‘It all leads up to this’: There is nothing like watching The Open get under way
There is something just compelling about the first shot at The Open – especially when it’s a local hero leading the way. Tom Irwin was there to witness it all
There is something about the first tee shot at The Open. Anticipation binds us. The precipice has been reached, we are all looking over in the edge in eager anticipation.
For all of those at The 151st Open, it all leads up to this. Entry forms completed back in May, stands erected, greens shaved, qualifying ticked off for 156 fortunate souls.
Tickets bought, hospitality accepted, marshalls briefed, glad-handing concluded. The real business would begin right here, right now on a murky Mersey morning.
Leading us off, with The Open 1st tee shot, is a 27-year-old Hoylake native who has played these links since the age of seven and secured his place at The Open in final qualifying just up the coast at West Lancashire.
Do not, though, confuse Matthew Jordan with a plucky, have a go hero. He is a golfer with considerable pedigree. A member of the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team in 2017 – the same year which he won the St Andrews Trophy. He claimed another prestigious amateur prize in the Lytham Trophy the following year.
He is joined on the 1st tee at 6.35 am by Branden Grace, Richie Ramsey, and hundreds – if not thousands – of fans. A broad church of a gallery, long socks and plummy accents mixed with scouse brogue, as the Wirral come out in force to watch their boy become a major man.
The 1st tee grandstand is full long before go time, some hang off the neighbouring 18th grandstand, many line the 1st. All hoping for an MJ Thriller.
The Open first tee shot: An experience to remember
Jordan will have hit this tee shot more than any in the field. Yet there is something about the start. Any golfer can speak of 1st tee nerves, a bounce game, the monthly medal, the feels are much the same.
You have swung and hit a million times before, yet on each renewal the familiar feels distant. Swollen hands, a dry throat, a heart rate elevated, danger everywhere.
Now for Matthew with his world in attendance, and the wider world watching on, these feelings arrive in spades.
Ivor Robson no longer calls the players up, but his familiar ‘on the tee’ is still what I hear. A phone rings and the start is false. A reset and we are underway. A solid contact, slightly left, relief.
Jordan makes a gutsy par and soon after will be in red numbers. Our first open roar arrives with his birdie at the 2nd. There is something about the start.
It is a long week, and who knows where it will end for the home town hero. For now, we know that he conquered those nerves, started and led the biggest golf event on the planet in front of his oldest and newest fans alike. It was a pleasure to witness.
What did you make of the first tee shot at The Open? Why not let us know on X?
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Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
