This summer’s Ricoh Women’s
British Open at Royal Birkdale prom-
ises to be one of the best yet. Though
the engaging
Lorena Ochoa
will be
sorely missed, the field will include
every member of the current world
top 10 along with
Catriona Matthew
,
the defending champion.
Jiyai Shin
, the new No 1, is the
player who could pose the biggest
threat to Matthew’s hopes of a suc-
cessful defense. Winner of 2008 Ricoh
British Women’s Open at Sunning-
dale, Shin slipped to eighth at Lytham
last year, but over the week fell in
love with the links game.
Michelle Wie
is another on whom
the locals will be keeping a close
eye on. Wie, at 15, won the amateur
medal in the 2005 Open at Birkdale
and finished third behind Jeong Jang
overall.
mately, it was purchased on behalf
of the Country Club of the Desert in
California by
John Hagen
for around
$85,000.
Hagen watched as his purchase
was packed in a container before
being shipped out via the Panama
Canal. But when it arrived in America,
it was in bits, broken by the high seas.
Hagen has now written a charming
story of his delightful obsession. His
book – “Play Away, Please,” which is
published by Mainstream and priced
at $20.
For the record, the box, which
cost the mind-boggling $690,000
by the time it had been dismantled
and shipped, has never been reas-
sembled. The roof was “mysteriously
gifted” to a local church, while other
portions were used in the design of an
18-hole putting course at the upscale
Madison Club in La Quinta.
There will be
countless
golf followers
who, on arriving
at St. Andrews
for this year’s
Open, will make
wistful men-
tion of the old
starter’s box,
the little blue
kiosk which, in
2001, gave way to a stone building
more in keeping with the headquar-
ters of the R&A.
The old box, a brick and wood affair
with a slate roof, was erected in 1924
by Andrew Thorn and Sons for less
than $70.
It stood proudly by the first tee for
77 years and withstood the kind of
North Sea storms which, only last
month, dispatched waves over the
top of the Golf Museum and had as-
sorted sea creatures slipping seam-
lessly from their tanks at the adja-
cent Sea World.
Open champions such as
Bobby
Jones
,
Sam Snead
,
Peter Thomson
,
Jack Nicklaus
and
Seve Ballesteros
all answered the starter’s call from
the quaint five-sided landmark, with
Nicklaus, for one, becoming quite at-
tached to it.
It was when the R&A was upgrad-
ing its main building and needed to
delve beneath the foundations to gain
access to some drains that it thought
the time had come to replace it.
The St. Andrews Links Trust were
going to take it to a local dump when
the late
John Glover
of the R&A, hit
on the bright idea of auctioning it off,
with the proceeds going to charity.
The bidding started with the offer
of a five pound note from a gardener
in need of a new potting shed. Ulti-
Sunice – owned by Montreal-based
Fletcher Leisure Group of Canada –
have partnered with “The Golf Busi-
ness Ltd.” to sell their golf and ski
action-wear in the UK.
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