Sean McLean leaned back in his chair and turned to the right, his gaze locking in on the row of flapping flags perched atop the grandstand behind Royal Birkdale’s ninth green.
Yesterday, the sleep-deprived course manager — the keeper of Birkdale’s venerable turf — began to speak of the unusual eastward wind gracing the Open Championship venue. But then he stopped himself. Something out the window of the pavilion he was seated in had changed. McLean said, eyes widening:
💬 “It’s actually swung round off the sea again … Aye, heat can do strange things to weather in general.”
Weird is part of the deal at this year’s Open and the players, the course staff and Royal Birkdale’s consulting architects are feeling it. All at once.
Tom Mackenzie, the co-founder of Mackenzie & Ebert — the design firm that led the renovation of Royal Birkdale ahead of this year’s Open — added:
💬 “You can’t plan for these conditions. You just absolutely can’t.”
