Troon Privé Connect, June/July 2018

14 TROON PRIVÉ CONNECT I really wanted to be there but I didnt make it to Royal Birkdale for exactly the same reason I hadnt made it to Royal Birkdale 10 years earlier when Mark OMeara added the claret jug to his Masters green jacket and set everyone off on thoughts of a Grand Slam by another old timer who was also getting rather long in the tooth to be a major winner Two missed Opens in a row at Royal Birkdale wasnt a good record But why The reason and the culprit was a then 25 year old Norwegian by the name of Frode Hov who somehow all those years ago managed to persuade me to climb on a fleet of aeroplanes and set out for the Lofoten Islands which lie deep in the rough right through the green and very probably far out of bounds 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle Its the sort of place that polar bears might go for a quiet weekend away Maybe what got me there was the telephone ringing off the hook for about 300 days and nights beforehand with the same plea Please come to the opening of my new links course But the Lofoten Islands Ive built it by hand just the way Old Tom Morris did it back in the good old days and we can play all night and its stunningly beautiful said Frode whose enthusiasm for his project knew no bounds and who dismissed my appeals that I needed to be at The Open later that week as not even an issue to be considered Ill make sure you are back in time for the Open he promised So I climbed on all the aeroplanes and in fairness it wasnt his fault that the 85th airline of the day or whatever it was because I had lost count had gone on strike leaving me stranded in the seaside town of Bodo harboring visions of an Arctic winter eventually creeping up on me along with large white hairy animals with sharp claws and prodigious appetites However the ever resourceful Frode found a seaplane and soon had me golf course architect Jeremy Turner and a television crew at his course for the opening ceremony of what was then a six hole layout The first ball on the opening par 3 was duly struck at midnight under a blazing sun by the local mayor to the accompaniment of the towns brass band and watched by the local villagers I had the honour of striking the second ball and let me tell you it was well worth missing the Birkdale Open Frode had indeed built his links course virtually by hand and in so doing fulfilled a promise to his father who always dreamed of building a links course on the family land in this outback famed for its spectacular seascapes and displays of the Aurora Borealis Sadly Frodes dad didnt live to see it open but wherever he is in the great clubhouse in the sky he has much to be proud of in his son In the decade that followed Frodes dream blossomed with an additional three holes and much improved facilities I duly got another barrage of messages from him inviting me to the 10th anniversary celebrations of his now nine hole links course For me it was an honor to accept and share in something that I was already convinced was something rather special And right on cue another decade on Frode has been back wearing out the telephone lines from Norway to insist I come back to celebrate the realization of his dream the completion of a full 18 hole classic links golf course This time the trip didnt interfere with the Open Championship but I was so keen to see the finished article that I probably wouldnt have cared if it had Carnoustie this years Open venue and Lofoten are poles apart in their history and development but they both share that essential distinction that makes traditional links golf the purest form of our great game The fine bent and fescue grasses that define Carnoustie St Andrews Royal St Georges and Royal County Down are the same as they are in the Lofoten Islands so far north of the Arctic Circle And Lofoten Links has views that none of them save perhaps for Royal County Down could hope to match they simply take your breath away OPENING DAY RETURN VISIT DISPATCH FROM ST ANDREWS