The Brits Display Golf at its Best

It’s Open Championship week again – the British Open, that is.  In watching some of the opening play today, I am reminded of a game that I fancy quite a lot, especially “links golf.”

A Game for Everyone – Unlike here in the US, golf in the British Isles is more of a common part of their culture.  Their courses are nestled right into the heart of the villages and towns where they live (because golf is embraced more like baseball or football here in the US – most everyone plays).  Public lawns are also putting greens. Golf courses essentially function like some parks do here in the US.  And the majority of the golf courses are not only open or accessible for anyone to play, they also serve as public open space where people can stroll with their children and dogs. 

The Spirit of Playing – If you ever play golf in England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland, you will take away an experience unlike anything else.  People play the game for the enjoyment – and for the disappointment.  They play because it is part of who they are, and it builds much of their character.  They walk rather than ride.  They play fast, not slow.  They play match play rather than medal.  Caddies are common everywhere and always. They laugh when they hit a good shot; they laugh when they’re lucky and they also laugh when things go bad, just the same.

A Course of Imperfect – Rugged, burnt out, chaotic, interpretive; words that may be used when describing the courses in the UK.  Rarely is the turf emerald green or consistently perfect.  Rare too is the effort to irrigate.  The courses are best when they are left to Mother Nature, when the ground becomes firm so the ball will bounce and roll about with unpredictability.  Players embrace the nuances of the deep, pot bunkers and the gnarly and forbidding roughs.  They study with great focus the wild contours of the fairway and greens in hopes of charting the best route to the hole.  It’s an intriguing and inspiring game to play.

Always an Ideal Day to Play – You wake up and see wind and rain and think “Maybe not today.”  In the UK, the weather is more apt to be sour than otherwise, so you had better take the attitude that it is always a perfect day for golf!  Rain will come and go, and the wind….Oh the wind!  Wind is the great equalizer, if there ever need be one.  The firm, crumpled ground, coupled with a stiff wind essentially defines links golf – and once you’ve experienced it, there’s nothing else quite like it.  Love it or hate it, it is golf in the UK and it’s brand has rarely been duplicated anywhere else in the world.  This week, the course has been uncharactaristically softened by recent heavy rains - so it's not playing like "classic links", but history tells us that this is more than a rarity.

The Proper Attitude – You never hear the locals complaining or criticizing the courses.  Whether there are hundreds of bunkers or very few.  If a bunker is small and deep, positioned dead center in a landing area and barely escapable…not a word.  You see, it has been there for hundreds of years and they know what and where it is – they know what happens when you avoid it and what happens when you don’t.  They accept all the consequences without question or complaint.  In fact, they’re proud of the idiosyncrasies of their courses – the features that may make you or break you, the nuances that you may not even see. These variations have become part of the aura of playing golf there and usher story after story of when they escaped or imprisoned! 

I suspect we can learn a thing or two from the Brits – values like attitude, humility, acceptance, camaraderie, simplicity, flexibility, discipline…perhaps dozens more.  Watch the Open Championship this week at Royal Lytham and St. Annes in England and see how the best players in the world cope with the most unique and original game in existence today.