Watching The Wind: The prevailing, south-west wind swept the Troon links on Monday and Tuesday of this week, but competitors preparing for the Open had to contend with a north-westerly yesterday and on Sunday. This is very much the more difficult wind in that it faces the players directly on the formidable back nine.
Most Difficult Bunker: Of the 86 on the course, general consensus points to the one to the front right of the short eighth, the famous Postage Stamp. This will be the focus of much television attention during the championship. In general, some of the fairway bunkers have been made more severe. On the instructions of R and A secretary Michael Bonallack, no player should be capable of reaching the green from a fairway trap.
Most Difficult Tee-Shot: The long-iron at 223-yard 17th. "Don't even think of landing the ball on the green," warns David Smyth, a three-time club champion at Troon and current committee chairman of the club. "Instead, the shot should be bounced off the plateau in front, and let it roll on."
Course Management: Drives gather to the left towards bunkers and the rough down the opening holes. Meanwhile, bright, new sprinklers, visible along the edge of the fairways, have had the effect of thickening up the rough significantly over the entire links.
Greens: "I don't know the reason, but our greens were certainly slower during the last two Opens and our American visitors haven't been happy," said overseer, Sir James Armour. "This time, however, we're quickening them up. They are being cut more often and rolled with new, vibrating rollers." On his way to victory in 1950, Bobby Locke complained that the greens were too firm and asked the club secretary to have them watered.
The secretary complied. "Locke was a grateful man," recalled veteran club member Herbert Thompson. "After his triumph, he rewarded the secretary with a set of autographed clubs."
Grandstands And Tentage: Erection of stands capable of seating 16,000 spectators, started on May 1st. A month later, work started on 40,000 square metres of tentage, the most for any outdoor sporting event in Britain. Communications: British Telecom installed 600 telephone lines; 300 ISDN lines; 30 fax lines and 40 payphones.
Catering/Hospitality: Up to 5,000 meals per day will be served in 110 corporate hospitality units. The contracted catering company expect to provide 18,000 portions of fish and chips, 8,000 bottles of wine, 300,000 cans of soft drinks, 550lbs of smoked salmon, 15,000 Mars Bars, 18,000 muffins and 650lbs of sirloin beef.
Television: BBC, ABC/ESPN, TV Asahi and Channel 9 (Australia). ABC and TV Asahi augment the BBC feed with their own cameras while the BBC give worldfeed coverage of the 16th, 17th and 18th holes from first to last match.
