British Open trying to get ahead of fan behaviour with published conduct code
More than 300,000 fans will attend the British Open at Royal Birkdale this week, making it a record crowd for golf’s oldest major championship. They’ll need to bring sun cream and some manners.
For the first time, the R& A has felt it necessary to publish a fan code of conduct, at a time when some of golf’s biggest events have been marred by unsavory and even abusive behavior by spectators.
Titled “The Open Commitment,” the code boils down to these five basic requirements of fans: respect the players, respect the links, respect each other, be aware, enjoy responsibly.
Essentially, just be a nice person. If not, the R& A says it can punish “serious or repeated breaches” by removing the guilty parties from the property “without refund.” “I’m all for an atmosphere,” said Matt Fitzpatrick, one of the 21 English players in the field who are most likely to be cheered rather than heckled. “Obviously I don’t want it to cross a line.”
That’s what happened at last year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, when Team Europe’s players — especially Rory McIlroy — endured a torrent of personal insults and shouting on their back swings and putts. McIlroy deemed the abuse from the New York crowd “unacceptable.”
Wyndham Clark didn’t get much love at last month’s U.S. Open, with spectators cheering his mistakes — conduct that Scottie Scheffler said was “a bit much to me.”
Even the most recent British Open held on English soil — just down the road at Hoylake — didn’t escape some crowd misbehavior as American player Brian Harman defied some jeers and insults on his way to lifting the Claret Jug.
Clark doesn’t appear too concerned about any repeat incidents at Birkdale this week, describing British golf fans as “the best.”
“They respect the game, they respect the players and they really understand golf,” he said. “If you hit it into a tough spot and make the correct play or the smart play, the prudent play, they clap; they understand sometimes 20 feet is a great shot.”
R&A chief executive Mark Darbon said marshals, volunteers and officials have been well-briefed on what constitutes poor fan conduct.
“We feel that it’s within our gift, if someone does step over the line, to ask them to leave the venue,” Darbon said, “and I think that’s a pretty powerful display. That’s the mechanism that we’ll use rather than fining a spectator.”
The World Cup effect: Tee times for the final round at Royal Birkdale are open to change.
And it’s all because of a soccer match.
The World Cup final being staged in the United States on Sunday is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. in England - just 80 minutes after organizers estimate the final putt will drop in the Open Championship, unless there’s a playoff.
The big issue is that England could be in it. Its team was playing Argentina in the semifinals on Wednesday night and the R& A is waiting on the result.
Mark Darbon, the R& A’s chief executive, says it would be a “great problem to have” because he’s an England fan and that his organization has been thinking a lot about the schedule.
“We think that, even if we go to a three-hole playoff, we’ve got time to complete the championship,” Darbon said. “So, at this stage, no plans to alter anything, but we’ll maintain that under review and finalize our position after the semifinal.”
R&A chief says links courses not required to change to keep the Open: Royal Birkdale went through a number of changes, such as eliminating the par-3 14th hole and building a new par-3 15th. Darbon said “it would be wrong” to suggest changes are driven by spectator movement.
“The changes to the golf course have been driven by the members,” he said. “Given the strength of partnership that we have with our host venues, of course we’re part of some of those discussions, and where there are things that we can do together that also help us operationally, they often make sense to do to help with the staging of the championship.”
It’s hard to imagine Royal Birkdale members wanting a new hole, leading Darbon to be asked if the members’ decision was based on concerns the Open might not return.
“At no stage would we threaten a non-return to a venue on that basis,” he said.
Darbon also pushed back on the idea the British Open is moving toward bigness, particularly attendance. Martin Slumbers, his predecessor, had said before retiring, “Big-time sport needs big-time crowds.”
“If we’re able to facilitate spectator volumes onsite, we’ll always consider that, but it’s not the primary driver for us,” Darbon said.
He cited a return to Royal Lytham & St. Annes, which has a smaller footprint than Royal Birkdale.
“We’re not taking venues off the rotation because they’re smaller than others,” he said. “But there’s a balance to be struck, too, and we think we’re getting that right.”
As for Muirfield, which last hosted the Open in 2013, Darbon said the course requires some tweaks but the R& A looks forward to returning.
Rai gets a letter from the Golden Bear: Aaron Rai might not have been aware of all the things that come with winning a major, as the PGA Championship was his first one. He knew about the Wanamaker Trophy (maybe not how heavy it is) and the five-year exemption to the majors.
The surprise was in the mail.
Jack Nicklaus for years, has been writing a note of congratulations to major champions.
“After the PGA, I received a handwritten letter from Jack Nicklaus, which was kind of surreal when we opened the mail,” Rai said. “For someone like that to take the time to write to me after the PGA, it definitely shows the class of what Jack is about.”
