By David Ferguson
Scotland is the home of golf, and the country is steeped in golf's traditions. Golf now is an international sport, but the great thing is that those who become captivated by the game invariably embrace its past with all its traditions too. International visitors come to Scotland equipped with a knowledge and enthusiasm not only for golf as a sport, but for all of the history and legends that form part of its fascination.
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Two local marshalls follow play with intense interest
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On the first day of the Barclays Scottish Open I found myself in conversation with a French spectator, Alain Le Grignou, and our conversation turned to some of the exploits we had seen in the competitions we have watched. We talked about the terrific uphill drive of over 370 yards that Argentinean Rafa Echinique had unleashed on the 17th hole at last week's Open de France.
In an effort to impress my new acquaintance, and with next week's Open on my mind, I then recounted one of my favorite anecdotes from the annals of golfing history – the albatross struck by Young Tom Morris over almost six hundred yards on the first hole of The Open Championship in 1870.
Alain corrected me with careful courtesy: "You are right about the feat, but wrong about the course and the score. The competition was at Prestwick, not Troon, and even though it's generally considered to be the first albatross recorded in The Open, his score was actually a three, not a two. At nearly six hundred yards, and with the equipment of the day, the hole would have been classed as a par six. Oh and by the way," he added. "Young Tom Morris is credited with the first Open Championship hole-in-one as well. He managed that a couple of years earlier, also at Prestwick..."
Alain was right about the course. It's an easy mistake to make, as Troon and Prestwick lie adjacent to one another, and share a boundary. He was also right about everything else – I went back and confirmed it later.
International flavor is one of the defining characteristics of the Scottish Open. The field has been drawn from all the corners of the globe, and at the end of the first day's play the top five names on the leaderboard came from five different nations – Australia, Spain, Scotland, England, and Ireland.
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Foxgloves and marsh reeds add character to the water hazards
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Leading the charge was Australia's left-hander Richard Green. Green has been in good form over the past year – he represented his country in the Omega World Cup at Mission Hills in China last November, and last week in the Open de France he featured prominently right through until the last day, finishing in a tie for sixth.
Green was one of those invited to take part in Wednesday's pro-am, but he played poorly and was sufficiently dissatisfied to stay late on the range trying to iron out the faults in his game: "I probably spent an hour and a half last night working away," he said. "Most of my that time was good quality work, doing the right things, and it got me in the right frame of mind and got my find back on track. It's just a matter of finding that little swing thought that gets you back online or back on plane again, and I have a few triggers to work on when things are not going right."
