The 2023 Walker Cup, described by Gordon Simmonds in his brilliant history Golf’s Greatest Contest, took place on the Old Course at St Andrews. It wasn’t just any Walker Cup but the Centenary, eagerly awaited, five years in the planning, and blessed with perfect weather which made even friends from southern California feel at home.
For this occasion the largest ever group of former Walker Cup players assembled. A record number of American supporters made the pilgrimage to Fife. Together with the home fans, this almost certainly constituted the best informed amateur golfing gallery of all time. Much good golf was watched appreciatively in the most pleasurable way golf can be watched, seven thousand spectators roaming the fairways and around the greens, neither roped off nor ordered about by marshals.
Business was also done, discreetly, out of sight. The event brings together movers and shakers from the R&A and the USGA, on whose discussions it’s above my pay grade to comment. Suffice to say that a USGA Executive Committee member with whom I dined one evening shared a few thoughts about tackling the problem of the distance the golf ball now travels.
As always at great sporting events much of the fun is away from the course, the court, the pitch, the field of play. The main challenge at this Walker Cup was choosing which party to go to next. Sadly, though, the party to which many of us looked forward to the most, the one in the Big Room, never happened.
In September 2022 the Clubhouse was closed to allow reconstruction of the underground Locker Room to take place. The task was to build up to date facilities for the R&A’s growing number of lady members and guests. This required excavation to extend the underground floor space beyond the footprint of the building.
Working underground exposes unforeseen challenges, which in turn cause delays. One year later the Clubhouse remained shut, a sad sight partly hidden from public gaze by safety fencing. Seeing it brought to mind Banquo’s Ghost. The Americans I talked to were too polite to mention any frustration at being denied access to the Big Room, the beating heart of the Clubhouse, but I guess they felt it as acutely as I did. Heroic efforts by R&A staff made up for this. Forgan House, with its superb view of the 18th green, was crammed throughout. We all put a brave face on it and relished the positives of a unique weekend.
Seven months later, the Clubhouse finally reopened last Monday. It was drizzling as I walked through the front door for the first time in almost two years, feeling a trace of anxiety as I did so. What might have happened in my absence to the building I cherish so deeply?
I needn’t have worried. In the front hall there’s no sign of the scale of the project that’s just been completed. In fact nothing much there has changed. All right, the desk at which the porters sit may be slightly different, a nod perhaps to the needs of technology. Beyond it the sight of Ford Horsfield, Head of Golf Services, sitting at his desk at the top of the stairs going down to the Locker Room was reassuring, though I recall that was where the bag store was when I first joined the Club.
Ford looked up and, seeing me, stood up and asked quietly, “Would you like me to show you the new Locker Room?” He had the look of a man who’d worked night and day for weeks preparing for this reopening, conscious of the imminent arrival of members from around the world, each of whom will have a question to ask or an opinion to express.
The new Locker Room, I thought, that’s why I’m here. I accepted his offer. A moment later, at the bottom of the stairs, I was glad I had. Nothing on the ground floor may have changed but everything below ground is unrecognisable to anyone familiar with the previous layout. Without Ford to orientate me I would have been swiftly lost.
The “Women”, as signs on the doors say, a label to match “Women’s Open”, now occupy space previously the preserve of men. I would have liked to go in and see what improvements were made in preparation for their arrival but no chaperon was at hand so after Ford returned to his desk I explored the Heritage Lounge.
This is the space linking the Women’s and Men’s quarters, its walls lined with prints tracing the evolution of the most famous golf building in the world. It’s equipped with armchairs, a coffee machine and tv. I sat down with a past Captain, one of several I talked to during the day. We were soon joined by others, one of whom suggested this new Lounge might draw people away from the Big Room. In my day job I saw how architecture can impact unexpectedly on how a building is used but I’m certain the lure of the Big Room as the place for serious social intercourse will prevail, leaving the Lounge for brief encounters.
The past Captain, whose identity I won’t reveal except to say he is one of the taller ones, mentioned an area downstairs where the top of his head had a brief encounter with a fire sprinkler. He is a man of influence in these parts and told us the offending sprinkler will be moved sideways. I am slightly above average height myself and passed under the relevant spot without injury.
After completing my tour of the subterranean world I resurfaced in time for a drink with a friend who had driven over for lunch. It already felt only like yesterday since we last sat down in the Big Room. In the dining room the menu has been expanded and I enjoyed some excellent lamb. Rest assured, however, that favourites like potted shrimps and mince with poached egg still feature.
All in all I came away from this journey of exploration extremely pleased, so much so that I’m delighted to be on my way back this weekend for the Spring Meeting. Phoenix has indeed risen and Banquo’s Ghost is banished.
One final observation. One of the most prized possessions in the Club is a locker in the Big Room, the preserve of members of very long standing. On my tour of the new Locker Room I noticed there seem to be a few more lockers than before. Having one of these would not bestow prestige on its tenant but would be jolly convenient for members who come from, say, London or Los Angeles a few times a year and would like to store essential daily kit such as a tux here in the Club. I have a feeling the powers that be may have thought of this too.
Hope to bump in to you in the palatial surroundings of the club !