Crowd figures not a worry for officials

TOURNAMENT officials have played down fears crowd numbers at this week’s Open Championship could be significantly lower than usual. A combination of the recession and the difficulty of travelling to, and securing accommodation near Turnberry had led to predictions that the attendance would be badly hit.

But David Hill, director of championships for the R&A, said yesterday: “Contrary to what you might be thinking, the numbers look as though they will be up on Turnberry in 1994.

“We’ve had a huge number of last-minute requests through the internet and it’s looking very good. We had 114,000 people here in 1994 and, given fair weather and a good leaderboard, I think we’ll be well over 120,000 at the end of the week, which is pretty good given the current economic climate.

“Obviously it’s not as high as other venues and financially the bottom line is never as good at Turnberry as it would be at certain other venues, but we take a 10 to 15-year view. It’s a fabulous venue and must be kept on the Open rota.”

Hill admitted corporate sales were down around 20% but added: “Like almost every sport and organisation, corporate sales are down, that’s just a fact of life.’’

As ever the weather will play a major factor in how tough the course plays, with some players predicting low scoring and Greg Norman warning it is possible to lose a ball just “nine or 10 feet” off the fairway.

However R&A chief executive Peter Dawson insisted: “We try to set up the golf course to test the players and to produce a genuine champion. The actual scoring level has actually never been quite that important. We don’t set the course up with a score in mind.’’