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The Walker Cup 2023, The Old Course at St Andrews: 2-3 September

The Walker Cup 2023, on The Old Course at St Andrews

The Walker Cup is organised by the R&A and the USGA.

In 1921 a team of US amateur golfers crossed the Atlantic and arrived at the Royal Liverpool with one aim: To win the Amateur Championship at Hoylake. A match was held between the US team and a team of Brits, a day before the Championship.  The US team won, 9-3.  Three more contests were held annually, before the competition became biennial in 1925.

The Walker Cup employs a combination of foursomes (alternate-shot) and singles competition and was originally the format used for the professional equivalent Ryder Cup. In 2009, the number of singles matches on the second day was increased to 10, so that all members of the team play on this final afternoon.

From BBC Sport, by Iain Carter:

"GB&I hope St Andrews home comforts will help against US"

Great Britain and Ireland's leading amateur golfers are hoping to make home advantage count this weekend as they seek to win the Walker Cup against the United States for the first time since 2015.

There could be no more iconic venue for the historic match than the Old Course at St Andrews. The contest marks 100 years since the contest was first played in the United Kingdom.  Read more

From Golf News 24, by Mark Flanagan:

"GB&I massive underdogs… it’s not quite as simple as that!"

Tomorrow the 49th Walker Cup starts at St Andrews. One hundred years ago the second staging of the biennial showdown took place at The Home of Golf.  Read more

Sustainable Golf Milestone achieved by Women's Scottish Open

History and sustainability are interwoven, in the video above.

From LET Blog, 3/8/23:

The FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf has achieved the notable milestone of becoming the first GEO Certified® Tournament on the Ladies European Tour, recognising the tournament’s leadership as a more sustainable golf event.  Read more

Highlights from the 2022 Women’s Scottish Open included:

• 85% of the tournament energy supplied through mains supplied renewable energy with few remaining generators powered with sustainability-sourced biofuel (HVO).

• 75% of food sourced by Hickory from within 50 miles of Dundonald Links.

• A comprehensive recycling and waste management programme with zero waste to landfill across the tournament operations.

• Items of apparel, from staff uniforms to caddie and marshal bibs made from recycled materials and used year on year.

• 400 spectators educated by RSPB in relationship between golf and nature.
• A comprehensive awareness campaign #TGSWOGoingforGreen highlighting sustainability initiatives onsite and through social media.   Read more
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AIG Women's Open 2022, Muirfield, East Lothian, Scotland, 4-7 August

Muirfield Clubhouse Tour with Sophia Schubert

"How it all began, in 1744"  [Video above]

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History is made in 2022:

As the sun dropped behind the horizon and darkness crept over the seaside town of Gullane on Sunday evening, two of the best golfers in the world dueled over four extra holes for the honor of being named the first female to win a major at Muirfield.

Women waited nearly three centuries for the chance to compete on the storied venue belonging to The Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. And as the shadows grew long across the final hole they played as if they never wanted the day to end.  Read more, from LPGA by Amy Rogers

@AIGWomensOpen

Muirfield

AIG Women's Open 2022, Muirfield, East Lothian, Scotland: 19-22 August

AIG Women's Open 2022 at Muirfield, 4-7 August

From AIG Women's Open (video):

A cast of past and potential Champions will grace the fairways of Muirfield as the venue hosts the AIG Women's Open for the first time from August 4-7.

Anna Nordqvist will tee it up as the defending Champion, following her memorable success at Carnoustie in 2021. One of the most successful players of her generation with 13 professional victories including three major wins, the Swede is also one of only two golfers to have won the R&A Girls’ Amateur Championship, Women’s Amateur Championship and AIG Women’s Open, together with Georgia Hall.

From LPGA News:

For the first time in its illustrious history, Muirfield will play host to the world’s best female golfers, teeing up for the season’s final change at major glory.

The 2022 AIG Women’s Open will bring 144 talented golfers to the famed Muirfield links, home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, the world’s oldest golf club.   How to Watch, info - TV times and more

From the LET Blog, 2/8/22:

Last year’s AIG Women’s Open was a dream came true for Anna Nordqvist as she won her third Major title securing a one-shot victory at Carnoustie.

With her husband Kevin from just down the road, everything came together, and the Swede clinched the title she had dreamed about since she was little...

It is an historic week with Muirfield hosting the Championship for the first time – a golf course which is regularly rated among the top courses in the British Isles and top 20 in the world.  Read more

From the AIG Women's Open:

In 2022, the AIG Women's Open will be played at Muirfield for the very first time.

An historic golf course that has played an integral role in Championship golf, Muirfield will present a wonderful test for the game's greatest golfers.  Read more

Defending Champion:  Anna Nordqvist

Australians in the field:  Whitney Hillier, Hannah Green, Stephanie Kyriacou, Su Oh, Minjee Lee

@LPGA

@LETgolf

@AIGWomensOpen - with live Blog

Muirfield

AIG Women's Open

LPGA, Women's Open Leaderboard

Golf & Photography from St Andrews and surrounds

By Ryan Grippo

Here are some pictures of the old course, and a few other golf courses we were able to play on during the time spent.

While at the course, there was a family of young seagulls that I filmed.

Music:  Far away feelings by Jamie Rutherford

Artlist

00:07  Plenty of Haggis on the menu!

00:16  Practicing on the putting green, look at those rolling hills!

00:25  everyone wanting a photo on the famous bridge

00:44  I got my chance! (it's been a long 9 years since!)

00:50  Scenes for water front courses

01:09  searching the gorse bushes

01:12  Stuck in a pot belly bunker

01:30  Hazy evening at the 4 seasons course

01:40  Spectacular sunset

01:45  Baby seagulls!

The Swilcan Bridge and Burn

From St Andrews Blog, 31/1/2019:

The Swilcan Bridge and Burn: A history

Like the sands on which it stands, the Old Course has never stood still, it is a living, breathing, dynamic landscape whose proud custodians such as Old Tom Morris and Allan Robertson have never feared change, instead choosing to embrace and look on as their work has been replicated or become a flag-bearer for golf the world over.

The Swilcan Burn used to frequently meander across the course in various channels determined by tide and flood. On the 17^th of December 1834 a Mr Bowrey was paid £4.10 by the town council for dumping rubbish and fill at the Swilcan Burn. In the same year, Mr Robert Goodfellow started to work with this refuse to build up the bank and then added a brick retaining wall to the burn. He set out 181 feet and 3 inches of stone, laid at six stones per foot. Goodfellow was paid on the 4^th of April 1835 for completing “the retaining walls, built on the banks of the burn” and for also cleaning the burn too. This work set the course of the burn for the first time.

It’s unclear exactly how old this iconic structure is but it’s thought to have stood the test of time for over 700 years

Around 1869, over 30 years after Goodfellow’s work, Old Tom re-banked the burn and built up the area around it even more, so much so that almost half the bridge is under ground today.

Also not perhaps common knowledge is the Swilcan Bridge, or Swilcanth as it was known, was not originally called the Swilcan Bridge. It was the Golfers’ Bridge and had been for hundreds of years. The original Swilcan Bridge is actually the road bridge 40 yards to the left if you are looking towards the 17^th green from the 1^st fairway.

It has been claimed that the bridge of today was originally a packhorse bridge (intended to carry horses loaded with side-bags or panniers). The low parapets (barriers) suggest it was designed so as to not interfere with the side-bags. However, there are doubts from golf historians about this point and the consensus seems to be that it was only ever a golfers’ bridge.

One thing that is indisputable is there are very few landmarks in the world of golf that are better known.

St Andrews, The Old Course

The ancestral home of golf inspires respect, even awe, and much love and affection in the world of golf.

From Yahoo!Sports, by Golf Channel Digital:

The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world — icon in and of itself.

“The Home of Golf” has played host to The Open, golf’s oldest major, a record 29 times, and The 150th Open could prove to be the greatest edition of the tournament yet.

Rooted in history and dripping in nostalgia, golf’s greatest players have tried to put into words their love for St Andrews over the years. Here are some of their most notable quotes [Excerpts]

“I want to thank nature for making this golf course.” – Ben Crenshaw

“I could take out of my life everything except my experiences at St. Andrews, and I would still have had a rich and full life.” – Bobby Jones in 1958

“St. Andrews is what the game really means.” – 1970 & 1978 Open Champion at St. Andrews Jack Nicklaus

“Victory anywhere is always sweet, but to win at St. Andrews is so special it rises above everything else.” – 1984 Open Champion at St. Andrews Seve Ballesteros

“This is as special as it gets. The home of golf. This is something you dream about. All players that want to win The Open Championship, automatically you go right to St. Andrews. This is it. This is as good as it gets.” – 2000 & 2005 Open Champion at St. Andrews Tiger Woods

“This is the origin of the game. Golf in its purest form, and it’s still played that way on a course seemingly untouched by time.” – 1961 & 1962 Open Champion Arnold Palmer

“I doubt if even in a hundred years’ time a course will be made which has such interesting strategic problems and which creates such enduring and increasingly pleasurable excitement and varied shots.” – [Golf course architect] Alister MacKenzie

Read more here

2022 JP McManus Pro Am, Adare Manor, July 4-5

Tiger Woods on the range at the JP McManus Pro Am 

History of the JP McManus Pro Am

The JP McManus Pro-Am teed off for the first time almost 30 years ago in 1990 at Limerick Golf Club, with the aim of raising much-needed funds for charities and organisations in the Mid-West region.

With the tournament’s profile increasing, the 2005 JP McManus Pro-Am moved to a new home – the magnificent Adare Manor, Co. Limerick.

The all-star line-up featured Tiger Woods, Michael Campbell, Angel Cabrera, Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Ernie Els, Sandy Lyle and Colin Montgomerie.

The tournament continued to go from strength to strength and in 2010 spectators were treated to an ever-increasing line-up of world class golfers from both the European and PGA Tour.

The event exceeded all expectations with over 40,000 visitors descending each day on the championship course at Adare Manor, raising in excess of €43.7m.  Read the full history here

Adare Manor Golf Course

JP McManus Pro Am 2022

The 150th Open, 2022

  "Openness is fundamental to its ethos"

From The Open, R&A Statement:

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said:

“The Open is golf’s original Championship and since it was first played in 1860, openness has been fundamental to its ethos and unique appeal.

“Players who are exempt or have earned a place through qualifying for The 150th Open in accordance with the entry terms and conditions will be able to compete in the Championship at St Andrews.

"We are focused on staging a world class Championship in July and celebrating this truly historic occasion for golf. We will invest the proceeds of The Open, as we always do, for the benefit of golf which reflects our purpose to ensure that the sport is thriving 50 years from now.”

Jack Nicklaus, honorary citizen of St Andrews

From ESPN UK, by AP:

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Jack Nicklaus is returning to St. Andrews to become an honorary citizen.

Nicklaus won two of his three British Open titles at St. Andrews, and he chose the Old Course in 2005 to play his final major championship.

He already has received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of St. Andrews, and now he joins truly exclusive company. The only other Americans to be awarded honorary citizenship in St. Andrews are Bobby Jones in 1958 and Benjamin Franklin in 1759.

The honor for Nicklaus was conferred by the Royal Burgh of St. Andrews Community Council, which is the equivalent of the "Freedom of the City" honor given to Jones.

Nicklaus retired from competitive golf with that final appearance at St. Andrews, his 164th major. He won a record 18 of them, including three at golf's oldest championship. He missed the cut but finished with a birdie as thousands crammed into balconies and peered through windows from hotels overlooking the Old Course.  Read more