The Open – a media perspective
AlAstAir MAchrAy, rlGc MeMber And editor of the liverpool echo, sAys thAt soMetiMes you Get so close to soMethinG you cAn’t see it properly.
ThaT’s where my job helps. It lets me, makes me, look at the 2014 Open Championship from three discrete perspectives and allows me to understand the sheer magnitude of what we host here at Royal Liverpool. I’m a Club member: proudly so since
2000. I’m a Hoylake resident (I’ve always wanted to say I live two decent three woods from the course, but some of you have played with me and will decry that for the falsehood it is.) And as editor of Merseyside’s biggest-
selling daily newspaper I’m charged to understand, and comment on, the city region and its economy. As a Club member I feel extraordinary
privileged. This summer the old links nods in welcome to those who truly deserve to play on it; Woods, Mickelson, McIlroy: the mighty champions. Yet it’s the same course that scolds me, punishes me and mocks my incompetence each Saturday morning. We play a different game but no one can deny me when I tell them I play the same course. I swell with pride each time I bring
a guest to play. ‘This is where Woods holed for an eagle,’ I say as we stand on the fairway at 12 (Championship 14). ‘This is where Tom Watson asked if he could sit at our table,’ I boast in the clubhouse afterwards. The pleasure guests take in tracing the footsteps of champions reminds me never, ever to take it for granted. In Hoylake village I watch with
interest and excitement. The bars that were closed by grim recession begin to re-open. The restaurant owners and
ROYAL LIVERPOOL GOLF CLUB 2 014 MAGAZINE
9
hoteliers limber up in preparation for the week of money, merriment and mayhem that awaits. That begs a question: Can Hoylake
truly GROW as a result of The Open Championship? Grow in a way that is lasting and visible? In 2006, certainly, it put on weight. But when The Open packed up and left town, the weight dropped off at alarming speed. Sustainable regeneration remains
elusive, although there are tangible new assets on top of long-established natural ones, like the beach, the views, the proximity to a major European City in Liverpool and a spectacular heritage city in Chester. ‘Marco’s Italian Bar and Grill at
Above: Carnival atmosphere
Below: The final day of The Open at Hoylake 2006
Can Hoylake truly GROW as a result of The Open Championship?
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64