Help Needed! 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale 'How to??'

[Golfwidow25]

Hi Everyone :)

I'm hoping you can help me, any advice would be greatly recieved.

As someone who has very little golf knowledge  but a partner who loves the game, i am a little bit out of my depth.

Partners 30th Birthday in July and i'm going to buy tickets him for the Open @ royal Birkdale. I've read all of the 'Spectator advice' but it doesnt really give details of how to make the best of the day.

The details show the gates open @ 7am and first tee off is @ 8.15am.

Is there any advice anyone can give for us to make the most of the day? Do we need to be there for first tee off or can you go at any point in the day?

Is there anything that 100% needs to be done to make it memorable?

 

Again, any advise would be fab! thanks

 

[Daddycool_83]

14 hours ago, Golfwidow25 said:

Hi Everyone :)

I'm hoping you can help me, any advice would be greatly recieved.

As someone who has very little golf knowledge  but a partner who loves the game, i am a little bit out of my depth.

Partners 30th Birthday in July and i'm going to buy tickets him for the Open @ royal Birkdale. I've read all of the 'Spectator advice' but it doesnt really give details of how to make the best of the day.

The details show the gates open @ 7am and first tee off is @ 8.15am.

Is there any advice anyone can give for us to make the most of the day? Do we need to be there for first tee off or can you go at any point in the day?

Is there anything that 100% needs to be done to make it memorable?

 

Again, any advise would be fab! thanks

 

Ive not been to an event as big as the open myself but ide suggest getting there early to have a nose about before the action starts,have you got your partner full weekend tickets or one dayers..if its one dayers ide definately get there early to make the most of it,also if he has a player he favours he may want to follow hes group around so come final days maybe work your day around their tee time,have a mooch about first and whatnot.

Edited March 5, 2017 by Daddycool_83
Typos...sausage fingers lol

[bkuehn1952]

1. Proper clothing! As you know, things change quickly as far as weather.  If you are cold, wet or hot, the event won't be much fun.

2. There are HUGE tents of merchandise for shopping

3. While you can't photograph play, you can take photos of the two of you at the Open

Personally, showing up at 7am would make for a long day.  You may want to think about how long the two of you want to spend hiking the dunes and standing. 

The day will be great fun and produce some fine memories.  Well done on the gift selection.

[Golfwidow25]

51 minutes ago, Daddycool_83 said:

Ive not been to an event as big as the open myself but ide suggest getting there early to have a nose about before the action starts,have you got your partner full weekend tickets or one dayers..if its one dayers ide definately get there early to make the most of it,also if he has a player he favours he may want to follow hes group around so come final days maybe work your day around their tee time,have a mooch about first and whatnot.

Thank you!

I've got him tickets for the final day so I think an early start is in order.

I suppose it depends if his favourites get through to Sunday but I'll try find tee off times for them closer too the time. 

That makes sense though, so thank you 

26 minutes ago, bkuehn1952 said:

1. Proper clothing! As you know, things change quickly as far as weather.  If you are cold, wet or hot, the event won't be much fun.

2. There are HUGE tents of merchandise for shopping

3. While you can't photograph play, you can take photos of the two of you at the Open

Personally, showing up at 7am would make for a long day.  You may want to think about how long the two of you want to spend hiking the dunes and standing. 

The day will be great fun and produce some fine memories.  Well done on the gift selection.

Thank you! 

Thats really useful, I'm glad to know there is merch tents as I'm planning on getting his actual birthday present there too. Something to remember the day by.

i was curious if we could take pictures of us, so glad to hear we can -selfie queen that I am, he may even crack a smile (man thing I'm sure lol) 

I'll be sure to pack clothes for all occasions.

im slightly excited myself too, it's not something we'll do often and I want to make it the best possible. 

[Hacker James]

Best of luck, enjoy the day. I am envious!

[ScottishGolfer]

Hi @Golfwidow25,

Firstly that is a great gift for your partner, sure he will love it!

As I live in Scotland I have been lucky enough to go to the Open several times. Indeed, as a golf fanatic I have been for the whole week including 6am starts and 8pm finishes on some days! However, to make the most of your day on the Sunday I would still advise going relatively early as groups still tend to tee off around 9. What I usually do in order to see as much golf and to be as close the action as possible is to pick a hole on the first 9, go there early and watch the whole field come through. If you head to hole say the 4th/5th hole for example you will usually be able to get a great seat either in one of the grandstands or next to the green itself and watch all the best players come through, even the ones leading. I would then recommend going to a hole on the back 9 and do the same thing oror go to the 18th grandstands early as they can get pretty busy. If you do this you will be able to see the winner playing the final hole. Another great tip is to either buy a radio at the Open which covers all the on course action, that way if someone is playing really well you could go and follow their group. The frequencies for the radio station can also be found on your phone too.

Hope this info helps, any other questions just ask

[WUTiger]

A decision for each day:

Do you want to follow the group of a specific golfer...

or,

Do  you want to stake out a place where you can see the action on two adjacent greens. You just wait for the golfers to walk by.

One thing you might try on Saturday or Sunday: If your partner and you have a "favorite" who is 8 shots out of the lead, you might follow him for 18 in the early morning. You can get a close view, since not that many people will walk with someone who barely made the cut (making the cut means a player scored low enough to play in rounds 3 and 4).

Half the people who make the cut have little chance to come back and win first place. But they can still win $20K to $50K in the back half of the field. 

[Hazsa]

Depends on the two of you!

i went to the Saturday of last years Open with a friend, and as it was just the one day, we had no qualms about turning up at the crack of dawn and leaving after the final putt had been sunk.

We personally found it pretty boring watching players hit the same shots on the same hole, so picked a few groups to follow throughout the day, away from the huge crowds following Stenson and Phil. Doing this you still see some awesome golfers up close (I have a selfie where it almost looks as if I'm out for a quiet round of golf with Jordan Spieth).

If you do want to watch the leaders you really need to think about it. Do a bit of recon, where do the pros tend to hit their drives? If the leaders are putting out on the 17th, quickly dash to that spot on the 18th and you'll be in a prime spot to watch the winner hit his final approach shot. These are the kinds of things to make the day more enjoyable, I'm sure lots of people leave rather frustrated that they've spend a lot of the day just trying to get a decent view.

[Golfwidow25]

Hi guys!

@ScottishGolfer the radio phone is a fab idea! Must remember to take headphones. theres a 'the open' frequency app to download isn't there? 

@WUTiger we're going Sunday and though I'll leave decision to him I do want to at least pretend to know my stuff.. so should we want to try and catch most of the action do you recommend following groups round or say the first 9 then second 9 at relevant parts of the day?

wow this is complicated! Ha!

@Hazsa thanks! That's a lot of useful info! But im a newbie on this golf front lol.. if we decide to follow certain golfers, how do we know where the best drives are?? Sorry if that's a bit of a thick question! 

 

?

[WUTiger]

@Golfwidow25,

If you want to "know your stuff," to the Royal Birkdale website and look at the course layout, and read up on what the sportswriters say about the different holes. Find two or three holes you think are really interesting, and take notes on them. Then, you can initiate conversations about these holes as you walk around.

And, the fact that you came up with tickets for the final round is an accomplishment in itself. Bravo!