Jezzy no mates

It's Tuesday at The Open and GM's Jezz Ellwood finds himself facing a morning without friends in the media centre...

Those who have read Neil Tappin s blog from last night will know that while my office colleagues are getting to enjoy one final golfing outing before hitting the laptops hard for the rest of the week, I m now doing my best Billy no Mates impression in the media centre at 8.10 on Tuesday morning as a result of what can only be described as a personal Hillside howler yesterday.

To rub salt into the wound, as I have no motor myself this week, I ve had to suffer the ignominy of being dropped off by the boys en route to Formby Golf Club at an earlier hour than I perhaps would have ideally liked on Open Tuesday. All I can say is that I hope the stiff Birkdale breeze turns into a full-blown gale just down the road, the threatened rain moves quickly in, and they arrive at the course just in time to witness a coach-load of camera-laden Japanese tourists teeing off ahead of them!

But ultimately I only have myself to blame my golf has gone south for a while leaving me with little desire to play anyway, and this will give me the perfect chance to really get stuck into this Open Championship.

Right now I m looking at the scheduled groupings for today s practice rounds, with one or two catching my eye:-

Like me, Monty is also down for a bit of a Billy no Mates session, heading out on his own at 4.00pm perhaps wise given his crotchety mood of late.

David Duval is out there all alone with his thoughts - and a still bafflingly absent golf game - right now.

The nations are sticking together there s an Argentine trio of Cabrera, Canete and Romero making its way round right now, a French quartet of Havret, Bourdy, Gonnet and Lima getting underway shortly and a Spanish trio of Garcia, Larrazabal and Jimenez heading out at midday.

Justin Rose looks to be picking a former Birkdale winner s brains later on when he heads out with five-time champ, Tom Watson.

The group that sounds most like a firm of solicitors is currently Poulter, Casey and Boyd. Ian could have done with a little legal advice after last week s alleged very bad word incident at Loch Lomond, but I understand the Englishman has now apparently been cleared of all charges.

Anyway, enough of all that I m off to the practice ground to see who s ripping it, who can barely hit it forwards, and who s swing is most likely to help spark a revival in my ailing golf game, before heading off for a first look at the controversial 17th green to see what all the fuss is about. Will report back later.

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Ping G425 Max 15˚ (set to flat +1), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 S shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3-PW: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Ping Fetch 2021 model, 33in shaft (set flat 2)

Ball: Varies but mostly now TaylorMade Tour Response