The G.O. Heads back to the home of golf

To quote the immortal lyrics of Bob Dylan, “the times they are a changing…”. The much anticipated tenth running of the GO saw various changes, including a shortened event, two separate locations for the first time and a move to a pairs team event. None of the refinements in any way impaired the quality or enjoyment of what many of those involved heralded as one of the greatest GO’s of all time…

The first destination saw the gentlemen return to the recently upgraded Christie residence in Saltcoats. Four of the field - messrs Buffoni, Collard, McGregor and Reeve - stole a march on the other four participants with a warm up round at Dundonald Golf Links on Tuesday afternoon. The impressive course shares its owners with Loch Lomond, the first venue of the formal event, which suggested that there may be ominous omens for the rest of the filed in the impressive form exhibited by Collard (who enjoyed two birdies), Reeve (who won overall on the day), McGregor and Buffoni (who recovered well after four points on the front nine).

Day One - Loch Lomond

James Buffoni had generously agreed to be the unlucky soul to miss out on the opening round at the stunning Loch Lomond. The welcome was as regal as the plush surrounds - competitors’ the cars were collected and taken to be parked and the clubs taken to the first tee before the players enjoyed a delicious, leisurely breakfast in a purpose built GO dining room. It was ‘uncle Christie’ - Hugh McMahon - who filled the boots of Buffoni (“joker” in Italian (nearly)) and paired up with Ben Collard in the team event, the other teams being Christie/ McGregor, Fletcher/ Roberts and Reeve/Turner, in what looked like a well balanced event. However, the shortened format meant that every one of the three rounds would also count towards the single competition so everyone needed to be focused from the very first shot.

Unlike the weather at the Scottish Open which had been held three weeks previously, the conditions were benign - eerily so at times - and it was Cameron Christie who made the most of this, posting a scorching 38 to lead by five from his pairs’ partner, Ben McGregor. Their team score of 45 was also naturally the best of the day, although Reeve and Turner had posted a more than respectable 42, dovetailing well despite trailing by a few in the single event. With Fletcher also shooting in the early thirties and Collard just behind, it was probably only John Roberts who looked to have played his way out of contention with a score of 22 (dubbed by the man himself to be “the unluckiest round in GO history”). Buffoni took the average score of 31 at the end of one of the most memorable days in the history of the Gentlemen’s Open, which would like to collectively reiterate its huge gratitude to Hugh McMahon.

Day Two - Castle Course, St Andrews

The prospect of a two and a half hour drive to the second destination of the week - St. Andrews, and a return to where it all began - had curtailed any significant merriment on the Wednesday evening and it was a relatively fresh field (drivers aside) which pitched up at the Castle Course, and its stunning views over St. Andrews for the second round of the GO. Despite having only opened in 2008, the course felt older, and the thick farm rough made some of the ball finding and second shots interesting. The new course probably also witnessed one of the worst displays of golfing etiquette on the opening hole as the ever competitive Collard tore out a fart on the first tee in an attempt to put GO leader Christie off his opening tee shot. BC had failed to notice the presence of a stern lady starter on the tee and proceeded to look away in shame for the next few minutes, before trying to repair the damage with some polite chat.

With the event shortened, the second round took on greater significance than usual, and messrs Turner (65 after two rounds), Fletcher (65), Reeve (64) and McGregor (63) all stayed in contention behind Christie, who held things together well and finished the day with a three point lead on the field. With five players within five points, and Buffoni only three further back, it was shaping up for the grandstand finish the tenth anniversary deserved. The pairs’ event concluded at the end of the round, with Turner and Reeve again complimenting each other and posting a whopping 88 points over the two rounds of team play, to hold off Christie and McGregor by two.

Day Three - The Old Course, St. Andrews

It does not get much better than a last round at the home of golf and there was a distinct air of trepidation (and worse in some cases) as the boys lined up their first tee shots, aiming at a fairway that suddenly did not look so wide when under the watching eye of a number of holidaying Americans. There were no duffs but a number of the gents did skirt with hitting the ball out of bounds right, in complete disregard of the advice of the starter, and John Roberts did actually manage an OB, whilst Reeve held on by a matter of yards and Turner hit one of the still assembled green stands, which had been crammed full of spectators just two weeks previously at the 139th Open.

Once the heart rate had settled down, a few of the chasing pack began to assemble impressive rounds and apply a certain amount of pressure on champion elect, Cameron Christie, who was playing nicely himself. Under the watching eye of his father, down for his evening stag do, Ben McGregor fairly flew out of the blocks - blistering his way to a two over par gross score at the turn (including driving the ninth green - a par four), which had him hot on Christie’s heels. Dominic Reeve had also closed the gap, whilst Sam Fletcher went a step further and stood on the fifteenth tee - a par five and stroke index one - leading the tournament by one from the still consistent Christie. The two gladiators were not fully aware of the broader picture at this stage, but McGregor had dropped away slightly, as had Reeve, whilst Buffoni and Turner had not managed to start well enough to ever move into the action end of proceedings. As Fletcher had predicted, it turned out to be a hole of great significance especially after he had fired his first ball over the wall which hugged the right hand side of the fairway, whilst Christie hit a relatively poor, bur crucially safe, ball to the left. With Fletcher’s re-load in trouble, Christie made the most of the moment, hitting a stunning four iron for his third and then getting up and down well for a four pointer which pretty much sealed the championship. Fletcher fought on gamely, finishing with a birdie at eighteen to seal second place by one point from McG, but he could do nothing to stop the Christie juggernaut as the first ever winner of the GO finished in style with back to back pars (no mean feat at St. Andrews).

The experience of walking up the eighteenth at St. Andrews will live with the field of eight forever and maybe it had always been destiny for the first ever winner of the Gentlemen’s Open to win again on its return to its spiritual home. Either way, there can be no doubt that the best player over the three days claimed the glory…

Away from the Course…

The conclusion of the event meant that there was still the small matter of a stag do to deal with and the weary eight of the GO were soon revitalised as they slipped into pirate gear (or a Tinkerbell outfit in the case of the stag, which raised a number of questions which may not be answered for many years) to tackle an entertaining evening of curry followed by mischief in the Lizard Lounge. A fitting end to proceedings was provided with assorted North Sea based activities on the Saturday.

In its tenth year, the camaraderie and magic of the Gentlemen’s Open remained as strong as in its very first ever running and, importantly, there seemed to be unanimous agreement that it must continue as a mainstay in calendars for the next ten years and beyond, even if that means continuing further down the path of evolution embraced in 2010 - “Porro ago liberalis patefacio”…