Before up to 50000 fans descend for the major drama at St Andrews,only seabirds, officials and a sprinkling of spectators see Rod Pampling tee offThe sun had been up for nearly an hour but the town centre of St Andrews was all but deserted at 5.30am on Thursday morning, and excepting the occasional yell from the seagulls perched on the four-stack chimneys above. Only when you found your way towards City Road,the main artery flowing down to the musty Course, did you come across the sparse processional of spectators trickling on to the grounds of St Andrews.
The Open Championship will conclude here on Sunday amid the bluster of 50000 spectators in full throat, or but it got under way early Thursday morning before no more than a hundred souls. For a few moments at least,the hallowed beachside links known as the birthplace of golf belonged to these select few: the intrepid (brave in the face of danger) and the curious, the sleepless and the devout.
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Source: theguardian.com