Watching an Open at the TOC

[Anthony Gholz]

To Veteran Open Spectators on TOC:
I've followed the "major" tournaments at Oakland Hills in Detroit since the 1964 Carling Open.  The South course is an old fashioned open field entity where all is visible and you can follow the spectator flow across the property while sitting in one of several "perches" on the rolling property.  Great place to watch golf with the notable exception of the Ryder Cup which was jammed.  Pick a spot a sit, see the "field" play through on one hole, and then go home.

Now move across the pond to TOC.  I've been to St Andrews multiple times both playing golf on the Old and New and once staying with the family at Rusacks for the Christmas holidays.  One year we played TOC on Christmas Day in 55 degrees and blue sky sun.  I highly recommend it.  During that occasion, on Boxing Day, Mom and I  finished on the New and walked around to the 17th green on TOC and watched my son & father finish their round on TOC, playing up to the green and then following them down 18.  Took pictures the whole time.

Many of us I'm sure have dreamed of seeing an Open on TOC and, having been on property, I thought it would be a simple matter to walk along the right side OB line and follow my favorite player.  However, during an Open the stands along the right side immediately put that dream in jeopardy.  No problem, I just walk around the stands and the putting course, oh and the second tee which is OB for the rest of the year, and pick my group up at the first green.  Then follow my plan around (with maybe a bottleneck around the back of the 7&11 green) and down the inward nine along 12 thru 16. 

The we walk around behind 17 tee, another OB tee, and then ... what?   Even if we get around the Old Course hotel we're stuck.  Can't walk down The Road  of the Road Hole can we?  And of course the crowds along 18 are too big to allow "following" much less "watching" my favorite group. 

For you veterans of an Open at St Andrews what do you say about my "plan?"  Can at least parts of it be followed?  Or are there just too many people and I should just find a place in the stands and watch from one spot all day?  It doesn't seem that you can watch one group play all 18 holes during an Open.
Thanks for commenting on my dream and giving me a few tips for watching.
Anthony

[Michael Felton]

TOC is probably the worst course on the Open rota from the perspective of spectating. The holes all sit side by side with each other and so you only have one side that you can see from at any given moment. You can generally follow along the right hand side until the 7th tee, but then 7 disappears into that area that you can't get to. You can go around to 8 and follow 8, 9, 10, but then you're stuffed once they play 11. You kind of have to walk all the way around 10, 9, 8 and get round to 12 tee that way. Then you can follow along the right side until 17. They do open walkways to cross the fairways, but they have to wait for an opening on two holes at once to do it, so you could easily sit there for 20 minutes waiting for a crossing to open. It's also pretty flat, so if it's more than three people deep, then good luck seeing much unless you're blessed with being tall.

[Adam Lawrence]

The other problem with spectating in St Andrews is that, as Michael says, the property is rather flat but that the greens are _mostly_ slightly raised. Therefore you are, unless you are in a grandstand, trying to watch from below the level of the putting surface.


There is a great spot for viewing on a small dune close to the tenth green which gives a decent view of most of the Loop. But generally from a spectating pov I’d say it is really a TV course…

[Niall C]

I've always thought the best way to walk the course and follow a group during the Open is to go on the practice day. During the actual comp it is near impossible to follow a particular group unless they are out late in the day and there isn't a big name in the group. Far better to pick a stand to sit in for a couple of hours and watch the groups go by. Generally the big names will be bunched together in the first couple of days.


That's the practicalities but really for me going to the Open is about the vibe and meeting friends both by accident and design.


Niall

[Kalen Braley]

At the risk of the purists like Melvynn blowing a gasket...

Seems like they could place a grand stand configuration on the west side of the course (OB if it can be arranged) near the 6-12, 5-13, 4-14, 3-15, and 2-16 greens.  This would greatly enhance viewing and perhaps provide some epic views of that entire corridor. And its not like they don't have the stomach for it, it already exists in large form on the 18th hole at most Opens.

As a bonus even one to the east side of 1 green.

[Niall C]

Kalen


What is noticeable at more recent Opens is that there are more and more grandstands with the expectation that fans will do what I suggested above, and staying the one place and watch groups pass through. At the last Open at TOC I recall the stands being larger but then they were covering a double green and two sets of tees.


Niall

[mike_beene]

The US Open at Merion had similar challenges.

[Ed Brzezowski]

We went to the last Open and had a blast. I think the course is so tight the sightlines across fairways were easy to manage. They did a great job at the crossing and my granddaughter met Rory whilst using a crosswalk.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Kalen


What is noticeable at more recent Opens is that there are more and more grandstands with the expectation that fans will do what I suggested above, and staying the one place and watch groups pass through. At the last Open at TOC I recall the stands being larger but then they were covering a double green and two sets of tees.


Niall

Niall,


Hate to contradict you. But I will.


The R&A’s strategy is actually to reduce the number of grandstands to get people moving more around the course and use the hospitality which they are now trying to break up and spread where possible.


The number of stands at Troon was much reduced in 2024 from 2016.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Kalen


What is noticeable at more recent Opens is that there are more and more grandstands with the expectation that fans will do what I suggested above, and staying the one place and watch groups pass through. At the last Open at TOC I recall the stands being larger but then they were covering a double green and two sets of tees.


Niall

Niall,


Hate to contradict you. But I will.


The R&A’s strategy is actually to reduce the number of grandstands to get people moving more around the course and use the hospitality which they are now trying to break up and spread where possible.


The number of stands at Troon was much reduced in 2024 from 2016.

I'd read this was the strategy, people aren't spending when they are sitting. 
At the last RSG Open 2021, a very average Fish and Chips was £15.  Poor coffee was London 'Barista' prices. 
Next year I will take sandwiches to Portrush! ( !)


One year I'll make it to spectate at The Dunhill in October. The spectator no's are a fraction of the Open and I've been told you can follow groups round.

[Sean_A]

Kalen


What is noticeable at more recent Opens is that there are more and more grandstands with the expectation that fans will do what I suggested above, and staying the one place and watch groups pass through. At the last Open at TOC I recall the stands being larger but then they were covering a double green and two sets of tees.


Niall

Niall,


Hate to contradict you. But I will.


The R&A’s strategy is actually to reduce the number of grandstands to get people moving more around the course and use the hospitality which they are now trying to break up and spread where possible.


The number of stands at Troon was much reduced in 2024 from 2016.

I'd read this was the strategy, people aren't spending when they are sitting. 
At the last RSG Open 2021, a very average Fish and Chips was £15.  Poor coffee was London 'Barista' prices. 
Next year I will take sandwiches to Portrush! ( !)


One year I'll make it to spectate at The Dunhill in October. The spectator no's are a fraction of the Open and I've been told you can follow groups round.

Let’s do it next year!

Ciao

[Marty Bonnar]

The Dunhill is chronic. A procession of C-list celebrities and retired sportspeople thrashing their way around decent golf courses at a horrendous time of the year weather-wise.
Don’t waste your time.
Senior Open practice days probably the most fun and interesting.
TOC is really terrible for watching golf, especially at big tournaments. Volunteer marshalling is a good way to get inside the ropes if you’re really desperate to see them up close, but enjoying a beer or a glass of fizz watching the ‘action’ on the big screens is easily the best option!
F.

[Niall C]

Ally


I don't have any facts and figures to offer but thought I'd read somewhere that they were putting in more stands ? Certainly my perception from having been at Troon in both 2016 and this year was that there were more stands than previously. And again my perception in 2016 was that there were more stands than the previous Troon Open and in places that they hadn't been before.


I wonder if the number of seats has reduced but the number of stands has increased ? In other words smaller stands but more of them.


Niall

[Sean_A]

Ally

I don't have any facts and figures to offer but thought I'd read somewhere that they were putting in more stands ? Certainly my perception from having been at Troon in both 2016 and this year was that there were more stands than previously. And again my perception in 2016 was that there were more stands than the previous Troon Open and in places that they hadn't been before.

I wonder if the number of seats has reduced but the number of stands has increased ? In other words smaller stands but more of them.

Niall

I too thought the general idea was for more stands to help with the flow of people. I read it somewhere, but it didn't really nhit with me because I have no interest in going to the Open again.

Ciao

[James Reader]

The Walker Cup at TOC was a fantastic viewing experience - head and shoulders better than the Open or the Dunhill. As others have said, the truth is that it’s just not a great place to watch golf unless you can get onto the fairways and into the middle of the course.


That said, I spent a week working as a marshall at the 2022 Open and had a great time. The atmosphere around the course and in the town was great and, as long as you didn’t try to follow the top groups, there were still plenty of places to sit and watch interesting golf. Ally may be right about the other venues but I can’t see them reducing the number of grandstands at future Old Course Opens; without them there just aren’t that many places to stand where you can actually see much.

[Jamie Pyper]

It was always on my bucket list to attend an Open at St. Andrews, so when my childhood idol Jack Nicklaus announced his last
Open would be at TOC in 2005, I was in. I purchased a week pass but after the first day realized the on-site viewing was very limited. It took me two full days to find a little perch behind the drivable 9th green that became my go-to viewing spot for most of that week.


Thursday was to be the great man's final round and the crowds were huge, so I set up adjacent to the 18th green where I stayed all day to watch his first drive off # 1 through to his final birdie putt on the 18th green. They had the Links Road split down the middle with a 6 foot high chain link fence, probably only 8 feet wide separating the paying patrons from the non-paying general public along the storefront side, the pedestrian traffic was insane. There were no concession stands or toilets readily available to the patrons in that area, so I befriended a Scottish man standing beside me to save my spot and I would nip out the corner exit and hop down to the Dunvegan for a pint. I must have done that in and out 6 times that day- the best way IMO to view the Open at TOC.

[Adam Lawrence]

I wasn't aware of the R&A strategy as described by Ally, but it makes sense.

I think that Open spectator issues do vary significantly from course to course. To give a couple of examples: obviously the access to Royal St George's is horrendous -- last time it was there, I went by train, and I remember I had done almost 10,000 steps in the day by the time I got to the golf course (including a fair walk to the station from which I departed). But once you get to the golf course, the property is enormous. If there was a way of getting them there, you could get a vast number of spectators on the course at Sandwich.

By contrast at St Andrews, the property is tight (at least the Old course is; take a quick stroll onto the New and you have a ton of space; I remember doing so during an Open and finding it deserted); moving round the course is horrendous; and the visibility is terrible. I think large numbers of grandstands are the only way St Andrews can adequately deal with the number of people who want to watch an Open there. At Birkdale, the size of the dunes and the fact that most of the holes are in valleys makes moving around the course tricky, but means that visibility of individual holes is fabulous -- it is almost the world's first stadium golf course.

[Niall C]

It was always on my bucket list to attend an Open at St. Andrews, so when my childhood idol Jack Nicklaus announced his last
Open would be at TOC in 2005, I was in. I purchased a week pass but after the first day realized the on-site viewing was very limited. It took me two full days to find a little perch behind the drivable 9th green that became my go-to viewing spot for most of that week.


Thursday was to be the great man's final round and the crowds were huge, so I set up adjacent to the 18th green where I stayed all day to watch his first drive off # 1 through to his final birdie putt on the 18th green. They had the Links Road split down the middle with a 6 foot high chain link fence, probably only 8 feet wide separating the paying patrons from the non-paying general public along the storefront side, the pedestrian traffic was insane. There were no concession stands or toilets readily available to the patrons in that area, so I befriended a Scottish man standing beside me to save my spot and I would nip out the corner exit and hop down to the Dunvegan for a pint. I must have done that in and out 6 times that day- the best way IMO to view the Open at TOC.

Jamie,


I was at that Open and if I'm not mistaken Friday was Nicklaus's last day as I don't think he made the cut. Either way I watched him from where you describe and again from memory he sank a 10/12 foot downhiller for birdie. A wonderful way to finish. It was tragic that Watson didn't get to out the same way in his last Open at TOC.


Niall

[Niall C]

I wasn't aware of the R&A strategy as described by Ally, but it makes sense.

I agree. More smaller stands spread around the course with the associated hospitality/toilets is the way to go. I don't get the sense that many people try to follow one group from 1st to 18th but instead do what I do (when not partaking of the hospitality areas) which is to find a likely spot and stay for an hour or so and watch a number of different groups play through.


Of the Scottish venues my favourite for viewing and getting round is probably Carnoustie.


Niall

[Kalen Braley]

Even thou he would never fess up to it, Bonnar secretly pines for this setup at The Open... 

[Marty Bonnar]

K,
Oddly enough, I really don’t mind the WM setup. Everyone knows what they’re getting into there.
However, I really love when twenty thousand people go totally silent waiting for a putt - then go absolutely mental when it drops!
 
F.

[Kalen Braley]

K,
Oddly enough, I really don’t mind the WM setup. Everyone knows what they’re getting into there.
However, I really love when twenty thousand people go totally silent waiting for a putt - then go absolutely mental when it drops!
 
F.

You and me alike.  WM is my guilty pleasure tourney to watch year in and out, despite the over-the-top hoopla on 16.

PS. I might be out on a limb here, but one would think the R&A would actually be interested in enhancing the viewing options at a course like TOC. Or is it still enough to regurgitate "history and tradition" and people still show up, plunking down big money for crap viewing?

[Thomas Dai]

Seems in general terms like the more people attend at an event and the more complex the logistics of them getting there, being fed and watered and accommodated on site and away again post event plus the pricing and the behavioural aspects the less enjoyable the overall experience is.
And it’s not just golf.
Rather sad. Used to enjoy attending various events live. Alas no longer the case.
Atb

[Niall C]

David


It might have got more expensive, even when you take into account inflation, however facilities are better and it's not any harder to get to the venues and indeed probably easier. Yes, there's more people but then there are more stands that make it easier to see (and enjoy) the golf. So no need to nick a beer crate out the back of the hospitality so you have something to stand on to see over the crowd.


However what you didn't mention in your post is that the older you get the less inclined you are to put up with all the effort and hassle. Easier to sit down in front of the telly (on mute) with a drink in hand.


Niall

[ward peyronnin]

I agree about the Walker Cup experience. However I must warn all that the w/c, loo, or whatever the preferred term is is situationally hazardous. It seemed like there were maybe 3 on the whole property which were always across the other side of the course when needed. No crosswalks either to speak of.
Imagine my relief when a player dashed ouside the ropes on 5 or 6 and became intimate with a large group of Gorse whose example I thereafter adopted.