My father took up golf late in life. His father was a WWI vet who returned to Toronto and ended up working as a chauffeur until cancer struck him down as a relatively young man. Growing up with four siblings in a household where money was scarce, and never having had the opportunity to caddie, my father didn't really encounter the game of golf until later in life. He first went to war at sixteen, marched through Europe, and came home with a Captain's rank and some shrapnel that was still lodged in his old body when he finally left us.
My father, the Colonel, had a great life. He travelled the world, and he even ended up with his own chauffeur when he was the military attaché to Turkey, Iran and Iraq. His chauffeur was a dignified, elderly Kurdish man who always felt a bit uncomfortable when my father would ask him to shift to the passenger seat so he could drive. My father wasn't really the chauffeur-driven kind of guy. But he had a wonderful military career and a good life, and what he came to love most was the game of golf.
In the late fifties or early sixties, my father first had the opportunity to play the Old Course. At that stage of his life he was just learning the game and didn't know much about its history. He said he looked at the Old Course and thought it looked more like the moon than the greatest links on earth. He paid his five shillings and played, never knowing until years later just how lucky he was to be there.
This week we are once again going to see the greatest players in the game play the greatest golf course on earth. It isn't much to look at if you're not a golfer; no azaleas blooming, no grand vistas to gaze at from the tees, but, if you're a golfer, the sight of the old grey town and the Royal and Ancient clubhouse as you stand on Swilcan bridge is the most marvellous sight to behold. You are on hallowed ground.
Sam Snead thought it was a course no longer in use when he first saw the Old Lady from the train for the first time. But, she smiled on him anyway and he took home the prize. The Old Course has given us great champions. My first great golf memory was watching Jack Nicklaus win the Open on the Old Course in 1970.
I'm hoping this week produces another great champion. We have Jordan Spieth looking for three in a row, and his first Open. Rickie Fowler looks primed and ready to make a run and remove all doubt, if there can be any doubt after last week's Scottish Open win, that he possesses substance as well as style. Justin Rose is now in his prime and might be ready to produce some magic on a links, like he did as a seventeen year old. His Open record since then has been disappointing, but he looks ready. And I think we could have another South African champion this year. Oosthuizen is healthy and playing great. We've already witnessed what a healthy Oosthuizen can do around the Old Course. Branden Grace is playing great as well and must be feeling like he let one get away at Chambers Bay.
After Chambers Bay, who could be disappointed if Dustin Johnson finally got his Major? He must be starting to feel like the golfing gods are against him. But, if he just keeps hitting it, surely his time will come. He's just too talented not to win a Major if he doesn't give up.
I'm truly excited by the prospect of watching another Open being played on the Old Course, my favourite place on earth. The Old Course looks green this year; nothing like the moon. I just wish I could have my old father watching it with me. But I guess, in this life, you can't have everything.
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