The Open, Royal Troon 2016

In 2016 Royal Troon took its turn to host the British Open golf tournament and it turned out to be spectacular.

Anyone who knows about golf will regale about the ‘Duel In The Sun’ which took place at another Ayrshire course, Turnberry in 1977 and was contested between Jack Nicklaus & Tom Watson. 2016 brought the tournament to a close with an epic battle between Tom Mickelson who eventually succumbed to the stunning Henrik Stenson who finished with a round of 63. In typical Scottish humour due to the weather it has been nicknamed the ‘Duel In The Drizzle’!!!

On the subject of Ayrshire golf courses it has to be mentioned that my local town, Prestwick hosted the first ever ‘Open’ tournament in 1860 which was developed under the stewardship of Old Tom Morris. The tournament was won by Willie Park Snr.

I am lucky to have Royal Troon within walking distance which is handy if for no other reason than I can drop into the many beer tents with no worry about driving home!!!

I chose to go along to the last Practice Day as it allowed me to take the camera (no cameras or recording equipment are permitted on Championship Days). I would recommend this day as all the competitors are on the course and are taking the last chance for a round before the tournament begins in earnest. Practice Days are quieter crowd-wise and you are able to get closer to your golfing heroes for more candid shots. As I said above an added bonus to this is it is cheaper to get in which leaves you with more beer money!!!