General

Mother Nature Expected to Be Sub-Par For This Week’s British Open

Jul 14, 2010, 7:00 PM UTC

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â†µâ†µSt. Andrews has hosted the British Open 27 times before this weekend’s tournament and there’s little chance the first 25 had weather any better than we saw when Tiger Woods took home the Claret Jug in 2000 and 2005. This week, expect the more traditional summer weather on the eastern shore of Scotland: cold, wind and rain.â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Due to the inclement weather, which is currently battering St Andrews with heavy rain and high winds, The R&A have taken the decision to cancel The Open Champions’ Challenge.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥The conditions on the Old Course on Wednesday afternoon were such that tournament organisers were left with no other choice but to abandon the event, which was being played in celebration of the 150th anniversary of golf’s oldest Major.â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µMany in attendance were looking forward to the Champions’ Challenge, pitting 26 former champs, in teams of three or four players, against one another in a four-hole mini tournament. It seems, unfortunately, Mother Nature won this round. Dan Jenkins of Golf Digest tweeted, “This is my 42nd British Open, and the first where I’ve needed gloves and a toboggan.”â†µâ†µIt’s pretty bad over there. The shame of it all is that it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime throughout the weekend. Here are screen shots of the weather forecast, via Weather.com, for St. Andrews this weekend:â†µ

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â†µâ†µRain, rain, rain and, yes, rain. Not only is the track going to be wet, but it shouldn’t break 66 degrees – 19 degrees Celsius – at any point in the weekend. The lows each night could be around 11 degrees Celsius, or somewhere in the very low 50s. Oh, and if cold temps, overcast skies and rain wasn’t enough, we haven’t mentioned the traditional St. Andrews wind. No way a conversation about bad weather on the shores of Scotland can come without wind.â†µ

â†µâ†µThursday could see winds in the area of 16 mph – 27 kmph – that should get stronger as the day goes on. Friday and Saturday will have winds in the 20 mph – 32 kmph – range while Championship Sunday may be the calmest day, with winds only around 15 mph.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe British Open is always more fun to watch when the weather is a little rough on the players. That said, nobody wants the pot bunkers to double as wading pools. â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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