My Courses: Gary Player
Very few golfers have played such a global variety of golf courses as Gary Player—the nine-time major champion shares his answers here in “My Courses” MY FAVORITE COURSE: If you were asked to choose your favorite rugby player and your child happened to be a star, you would have to pick him, right? So, I’ll […]
Thousand Greens: Match.com Meets the Top 100
Shinnecock, Winged Foot, Oakmont, Olympic—every serious golfer knows the names, but only a fortunate few have played the courses. In contrast to the UK, where the host sites of the Open Championship extend a warm welcome to visitors, U.S. Open venues and other top American courses are, for the most part, shut tight, exclusive bastions […]
Smooth Sailing: Golf Cruises
A few years ago, my non-golfing wife and I took a golf cruise that started in Lisbon and ended in Barcelona, along the way sailing in the Mediterranean and playing a handful of great courses. While I went around Valderrama, she went on a guided tour of Gibraltar; as the golfers enjoyed El Saler, the […]
Wilma Erskine: The Woman that Brought the Open Back to Portrush
Wilma Erskine, Secretary at Royal Portrush for the past 35 years, helped the club go from run-down to Open Championship ready At the PGA Merchandise Show in January, Sam Baker smiled from his booth as Wilma Erskine posed for photos nearby with a replica of the Claret Jug. Baker, who founded Haversham & Baker Golfing […]
Letter from St. Andrews: Millie Bets the Dog
In the U.K. you can “have a wee flutter” on just about anything
Ben Wright: The King and I
The first time I interviewed Arnold Palmer was at the Centenary Open Championship at St. Andrews in 1960. Palmer said he could spare some time between the final two rounds on Friday, and that I should meet him in the subterranean locker room. He had outscored Kel Nagle, the amiable but tough former Australian Marines […]
Letter from St. Andrews: They Watched In Awe
Memories of Jack and the 1978 Open
At Home in St Andrews
In 1983, George Peper hit a prodigious slice off the 18th tee of the Old Course at St. Andrews, onto the street that borders the hole. He never found the ball, but he discovered a home, buying a flat on the street after spotting a “For Sale” sign during his search. For 20 years, the Pepers were absentee owners, visiting intermittently during the summer and renting it out to University of St. Andrews students the rest of the year. READ MORE
