Open to the world – but only for the men

The British Open championship, already the most open of opens, is about to become more so after the Royal & Ancient (R&A) announced last week that it would initiate worldwide qualifying events next year.

In a first among major championships, the Open is to hold qualifying tournaments in South Africa, Malaysia, Australia, Europe and America, the venues for the last two being Sunningdale and the Congressional Country Club in Maryland.

A total of 36 players will qualify from these events, with Europe and America being guaranteed at least 12 each. This is in addition to the four qualifying events held immediately before the Open, each having 150 players competing for three spots in the championship proper.

The revamp should improve the quality of the field, although there is a danger that some of the romance of a previously unconsidered player getting through will be lost.

Peter Dawson, the secretary of the R&A, said: ‘It will be tough to get into the championship and we make no apology for that. We want to keep the romance but there has to be a balance between getting the strongest field and ensuring that everyone has a chance to play.

‘There are some pretty good players around the world but not all of them can, or want to, spend £5 000 on a trip to the UK to try to qualify when all they might get for their money is two rounds of golf.”

Dawson has also squashed speculation that the Open might soon accommodate a female player such as Annika Sorenstam, the Swede who next month goes up against the opposite sex when she competes in the Colonial Invitational on the United States men’s tour.

‘Never say never,” he said, ‘but I can’t see anything like that happening in the foreseeable future. All the evidence shows that there’s a world of difference between male and female golfers and I think it is right that they should be segregated. The Open is for male golfers, as the women’s Open is for female golfers.”

Standing in the clubhouse of the all-male Royal St George’s club at Sandwich, which this year hosts the Open, Dawson, of the all-male R&A, again defended his organisation’s stance on taking the championship to segregated clubs.

‘We have had fewer than five letters on the subject over the years, although we have probably had 3 000 to 4 000 inquiries about it from the media,” he said.

‘We don’t think there is a huge appetite for change, or that it is a big issue on the streets of Britain.”

The captain of Royal St George’s, David Bonsall, said: ‘We are a private members’ club and we don’t do much else but eat, drink and play golf here. The situation regarding women members is always under review but we have not had any push from the ladies who play here.”

Dawson added that he understood there was some concern that the R&A governed the game for both sexes. He said: ‘No one is telling us that we do it badly and we know that we have no divine right to continue. But we are actively considering a separation of the club side of the R&A and the governing body. There is no timetable but it could happen relatively quickly.”

A revision of golf’s rules, meanwhile, is currently being undertaken by both the R&A and US Golf Association (USGA) — but whether anything more is done about technology remains to be seen.

‘There is plenty we could do about the ball, but the question is what we should do,” said Dawson.

‘There is considerable anecdotal evidence that some are now driving considerably further and we are analysing that, but the first analysis is that the increases are nowhere near what has been written about with one or two exceptions — Ernie Els being one of them.”

Seve Ballesteros spoke last week about the need to bring in separate rules for professionals — fewer clubs, bigger ball, no long putters, maximum loft on wedges — but Dawson said: ‘We and the USGA think there is a danger of not doing the game a good service if we bring in different rules.” —