The 144th Open Championship
The Open Championship's return to historic St. Andrews is most timely in golf's centuries-old lifecycle. Much has been and continues to be written about the demise, or as Men's Journal wrote, the death of golf. We don't agree. Every day we open our course and welcome sometimes hundreds of golfers who choose as their sporting passion the game of golf. For these golfers we spend untold hours and dollars making sure their game is played on the best possible conditions. This tradition, of sculpting and maintaining an outdoor, multi-acre playground upon which the beauty, excitement, and sometimes frustration of golf is displayed with each round, and sometimes with each shot, began in Scotland, at St. Andrews.
The Claret Jug, handed to the Champion Golfer of the Year, is sport's fourth oldest trophy, first awarded in 1872. It's the one trophy of any sport that elicits the most affection, the most emotion, the most inspiration. The Claret Jug is the epitome of what golf represents - an endearing game that pits man against not just nature, but against himself in striving to achieve a pinnacle we'd all like to reach. All golfers will have their own magic moments, to be cherished for a lifetime. The Open's return to St. Andrews reminds us of this, and when you watch this video, or this one, you'll know why golf's demise is greatly exaggerated.