Why I won't be attending the Open Championship in Portrush.

It’s here, it is finally here. The Open Championship, the British Open, the final bloody Major of 2019 is here and we are only half way through the summer. We have witnessed those of us who worship at the church of golf, the preparations at Portrush for what seems like an eternity. It still is too early to make a call about the weather because at the end of the day the weather will determine whether it will be a great Open or one that will only last in the memory for 5 minutes. I decided not to travel up north this year for the most selfish of reasons; money.

I’ve attended the last two championships at Birkdale and Carnoustie and my abiding memory is the value for money I received every day of my 5 day adventure. I have concerns that the logistics and event management of the tournament might fall short of the normal gold standard. This year’s Open Championship will be stewarded by a majority of first timers with no previous experience of crowd control at a Major. Also the majority of the crowd will be virgin attendees and this I fear is a possible recipe not for disaster but for an amount of inconvenience that I simply wasn’t going to put up with. Stewards are almost as crucial as players when it comes to the success or otherwise of a sporting occasion and their attention to detail in attempting to control crowds of up to 500 spectators at the various pathways and fairway crossings will be the proof of the pudding for this tournament.

While at the last two Majors and most notably the 2018 edition at Carnoustie, I spoke with a number of volunteers resplendent in the Boss sponsored golfing attire. The majority were seasoned campaigners who took holidays in July to offer their services to the good people at the R&A. These were veterans of many campaigns but I was shocked at how few intended travelling over the Irish Sea for the Portrush spectacle. I would implore all those intending to travel to the golf this week to abide by the direction given to them from every steward and be patient at every instance.

And who will lift the trophy? A local winner would be a huge result but Rory’s performance at the Scottish Open doesn’t bode well for his legion of fans and the remaining home players are still a little off the pace. John Rahm is certainly the guy to beat. A tremendous victory at Lahinch has ensured that he arrives in Portrush standing at least 10 foot tall and a Spanish victory would be a worthy reward for Paul McGinley’s course set up down in Clare. The Americans will turn up with their usual suspects with one or two of them at least to appear in the reckoning on Sunday afternoon. But for me it has to be Rahm on his way to becoming the second greatest Spanish golfer of all time.