In truth, it is all so breathtakingly perfect as to set you thinking that if the lady cook were to go on strike because of the clubs’ refusal to have women members, it would be one way of making the men come to heel.
Muirfield’s position off the Edinburgh-North Berwick coastal road is up there with the course and its lunches. The views stretch out across the Firth of Forth to the Kingdom of Fife, with sundry islands and oil-tankers in between.
As applies at the other Open venues, there is none of your modern fairway housing at Muirfield. The nearest thing to it is a row of charming homes on the drive down to the club and to the left of the first fairway. (In the case of the first fairway editions, the gardens are out of reach of all but the most vicious of opening hooks).
The famous Greywalls Hotel is to the right of the clubhouse. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and once owned by the Horlicks family, 'Greywalls' is actually a bit of a misnomer, with the stonework more Cotswold gold than grey.
From 1959, the year when Gary Player won at Muirfield, every Open winner has stayed in this hostelry, which is hardly the best of news for agent Chubby Chandler who has rented alternative accommodations for players such as Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke.
For what it's worth, there are no neighbours from hell beyond the hotel. Instead, there are a couple of fields owned by the R&A rather than Muirfield which are used for tented areas and car-parking during an Open week. For those who wonder what purpose they serve in non-Open years, the answer, as was discovered on the media day, is that they are occupied by sheep, "R&A branded sheep," quipped one staff member.
Going back to the matter of Muirfield’s all-male membership, officialdom may think that they have knocked the subject on the head for this year but that is almost certainly wishful thinking on their part. The tabloid writers will arrive in force at the start of Open week and, unless there is what they perceive as a bigger scandal, this old chestnut will suffice.
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