Video: A Visit To Old Tom's Shop

The Links Trust has reimagined the historic Old Tom Morris shop at St. Andrews with a new clothing line and many of the shop design features exposed after years of layer-upon-decorating layer.

The storefront today looks eerily close to what it looked like in his day:

The result is very special place to go for worshippers of Old Tom. Getting to walk on the original stone floors of his most prominent and final shop is an honor. But to see markings left over from the club making days is a bit like stumbling on an archaelogical site:

And it's irresistable to not at least touch the dinged up wood counter top where Old Tom and his artisans finished clubs over looking the 18th green that he created (a view that had long been mysteriously covered by recent shop lessees). The playground, workspace and house of worship for the first and most important Golf God. (Don't forget all of the storied visitors who walked those floors too, from Bobby Jones to A.W. Tillinghast to C.B. Macdonald, for starters).

For a Golf Channel segment this week, I was joined by Laurie Watson of the Links Trust and Roger McStravick, author of a beautiful new book on Old Tom Morris. We chatted about the significance of the shop as a place to remember the man who is more responsible for shaping the game than any single figure in our sport.

Video: Old Course Fifteenth And Sixteenth Hole Flyovers

"Cartgate (in)" at the Old Course looks narrower than ever to me and the green is one of the most intricate on the course. Aim at the church steeple, so the locals say, and place your drive through Miss Grainger's Bosoms (named for Miss Agnes Grainger). Still, at 455 yards anything avoiding trouble off the tee sets this up as a birdie opportunity if a player has a good sense of this large green.

The video:



"Corner of the Dyke" is one of the best spectator holes here, as fans lean on the boundary fence and are withing just yards of the players hitting their approaches. The Principal's Nose is just 220 yards or so to carry on this 418-yard hole.  The key bunker to avoid is Deacon Sime, about 290 off the tee.

The video:

Tiger Would Love To Play The Old Course In Reverse

Tiger revealed in his 144th Open Championship press conference he's still "right here in front of you" and insisted he's not done.

But more fun for golf junkies, he revealed that he would love to play the Old Course in reverse, as they do every April 1st.

Ewan Murray of the Guardian with the Tiger news from St. Andrews:

Of St Andrews, Woods added: “Obviously it’s the home of golf, we all know that. But to me it’s brilliant, how you can play it so many different ways. I’ve always wanted to play it backwards, one time before I die. I want to play from 1 to 17, 2 to 16, so forth and so on. I  think that would be just a blast because I can see how certain bunkers – why would they put that there? And then if you play it backwards, you see it. It’s very apparent. That’s totally in play. That one day would be a lot of fun to be able to do.”

Jeremy Glenn filed this excellent look at the reverse Old Course for GolfClubAtlas.com

One Day Olympic Golf Test Event On The Docket For 2016

Though generally thought to have needed to be a year out from the Games, the International Golf Federation has pushed a rumored test event for Olympic golf from Thanksgiving weekend to closer to the games.

Alex Miceli reports from The Open where officials revealed that when the even it s played, it'll be a one-day event and sounds more like a contractual obligation than any kind of serious competition. This should ensure that the

The International Olympic Committee had scheduled a test event for the last week of November, but after a thorough review by the PGA Tour agronomy staff and IGF representatives in June, the IGF recommended that the test event be delayed until early 2016.

“We think it would be better to have the test event take place after having had the benefit of a second grow-in season,” IGF vice president Ty Votaw said during a news conference at St. Andrews, site of this week’s British Open. Votaw, a PGA Tour executive, added that the timeline was a better fit “taking into consideration the availability of players, world-class players, on a November-December time frame.”

Recap Of The Opens At St. Andrews

Doug Ferguson has put together capsules on all of the previous Open Championships at St. Andrews.

This was fun:

1876: In one of the most bizarre endings, Bob Martin and David Strath finished at 169. On the 17th, Strath's third shot hit a player in the group ahead that was putting out, keeping the ball from going on the road. The committee decided there would be a playoff in two days, enough time to review whether Strath should be disqualified for hitting to the hole while players were still on the green. Strath refused to take part in a playoff under such conditions, and Martin was declared the winner.

Peter Dawson Explains His Changes To The Old Course

Glad we got one thing cleared up before the start of The Open Championship: it was a Peter Dawson operation all along!

While Martin Hawtree was the architect of record for altering the Old Course to offset regulatory hesitancy, R&A Chief Inspector Peter Dawson lays out for Scotland on Sunday's John Huggan the details behind his changes to what is apparently his course.

No one needs to rehash the Friday news dump approach to the project or the matter of tinkering with greens and bunkers after over fifty years of no architectural tinkering on golf's most sacred grounds. Instead, just take in the totality of the remarks, which do not include a "we" reference that might indicate contributions from architect Hawtree or the manager's of the Old Course, the Links Trust. I, I, I, I...oh and many were envisioned while out walking the dog!  Take that, Old Tom!

There was also this curious remark...

“All of the changes are the result of much observation at the Open and the Dunhill Links Championship – and a few hundred Sunday morning dog walks of course. And yes, shortening the ball would be the equivalent of lengthening the course. But we, unfortunately, don’t have the luxury of being a single-issue organisation.”

Even if it's the single biggest issue binding all of the other vital issues the organization is trying to address with sustainability, growth and the future?

Stinks Getting Old: Tiger And Rory Texting Over Their Injuries

Not too far removed from two old fogies discussing their hemorroid remedies, it seems Tiger the chiropractor is getting texts from Rory McIlroy asking for rehab advice.

From Steve DiMeglio in USA Today, reporting from St. Andrews where Tiger showed up early to do a clinic...for aspiring golfers.

"He sent me a photo the day he did it. We talked about it for a little bit," Woods told reporters from USA TODAY Sports and ESPN.com on Saturday after spending much of his day with junior golfers to kick off his preparation for the third major of the season. "He said, 'You've been through a lot of injuries over the years,' so he picked my brain a little bit. We had a good talk. He's doing the right thing, taking care of his body first before he gets back out here.”

The doctor has spoken!