Author: Michael Vlismas

The Open. Simple as that.

There is a reason why arguably the greatest Major in the game can afford to call itself by such a humble and simple title – kind of like referring to yourself just as, “The Golf Tournament”.

The reason is, it’s the oldest.

In an age where most things seem to have the brief shelf life of full cream milk, The Open has stood the test of time and continues to delight us. It’s history and its champions are captivating (okay, maybe not so much Todd Hamilton or Ben Curtis, but the rest have been pretty interesting), and its golf courses are the purest form of the game. Nature also gets involved and you have a week unlike any other.

There is history here, and it’s immense.

Consider the following.

When Willie Park Snr. beat Old Tom Morris by two strokes to win the first Open Championship at Prestwick in 1860, Abraham Lincoln had not yet been elected President of the United States. That came a month later.

The Open is older than the American Civil War.

It’s older than Charles Dickens’ classic, Great Expectations.

It’s older than the Geneva Convention.

It’s older than the state of Nebraska.

It’s older than the Suez bloody Canal.

It’s even older than the Battle of Little Big Horn. Yes, while General George Custer and his cavalrymen were fighting for their lives against the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians, golfers had been fighting to save par in The Open for 16 years already.

For goodness sake golf fans, The Open is older than the lightbulb. Thomas Edison didn’t have this little brainwave until 19 years after the first tee shot was hit at Prestwick.

And one more. The Open is as old as the Italian parliament. A golf tournament is as old as a decision by a country to realise that it would be better to rather make laws in a formal setting than just shout at each over espressos in the local café.

So who’s going to win it? The South African challenge includes Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Dean Burmester, Ernie Els, Darren Fichardt, Thriston Lawrence, Louis Oosthuizen, Ryan van Velzen and amateur Altin van der Merwe.

But is this the one week in golf when we can say, “Who cares?”

The fact that it’s The Open is enough of a reward. Brian Harman has returned the Claret Jug, which in the past year has been in his home and on the first tee of the Joburg Open on the Sunshine Tour as part of the Open Qualifying Series. The fact that he found it so hard to hand back says everything. Harman admitted he’s taken it everywhere with him, even to football games.

So put on a pot of tea, or pour a whisky.

And just soak up a week when it’s great to be a golfer.