Gawping at sport's greying greats

Andrew Baker, The Telegraph, 29 September 2005

The people of St Andrews are pretty blase about celebrities. For generations, they have had the world's greatest golfers regularly in their midst and, more recently, they had Prince William wandering their streets on a daily basis as he moved from lecture to lecture at the town's university.

So the invasion of stars that accompanies the Dunhill Links Championship has hardly dislocated life in this pretty town on the east coast of Scotland.

But the practice rounds for the tournament have added an extra dimension to a morning constitutional on the links. Instead of heading straight out on the footpath between the dunes, the locals gather for a few moments beside the clubhouse of the R&A, park their dogs and baby buggies and enjoy a few minutes' idle speculation about who may be preparing to drive off from the first tee.

"Who is the lady?" they ask as the only female member of a foursome tees up. "Could be that Catherine Zeta Jones." "Could be that Kate Moss." "Don't be daft. She doesn't do golf. Tell you what - I bet you it's that other supermodel - Jodie Kidd. She's the sporty type."

So the morning continues under grey skies and in a lashing gale. Michael Douglas and Kyle McLachlan provide the showbiz stardust, but they are outnumbered by former sporting greats, since nothing brings a world champion or Olympic medallist out of the house with more alacrity than the prospect of a nice round of golf.

The Dunhill Links Championship is of a different order to the pro-celebrity pap that used to be served up on British television. You will look in vain for Ronnie Corbett, Bruce Forsyth or Jimmy Tarbuck. But an unexpected thunderstorm over St Andrews this weekend could wipe out the national sports punditry contingent in a flash.

Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Jonathan Edwards, Mark Nicholas and Alan Hansen have all forsaken the studio for the gusty links, and there are many more greying greats besides. Their golf is sometimes excellent, sometimes execrable, but they provide the all-important gawp factor.

Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent, for example, who teed off together a little after noon yesterday, will never win awards for the beauty of their golf swings. But the prospect of watching two knights of the water for once trying to avoid the stuff at all costs drew a gaggle of the curious as they set out on their practice round.

Also in their group, looking slight by comparison with the giant rowers, was Andrew Strauss. His swing of the golf club was as convincing as his swing of a cricket bat and he was soon in earnest discussion with his playing partners. Advice about how to deal with adulation as a national hero, perhaps. Or, more likely, a dispute about which of St Andrews' fiendish shared greens they were supposed to be aiming at.

There can be no doubting the attraction for such figures. Not only do they get to compare notes on the efficacy of their agents, they also get to play three of the finest links courses on the planet - St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns - in the company of top professionals from the European Tour. Accommodation and nosh thrown in, too. Would you turn it down?

The prospect could provoke a mild outbreak of bitterness in the average golf club member, and a glance at the list of participating amateurs would be unlikely to act as an antidote. There is no doubting the celebrity credentials of the stars of screen and sport mentioned above, but the bulk of the ams lined up for the pro-am tournament seem to have been selected on the basis of wallet weight rather than charisma.

It is difficult to escape the impression, glancing at the dollar-dominated CVs of the hedge fund managers, merchant bankers and venture capitalists, that the organisers may have invited them here with the notion of subsequently flogging them large quantities of luxury products.

But who is carping? Admission for spectators is free up until Sunday and, if the notion of an ostrich-skin BlackBerry-holder is unlikely to appeal to the average St Andrews resident, at least the daily dog walk has become more interesting.