Weather is blamed for lower Open attendance

Published on Tuesday 24 July 2007 00:31

THE Open will return to Carnoustie by 2017 in spite of the championship won by Padraig Harrington attracting the lowest attendance to the oldest major since Nick Price succeeded at Turnberry in 1994.

Although crowds at the Angus links fell from 157,000 in 1999 to 154,000 because of inclement weather, the Royal and Ancient paid tribute to Carnoustie's "staggeringly good" finish.

While the number of paying customers was also 76,000 down on the record 230,000 who swelled the scene at Hoylake during last summer's heatwave, meaning gate revenue for the championship was reduced by around 3 million, the R&A heaped praise on the links yesterday for delivering one of the most exciting finishes seen at a major championship in recent years.

Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, said: "The 18th hole here is just built for drama, there's so much going on. There's the burn, the out of bounds, the bunkers, the burn again and the out of bounds again by the green. If there isn't some excitement on the 18th here, you're not going to get it anywhere. It's staggeringly good."

Dawson was also hopeful that TV ratings would show a rise and the excitement of the championship stir the interest of non-golfers in the sport.

Miserably wet and cool weather was the obvious reason the attendance dipped. The R&A had expected to attract 175,000 spectators if conditions had been fair.

There are nine courses on the Open rota with St Andrews usually holding the championship twice as often as the other eight. Next year's Open is at Birkdale, then at Turnberry in 2009.

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