Where's the party at?
- 18 Jul 08, 09:12 AM
There have been plenty of things that have surprised us at Royal Birkdale this week.
For instance, we have discovered that when a piece of clothing says "waterproof", it doesn't necessarily mean waterproof.
As well as that, we have unearthed the revelation that eating the same meal in the same restaurant twice in four days is not actually that bad. That's investigative journalism for you.
But one of our nightly talking points as we make our way back to our flat from a hard day at the coalface, is how deathly quiet the town of Southport is.
Over the past few years at the Open, Rob Hodgetts and Matt Slater have had a gay old time recalling tales of bars packed full of golf fans as well as a fair bit of celebrity spotting.
Now, I'm not saying that every time we drive down Lord Street I am singing the 1981 Specials hit "Ghost Town", but you wouldn't exactly call it swinging.
There are plenty of bridal shops (lots of weddings in Southport, obviously), charity establishments with golf displays in the window, as well as restaurants aplenty.
The town itself is lovely but it does not have the atmosphere that you would expect with a major golf tournament going on up the road.
The low-key atmosphere was highlighted late on Thursday night as the pair of us searched for somewhere to fill our stomachs.
We entered a well-known pizza chain and took our seats, looking forward to some scran and a welcome cold beer.
But alas, it was not to be - we were informed they had stopped serving just eight minutes earlier - and it was only 10 o'clock.
They wouldn't listen to our pathetic pleas to reverse their decision and we made a disgruntled exit, along the deserted street, to a place that would actually serve us.
The lack of buzz in Southport has also led to a pitiful effort on the celeb-spotting front.
At the moment we have snooker legend Willie Thorne, former Liverpool defender Gary Gillespie and a wild rumour of Catherine Zeta Jones in Ormskirk. And that's it.
It has been so poor that every morning (and evening come to mention it), we utter the word "unbelievable" in a poor impression of BBC football pundit Alan Hansen as we pass his house.
It's not good. (The buzz, not Hansen's house or our impressions)
According to the official figures, there were 36,500 people at Royal Birkdale on the first day. Where did you all go? There is obviously a party going on - and Rob and I aren't invited.
So, if you know where the hoards are heading, let us know. We'll behave ourselves, promise, and if you're lucky we'll even do our Hansen impression for you.
Comments
Sign in or register to comment.