Staff Reporter.
(SS) – Golf fitness specialist Garth Milne will take you inside the ropes at The Open Championship this week, as he gets Dean Burmester fighting fit for the challenge that lies ahead at The Old Course at St Andrews.
As you can imagine, another early start for me, with Dean getting an early tee time in round one.
My alarm was set for 04h15 and Dean’s courtesy car picked me up from the top of the road at the RV compound, before we headed to the clubhouse for a quick bite to eat.
As you can imagine, not too many players and fans at that early hour, but plenty of other people, with the staff on hand, I believe, having to get up at around 02h30 to make sure they were ready to man the various food stations etc.
It was funny – when we were driving in, the grandstands were empty and Dean said, “oh, it will be nice to have some fans watching my back nine”, and I just told him that he could expect to see fans a lot earlier than that, as the Brits love their golf and they love the Open.
Sure enough, on the first tee, the stands were packed, including with some South Africans, and Dean got a big cheer when his name was announced.
All in all, Dean had a fairly good day, even though he didn’t have his best stuff with him. He didn’t hit it great, but managed his game as best he could. He missed two makeable birdie putts on 11 and 18, and if those had gone in, it would have been three-under, a 69, and a very good day. Again, small margins. One-under is probably acceptable, considering he didn’t play his best golf.
I walked the first seven holes with Dean and then headed back to warm up Zander, as he was at the back of the morning field. He had a good warm-up and hit the first tee in good spirits, but unfortunately didn’t get off to the best of starts – bogey, bogey, double, and never really recovered from that, even though he felt he didn’t play that badly. I think Zander just got “golfed” or “links golfed”. That’s because in links golf, you can hit good shots and get punished, and likewise, hit bad ones and get a lucky break.
So, a bit frustrating for Zander. He actually drove the ball well, iron play was maybe a little off, and the putting was okay, and the next thing, you’re five-over-par. I guess that’s the nature of links and major championship golf.
What was really interesting was witnessing the attraction of Tiger Woods. I was on the range with Dean after his round and Tiger arrived for his warm-up. The crowd, spectator, media circus that follows him is just insane, and there were even tour players hanging around after their rounds, just to watch him hit balls and go through his routine. He’s just an icon of both golf and sport, in general, and we all hope he’ll still be around for some time to come.
I count myself incredibly lucky to see him do his thing up close.
Once Zander was done, we did a little cool-down, and then I went to link up with one of my very first personal training clients, a guy called Ted Davis, who is a member of the R&A. We met for a drink at Forgan House, which is a place that R&A members can meet and get something to eat and drink. It was great to catch up and that’s definitely one of the cool things about the Open. People really do come from around the world to experience it.
Plenty of South Africans around and great to see Ernie play well, despite the disappointing finish. No surprise, considering how he’s been playing on the PGA TOUR Champions.
It goes to show, you don’t need to be the longest to play links golf well and hopefully Ernie’s ‘nous’ will see him through the weekend, and ensure he’s there and thereabouts.