The Royal & Ancient said that the first-ever two-tiered stand to be built at an Open Championship venue will help create the "best closing arena in golf" at this year’s event at St. Andrews, according to Martin Dempster of the SCOTSMAN. Two grandstands down the side of the first hole on the Old Course, one at the side of the 17th green and the ground-breaking structure behind the 18th green "will provide seating for 10,000 spectators." R&A Dir of Championships Johnnie Cole-Hamilton said, "There is always an incredible atmosphere at The Open and particularly when it is held in St. Andrews. We want to make sure as many spectators as possible can experience that unique atmosphere and enjoy wonderful views of the play on the opening and closing holes at St. Andrews." The stands down the side of the first "will have a combined capacity of 4,000, approximately the same as the one at the 17th green." Dir of Operations Rhodri Price said, "We’ve never done a tiered grandstand at the Open Championship before and it will be quite a marvel to see this" (SCOTSMAN, 4/21). The COURIER's Steve Scott wrote the usual stands down the north side of the first fairway "are already under construction, but the innovation is the structure to be built directly behind the 18th green, seating more than 2,000 reserved and public spectators." The stand "is being constructed on a steel arch to bear its weight without damaging the Links Golf Shop below." It "will also feature the Open’s traditional hand-operated yellow scoreboard." Logistics for the championship have also changed, "with a second park and ride facility at Cairn Mill Farm to the south of the town in addition to the established site for traffic coming from the north and west at Guardbridge." Price: "We are very conscious to try and minimize the effects of traffic to the center of the town as much as possible" (COURIER, 4/21).
LOWER PRICES: In Edinburgh, Dempster wrote in a separate piece fans attending this year’s Open Championship "are to benefit from a significant reduction in food and drink prices." It follows the R&A deciding to "plough" £150,000 ($224,000) into "subsiding the catering operation for the world’s oldest major." As a result, fish and chips will cost £8.50 ($12.70) -- £2 ($3) less than last year -- "while a bottle of water has been lowered by the same amount" to £1.50 ($2.25). A pint of beer will remain the same at £4.80 ($7), but the six-figure subsidy on other food and drink is part of an investment of up to £2M "aimed at improving spectator enjoyment at the event." Open Championship Dir of Staging Mike Wells said, "This is something we’ve been looking at for a while" (SCOTSMAN, 4/21). In Glasgow, Nick Rodger wrote there is not "a price list yet for caviar, swan tartlets and unicorn fritters but officials at the R&A seem to be reacting to general concerns that pricing across the board was affecting attendance, particularly at Muirfield in 2013." Part of this atmosphere "will no doubt be enhanced by the return of the Champions' Challenge, a four-hole team shoot-out featuring some of the greats from the game's past and present that will take place on the eve of the Open itself and will be contested over the first, second, 17th and 18th holes while being broadcast live on the BBC and ESPN." Price added with a smile, "If there is a tie, the winners will be decided by the highest average age of the team." Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els "will all compete while Peter Thomson, the five-times Open champion, will enjoy a waddle down memory lane as he marks the 60th anniversary of his Claret Jug win" at St. Andrews in '55 (HERALD SCOTLAND, 4/20).
