Confessions of the Euro-fluenced: Live at The British Open (guest blog by Andrew)!

Hey all! After much forgetfulness (and a few nags from me), Andrew finally wrote a bit about his British Open golf experience in Blackpool. Read on...

 Had a great time at the Open at Royal Lytham & St. Anne's this year.  Splurged for the week-long ticket, so I was able to catch a few practice rounds on Wednesday before the tournament began the next day.  I decided to walk the entire length of the course a few times on Wednesday while following a few groups,  and because the crowds were so obnoxiously large I decided that the only relaxing thing to do was to park myself in what I concluded was the best viewing area on the course.  The last seat in the last row of the grandstand behind the second green gave me great views of 4 separate holes which kept the action going.  I could see players' approach shots on 2 and 4 as well as tee shots on 3 and 5.  The superb weather made it easier than expected to  sit and watch a tournament which is usually played in the midst of brutal wind and rain.  Anyway, most afternoons I watched from my seat (I stayed there for four days from 7am till 5pm so it indeed was "mine") and was capped by seeing Ian Poulter hole out from the fairway for and eagle on 2 from about 175 yards out. After the leaders passed through on Sunday, I was faced with a decision: try to battle my way into the grandstands that surrounded the 18th green, or head home and finish watching what had been a long week on TV. I'm embarrassed to say that I actually did entertain the latter thought, but not for long, and I quickly made my way to 18. The stands were packed since the early afternoon, but as I was looking only for a single seat I slowly made my way through the queue and got what can only be described as the perfect seat. Needless to say, I was on the edge of said seat while I listened to the radio broadcast of what was taking place down the stretch.  Ernie Els' tee shot ended up further down the 18th fairway than I had seen over two hours.  He hit a wedge to about 8 feet, and when he made his putt, even though he was still 2 back of Adam Scott at the time, I was convinced that something special was about to happen.  It did, and at the end of the day I was so glad I had been able to spend a week in Lytham and that Melissa was still alive back in Blackpool...


Andrew