The Open: A golfer

 By Senior Writer, Anand Datla

Around this time every year, for nearly one and a half centuries, the finest golfers in the world have sailed into the British Isles with near solemn reverence. The object of their religious fervor, an aesthetically crafted silver trophy, has motivated generations of hard working men to try and tame the treacherous links that line these isles. Somehow, the Claret Jug possesses an infinite supply of elixir, allowing the winners a taste of immortality and a brush with the golfing angels they worship.

A week from now, the best in the business will march into Hoylake in England – heart bursting with purpose, eyes filled with hope and lips quivering in soulful prayer. The 143^rd Open Championships will offer a delightfully painful trial to the 156 men that earn the right to worship at the Royal Liverpool from 17 July.

The club, just as ancient as the coveted Championships, will host the Open this year. The 7,218 yard course is a beautiful monster, drawing the golfers into its embrace with its irresistible sea shore grandeur, before tossing them into the deviant sand pits and the devilish deep shrubs.

Only those that manage to stay inside the top 70 and ties retain the right to try their wares over the weekend and pursue the grandest dream in golf. If you have met a golfer who hasn’t been stirred up from the dark of night, by the luminescent halo of the precious Jug, perhaps he lacks skill, ambition or both.

Or maybe they do not possess the stomach for battle and the grinding passion it takes to practice this incredibly searching game on the most demanding golf courses anywhere on our planet. Because, unlike a parkland course, there is far less manufacturing that defines the contours of a traditional links course.

A links course is usually a coastal strip, swept by a constant wind and shaped by years of tectonic craft. Since it is relatively less touched by human ingenuity, the fairways swell and heave making the lies difficult to read. There are blindspots, making the already narrow layout even more difficult to navigate.

The sweeping wind and steadier floor makes it incredibly difficult for the golfers to contain the run of the ball. It becomes critically important to manage the tee shot to a suitable position on the fairway or risk significantly compromising the approach to the green.

It is an ultimate test  not just for the skill of a golfer, but the perfect examination of a man’s temperament and character. And that is why the reward that awaits the last soldier standing is a brush with immortality and perhaps even a lasting conversation with the angels.