The world No 1 Tiger Woods prepares to hit a tee shot at St Andrews, with the legendary clubhouse in the background. The course is much loved by players of all generations.
The world No 1 Tiger Woods prepares to hit a tee shot at St Andrews, with the legendary clubhouse in the background. The course is much loved by players of all generations.
The world No 1 Tiger Woods prepares to hit a tee shot at St Andrews, with the legendary clubhouse in the background. The course is much loved by players of all generations.
The world No 1 Tiger Woods prepares to hit a tee shot at St Andrews, with the legendary clubhouse in the background. The course is much loved by players of all generations.

Fairway to heaven


  • English
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Entering the secret recesses of the clubhouse at St Andrews is like stepping inside a pyramid; an experience Arnold Palmer describes as "being admitted to the Hall of the Gods". A hushed shrine where wondrous things are to be found: dark corridors of oil paintings depicting royal and golfing kings . . . glass cabinets crammed with glittering trophies fashioned from kangaroo paws and silver boomerangs . . . a hoard of ancient hickory putters, mashie-niblicks and brassies, all lovingly sculpted by Willie Auchterlonie and his fellow 19th century craftsmen. Chamber upon chamber of priceless antiquities.

Aye, St Andrews, where the 18th green nestles snugly in the corner of two narrow streets on the edge of town - separated from the general public by a low, white fence and overlooked by a venerable red sandstone tenement currently being reconverted into sumptuous apartment - is like no other golf course in the world. Critics will tell you it lacks the mighty challenge of Muirfield, the manicured glamour of Augusta, or the Hollywood beauty of Cypress Point, but surely there can be no more starkly breathtaking or atmospheric spot on the golfing globe.

"As a youngster I heard other players talk about St Andrews," sighs a besotted Ernie Els who is back in town to compete in this week's Dunhill Links Championship, "but nothing really prepares you for your first sighting. I guess it's a cathedral." Not everyone is so impressed, however, particularly the notoriously pampered Americans who prefer their country clubs to be as carefully cultivated as a Californian cemetery, all rolling lawns, dyed blue ponds, banks of lillies and weeping willows. It is not an electric cart you need on this rugged coastline of Fife so much as a four-wheel-drive Land Rover. When Sam Snead first saw St Andrews spread out down below from the window of a light aircraft in 1946, he inquired of his pilot: "Say fella, there's an abandoned golf course down there. What did they call it back in the old days?"

Snead's suspicions did prove to be unfounded and he won the British Open that year by four shots. Bobby Jones was so sceptical that he tore up his card after six holes and vowed never to come back. That was in 1921, yet return he did to win the British Open six years later and the British Amateur title (then considered almost as important as any major) in 1930. When he was given the freedom of St Andrews at a ceremony held in front of the townspeople in 1958, Jones won the hearts of the Scottish nation with a suitably affectionate and gracious acceptance speech.

"You have to study the Old Course," he said. "And the more you study it, the more you learn. Of course the more you learn, the more you have to study it. If I could take everything out of my life except my experiences at St Andrews, I would still have enjoyed a rich and full life." Like so many who came before or followed after, Jones, later to become one of the sport's most accomplished designers, gradually realised that St Andrews, where they had been playing golf since the 1400s, owed its subtle, deceptively uncluttered lay-out to the architect's pencil of God.

To the uneducated eye, it would appear the course is some way short of the best. The shared first and 18th fairway is really not a fairway at all, merely a giant polo field devoid of any geographical quirk save the Swilcan Burn and its tiny stone bridge which, on a frosty January morning, disappears into a curtain of mist like the path to Brigadoon. From the third hole onwards, however, St Andrews becomes a rolling - sometimes cruel - sea of bumps and hillocks, gorse and heather, hollows and swales. And then there are the bunkers . . . a veritable desert of spiteful sand such as The Beardies, Hell Bunker, The Grave. "Honest to God," continues Ele, "I must have played this course 20 or 30 times and I found myself in a bunker last year that I never knew existed before. It's a special place..."

Special? Listen to the born-again Sam Snead: "The only place in Britain that's holier is Westminster Abbey." Or Jack Nicklaus: "There are two British Opens. The one played at Muirfield and Lytham and Troon and the rest. And the one played at St Andrews. There is no place in the world I would rather win a championship." Or the late Tony Lema: "What do I think of St Andrews? It's like going to Scotland to visit your sick grandmother. She's old and she's crotchety and she's eccentric. But look real close and my, isn't she dignified and elegant? I sincerely believe anyone who doesn't fall in love with her is totally lacking in imagination."

Grandma can be an elderly pussycat when the sun shines and the North Sea lies as blue and serene as the Mediterranean, but when the "cauld wind blaws" and she remembers to put her teeth in, St Andrews can bite your head off. Armed with a handicap, it is entirely possible for anyone to play the Old Course. It is not so easy to achieve membership of the Royal and Ancient, the game's ruling body (except in Mexico and the US) and just possibly the most exclusive club in the world, though they do not actually own the course on which they sit.

The Dukes of Edinburgh, York and Kent are among the exclusive band of 13 honorary members which also includes former Open champions Arnold Palmer, Kel Nagle, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Tony Jackilin and Roberto de Vicenzo. Yet the R & A, for all their pomp and circumstance, are markedly less stuffy than the All England Club at Wimbledon, say, and come blessed with a few quirks which suggest they also keep a healthy sense of humour stored among the invaluable artefacts.

New captains, for instance, have to "drive in" from the first tee and a silver replica of the ball they use is then attached to the cluster hanging on an ancient silver putter like a bunch of fruit. At the autumn dinner, new members are required to touch this ornament to their lips, a reverent ceremony Sean Connery irreverently describes as "kissing the captains' balls". rphilip@thenational.ae

Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

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North Pole stats

Distance covered: 160km

Temperature: -40°C

Weight of equipment: 45kg

Altitude (metres above sea level): 0

Terrain: Ice rock

South Pole stats

Distance covered: 130km

Temperature: -50°C

Weight of equipment: 50kg

Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300

Terrain: Flat ice
 

What is blockchain?

Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.

The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.

Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.

However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.

Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.

Ticket prices
  • Golden circle - Dh995
  • Floor Standing - Dh495
  • Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
  • Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
  • Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
  • Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
  • Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
  • Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
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Bugatti Chiron Super Sport - the specs:

Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 

Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto 

Power: 1,600hp

Torque: 1,600Nm

0-100kph in 2.4seconds

0-200kph in 5.8 seconds

0-300kph in 12.1 seconds

Top speed: 440kph

Price: Dh13,200,000

Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:

Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 

Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto 

Power: 1,500hp

Torque: 1,600Nm

0-100kph in 2.3 seconds

0-200kph in 5.5 seconds

0-300kph in 11.8 seconds

Top speed: 350kph

Price: Dh13,600,000

RESULTS

5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
Winner: Shafaf, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)
5,30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
Winner: Noof KB, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: The President’s Cup Listed (TB) Dh380,000 1,400m
Winner: Taamol, Jim Crowley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
6.30pm: The President’s Cup Group One (PA) Dh2,500,000 2,200m
Winner: Rmmas, Tadhg O’Shea, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Listed (PA) Dh230,000 1,600m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Mekhbat, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

Wallabies

Updated team: 15-Israel Folau, 14-Dane Haylett-Petty, 13-Reece Hodge, 12-Matt Toomua, 11-Marika Koroibete, 10-Kurtley Beale, 9-Will Genia, 8-Pete Samu, 7-Michael Hooper (captain), 6-Lukhan Tui, 5-Adam Coleman, 4-Rory Arnold, 3-Allan Alaalatoa, 2-Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1-Scott Sio.

Replacements: 16-Folau Faingaa, 17-Tom Robertson, 18-Taniela Tupou, 19-Izack Rodda, 20-Ned Hanigan, 21-Joe Powell, 22-Bernard Foley, 23-Jack Maddocks.