- Surely Piers Deal could not hold an Open, too tight a routing old bean, no?
Piers: Here Here chap..
Alistair: Back 9 is too difficult for major championship play in a gale, I agree. Pass the nuts please Nigel..
Nigel- So it is decided, no Open, we can't fit the hoi polloi
Graham- Tosh, Deal's a cracking place for an Open. Lets do it.
Nigel- But it will only fit 30-40,000 people
Piers- Plus it would pinch all of Sandwich's glory.
Alistair- They only have one room in the clubhouse where you must wear a coat, how can we hold an open at such an informal place!
Graham- Sod off gents.. And Bob's your uncle, wait you guys are all Eton grads, Bob is your uncle and your father.
My point in writing this was Darwin said, Deal is the most testing of the championship venues and who would have known better than him. Chappers is local and knows so much more than I about the politics etc, but even though I'd love a Walker Cup or other 2nd tier event, I dream of seeing the big boys tee it up.. I want to see them play the 6th and 10th in championship play, I want to see 16 as a par 4.5 into the wind.. I want to see the greens confound them. I want to see cracking golf on this mighty links which is as classic as the very definition of the word. My point is, I think the English mentality is not letting the Open Return and Deal is due, the North Sea spoiled so many Opens it deservedly earned.