The Open on the
“It’s a beautiful drive,” said Ken Brown as we cruised out of the hidden back exit of on Sunday evening. Our destination of Carnoustie was an hour and 45 minutes away.
As a commentator, Ken is peerless, as a master of short cuts...where do I start? After an hour’s driving north we came across an accident. “Wouldn’t bother, mate,” quipped the chirpy policeman. We turned around and headed back the same way we had came and promptly joined a five mile queue of traffic that had itself poured out from the .
We remained cheerful and reflected on what a fabulous event we had just covered, threw around the rights and wrongs of and considered the form of Luke Donald and Darren Clarke - who both shot excellent final rounds.
Two-and-a-half hours after leaving the Loch Lomond course we passed that very same secret exit from where we had so sneakily emerged, “Here we go,” said Ken. “Now we’re really motoring!”
Running out of petrol is never much fun, certainly not on a Sunday night, and certainly not when you're miles from anywhere. A friendly local, in his broadest Scottish accent, described the route to a nearby petrol station and then helpfully added that it closed early at weekends.
When eventually we arrived at Carnoustie we had predicted 22 different Open champions and demolished six packets of crisps. “I thought you had the key,” said Ken, as we stumbled up the drive of our rented house. An hour later our superhero floor manager, Chris White, appeared with a spare and 2.30am we hit the sack.
Open week is without doubt the most challenging outside broadcast that we stage. It’s not so much the 70 cameras, 100 miles of cable, 11 hoists, our 450 strong team, the 40 hours of coverage we’ll provide or even the blimp. It’s more that, for most of us, we have come off the back of another major golf event and .
Funnily enough fatigue doesn’t seem to matter, and in spite of torrential downpours as we head for the course on Monday morning, spirits are high. Months of effort have gone in to planning for , and the Carnoustie course – the longest in Open history – is going to be a tough but fair challenge.
My first meeting is with the CEO of the , Peter Dawson. We discuss many issues surrounding the week and Peter gives us a glimpse of the pairings and tee times. As we are on air on Thursday at 9am, the 9.09am start for makes for good reading.
We will be centring our morning coverage round this group, with , Rose, in great form, challenging for his first major and , but also the last European to win a major.
That year we televised one of the most enthralling and controversial tournaments in Open history. Treacherous rough, a winning total of +6, a play-off and a . Jean Van de Velde could have taken a double bogey at the final hole to win, well...the rest is history. Watch out for an exclusive interview that we filmed with Jean in the South of France on Monday, which will be aired in our preview show on Wednesday night (11.20pm, TWO).
So what has changed so far as televising the event since 1999? In terms of scale everything has increased in size, and innovative additions such as the blimp and Segway cameras (the one with the cameraman on wheels) have all added in bringing The Open experience to the viewer.
We will also again be operating our ‘trackman’ system, a device that can measure the club head speed and the carry of the ball, as well as displaying a precise graphical representation of its flight. Our virtual animations of the holes and GPS positioning capabilities will ensure that nothing will be missed when explaining the challenges faced by a player. We will also be continuing with ‘Swing-master’, a very popular addition to our coverage where our resident teaching pro, Andrew Nicholson, demystifies and analyses players’ swings and techniques.
Some things, however, remain reassuringly the same, and I am delighted to say that Peter Alliss is in tip top form going in to the week. Alongside him in the commentray box will be Ken Brown, Wayne Grady, Sam Torrance and Mark James.
Out on the course will be Paul Eales, Maureen Madill, Andrew Cotter and debutant . Holding it all together, of course, will be Gary Lineker. And if you miss any live action you can catch up with the best of the day's play in our highlights show with Hazel Irvine on TWO, or via the red button (full details below).
As ever, we will be delighted to hear your feedback on our golf coverage but in the mean time hope that you enjoy what promises to be an enthralling Open championship.
TELEVISION COVERAGE
Weds 18 July
2320-2350 - Open preview ( TWO)
Thurs 19 July
0900-1900 - Live coverage ( TWO, Sport website)
1915-2000 - Highlights ( TWO, Sport website)
i / red button - 0900-1900 (live); 1945-0845 (highlights)
Fri 20 July
0900-1900 - Live coverage ( TWO, Sport website)
1915-2000 - Highlights ( TWO, Sport website)
i / red button - 0900-1900 (live); 1945-0845 (highlights)
Sat 21 July
1000-1210 - Live coverage ( TWO, Sport website)
1210-1715 - Live coverage ( ONE, Sport website)
1715-1930 - Live coverage ( TWO, Sport website)
2250-2350 - Highlights ( TWO, Sport website)
i / red button - 0900-1900 (live); 1945-0845 (highlights)
Sun 22 July
1100-1430 - Live coverage ( TWO, Sport website)
1430-1900 - Live coverage ( ONE, Sport website)
i / red button - 1945-0000 (highlights)
RADIO FIVE LIVE
The radio team will be lead by John Inverdale and Mark Pougatch, with commentary from John Murray, Iain Carter, Tony Adamson, Alistair Bruce-Ball and Russell Fuller. Expert analysis will provided by former Ryder cup captain Bernard Gallacher, current PGA Tour Pro Andrew Coltart, former pros Mark Roe, Roger Chapman and Andrew Murray, plus former Women's Open champion Karen Stupples
Weds 18 July
1900-2200 – Mark Pougatch presents a preview of The Open from Carnousite
Thurs 19 July
0600-0900 – Nicky Campbell is live at Carnoustie for Five Live Breakfast
0900-1900 – John Inverdale presents live coverage of the opening day
Fri 20 July
0600-0900 – Nicky Campbell is live at Carnoustie for Five Live Breakfast
0900-1900 – John Inverdale presents live coverage of the second day
Sat 21 July
1200-1900 - John Inverdale presents live coverage of the third day
Sun 22 July
1300-1900 John Inverdale presents live coverage of the final day
SPORT WEBSITE
Watch live coverage (UK users only - full details above), daily highlights package, view a fixed camera feed from Holes 16, 17, 18 and listen to Radio Five Live's coverage.
Live text coverage of all four days, featuring snippets from Matt Slater and Rob Hodgetts on the course and your chance to contribute via 606 and texts (but not texts from the course ,where mobiles are banned!). Matt and Rob's Open diary, daily reports, comment pieces, quotes of the day, photos of the day.
Plus live automated stats, including the latest leaderboard.
TEXT SERVICES
Ceefax will have a special section, with the index on page 490. There will be a live leaderboard plus updated positions from selected players, reports and quotes, full clubhouse scores and tee-off times.
i text (under your red button) will provide a similar service, with the index on page 481.
