The Scottish Open
By
Martin Dempster
Some silly things have been penned since the
marvellous new Scottish Open trophy was handed over to Luke Donald,
the world No 1, by Barclays chairman Bob Diamond at Castle Stuart
in the second weekend of July. It's been claimed, for instance,
that the Inverness course was so easy for some of the world's top
players that it made a mockery of Scottish golf.
It doesn't help, for starters, that some of the people expressing
their opinions weren't even at the event and, while admittedly
there are certain things that need to be addressed at the European
Tour's newest venue, there's no getting away from the fact that
Castle Stuart can prove a popular course for an event like the
Scottish Open in years to come.
At Loch Lomond, it had a fabulous home but, like all good things,
the run there came to an amicable end. It gave Barclays the chance
to test the water, so to speak, and see if those players who'd
regularly made noises about wanting to see the event played on a
links instead were ready to back up their words with actions. And
they did.
Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington made his first
appearance in the event since 1999. Donald was back in the line-up
as well and, with the exception of perhaps US Open champion Rory
McIlroy, the field for Castle Stuart's first big test couldn't
really have been any better.
In practice, it was shaping up to be exactly the sort of test both
Harrington and Donald wanted the week before the Open Championship.
Phil Mickelson, too. As praise was showered on the course, the
American gave it a glowing recommendation by insisting it should
act as a template for any new venue being designed around the
world.
Even a wet day for the pre-event pro-am did little to dampen the
enthusiasm of players and spectators when Irishman Peter Lawrie
struck the opening blow to start a new era for the Scottish Open,
the gamble, if it was indeed that, of taking the event further
north than the European Tour had ever ventured having already been
vindicated with record advance ticket sales.
One thing abundantly clear throughout the week was that the
Highlands had embraced the event's move to the area. Inverness in
particular was gripped by Scottish Open fever but the buzz could
also be felt in Nairn and also down in Aviemore, where a number of
players set up base for the week with their families. In the case
of Ernie Els, it was Skibo Castle and the former Open champion
liked it so much there that he talked about how he could "easily
retire" in the Highlands.
At lunchtime on the Friday, the picture was rosy. Two Scots, Peter
Whiteford and Scott Jamieson, were sitting at the top of the
leaderboard after completing their rounds and the sun was out. But
then the weather intervened, interrupting then eventually stopping
play early on the Friday before wiping out Saturday's play
entirely.
On the Saturday, it was a three-mile wide thunderstorm that was the
problem, causing a couple of landslides on the lower section of the
course and leaving players and spectators frustrated. It wasn't the
first time a golf tournament had been hit by bad weather and it
won't be the last. The landslides are something that do need to be
addressed and measures will be taken to try and avoid the same
thing happening in the future.
But let's not forget that the problems on this occasion were caused
by a freak of nature and Castle Stuart simply got unlucky on that
particular day. It is simply ludicrous for anyone to look at the
events of one day and decree that a venue isn't fit to stage a
tournament of this nature.
In the end, Donald won a tournament reduced to 54 holes, giving the
event a first champion at its new home on par with those it
produced at its old one. Yes, the Englishman's 19-under-par winning
total was low but, on the final day, the bouncy conditions from
earlier in the week had been taken out of the course by the rain
and the test wasn't nearly as tough as it might have been.
Donald will definitely be back. So, too, will Harrington and
Mickelson. Another big-name American, Jim Furyk, has already hinted
he'll also be in the field next year. They can all see merits of
playing a links course right before the third major of the
season.
As for those spectators who made perhaps made wasted journeys on
the Saturday, give Castle Stuart another chance because this newest
addition to Scotland's rich list of championship courses really is
something special, matching Loch Lomond in terms of setting and
scenery.
Now everyone's had time to reflect it's time for people to stop the
silly stuff and look forward to next year's Scottish Open with the
same optimism that was flowing in the build up to this one.
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