Forget the appearance of global superstars, the swansongs of Sir Nick Faldo and Tom Watson or the creation of the "best amphitheatre in golf", there is even better news for those attending the 144th Open Championship at St Andrews this summer.
The price of on-site fish and chips has dropped from £10.50 to £8.50. The Royal & Ancient heid honchos stated yesterday that they are investing some £150,000 into subsidising public catering as part of a wider spend of around £2 million as they attempt to improve all aspects of the spectator experience at the game's most cherished major. The price of a pint to wash down that aforementioned supper has remained frozen at £4.80 although there has been a quid shaved off bottled water. There isn't a price list yet for caviar, swan tartlets and unicorn fritters but officials at the R&A seem to be reacting to general concerns that pricing across the board was affecting attendance, particularly at Muirfield in 2013.
While digesting food and drink in the Auld Grey Toon, the masses who make the pilgrimage to the cradle of the game in July will be able to absorb the action from a specially constructed arena that will be the largest in the championship's history and will be positioned around the first, 17th and 18th holes with the capacity to hold 10,000 spectators. This latest innovation follows the highly successful creation of a horsehoe-style stand around the closing hole at Hoylake last year.
The new L-shaped grandstand around the famous Road Hole, the Old Course's penultimate green, will seat some 4,200 paying punters and will offer panoramic views of the action unfolding at the 17th, 18th, first and second. It total, there were will be 21,000 grandstand seats dotted around the entire course with key seating positions also taking in 'the loop', that stretch of holes from the seventh through to the 12th. "This new arena will create a cauldron," enthused Rhodri Price, the R&A's director of championship operations. "It will be the best in golf and should provide a fantastic atmosphere."
Part of this atmosphere will no doubt be enhanced by the return of the Champions' Challenge, a four-hole team shoot-out featuring some of the greats from the game's past and present that will take place on the eve of the Open itself and will be contested over the first, second, 17th and 18th holes while being broadcast live on the BBC and ESPN. "If there is a tie, the winners will be decided by the highest average age of the team," added Price with a smile.
Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els will all compete while Peter Thomson, the five-times Open champion, will enjoy a waddle down memory lane as he marks the 60th anniversary of his Claret Jug win at St Andrews in 1955. Watson, meanwhile, will celebrate the 40th anniversary of his first Open triumph at Carnoustie ahead of his final appearance in the championship - providing he doesn't finish high enough to earn a return invitation, of course - while Faldo will be bowing out at the course where he won the Open 25 years ago.
The decorated Englishman, who amassed a haul of six major titles during a glittering career, lifted the Claret Jug three times and all of those wins arrived on Scottish soil, with his St Andrews success of 1990 being sandwiched in between victories at Muirfield in 1987 and 1992.
"The Open and St Andrews will forever hold a significant place in my heart and my fondest moments on my journey with this great sport are woven with pictures and emotions in this setting," said Faldo.
The Open is now an all-singing, all-dancing affair with more gadgetry and gizmos than Q's bolthole in a James Bond film. "There will be six or seven bunker cameras and a new turf camera that is the size of a thumbnail and will be positioned in front of the first tee giving great shots of players driving off and walking past," added Price.
Goodness knows what Old Tom Morris would've made of it all. He'd probably still have a few grumbles about the price of a fish supper.
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