The British Golf Museum has confirmed that the Open's famous Exhibition was first staged in 1908 at Prestwick, so 2008 would have been its centenary.
The Exhibition tent used to be a bustling, eclectic convergence of club-fitters, artists, mad inventors and sole traders alongside established brands, but since the R&A changed direction and reduced the Exhibition to a smaller, more sanitised collection of major companies and tourist boards in 2001, interest has dwindled to the point where it was not feasible this year, according to Angus Farquhar, commercial director of the R&A.
"It is a great shame there is no exhibition tent this year," Farquhar tells SGB Golf. "It is due to declining interest from the exhibitors themselves: the manufacturers, tourist boards and destinations. Over the years companies have used the Exhibition to launch new products, but it has gradually declined, and this year it got to a level where it just didn't make sense to put up that size of tent."
Despite the Exhibition tent being run on a break-even basis, Farquhar has been told that companies need to spend their marketing budgets away from exhibitions.
Widely considered the world's foremost golf bookseller, Aberdeenshire-based Rhod McEwan is an enthusiastic proponent of the Open's 21st century Merchandise Pavilion, where he set-up shop for the week, yet he fondly remembers the exhibition tent of old.
"The exhibition tent was a celebration of golf, for everyone connected with the game," says McEwan, who first exhibited in 1992. "It was the highlight of the year for me, but I am also very happy to be here in 2008. We have set-up our little corner like a bookshop, and it's nice to meet old friends and make new customers. I love it."
In contrast to the death of the Exhibition, they could not replenish the shelves fast enough in Birkdale's Merchandise Pavilion. It was a triumphant testimony to the power of the Open Championship brand, strategically positioned by one of the primary spectator walkways at the course, with cash tills in danger of over-spilling as many of the week's 201,500 spectators poured through.
On the morning of the first round, when the tournament was blighted by gales, Pro Quip waterproof trousers were literally running out of the door, covering the legs of their new owners who had arrived unprepared for the awful conditions. And as the radiant sunshine did not break through the thick grey clouds at all until the weekend, Glenmuir's Open knitwear was virtually sold out by Friday afternoon.
"Glenmuir had a great week in the Merchandise Pavilion," says Andy Bough, Glenmuir's marketing director. "The Open is a uniquely British event that enables us to put ourselves in front of that core British golfing public. We were very happy with the sales we achieved so we hope and expect to me making an appearance at Turnberry next year."
An extra buzz went around the Merchandise Pavilion when 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie made an appearance on the Glenmuir stand on the eve of this year's tournament. "I enjoyed it," Lawrie told SGB Golf. "A lot of people came onto the stand for autographs and it was great to see so many people there."
With a stand flaking the Pavilion's core brand adidas, Ecco enjoyed a successful debut: "We have been delighted with the reaction we received from the golfing public," says David Learmonth, Ecco's marketing director. "As the premium footwear brand in the marketplace the opportunity to align ourselves with the most prestigious championship in the world was too good miss out on."
Backing for Olympic Golf
The International Golf Federation held a press conference at Birkdale to announce the creation of an Olympic Golf Committee to drive the sport's inclusion in the 2016 Games. Represented on the committee will be the R&A, European Tour, USGA, PGA of America, PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and Augusta National.
"In a recent poll of IGF members, over 90% of respondents supported golf's inclusion in the games," said Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A. "The reasons were increased exposure for golf, more government support and increased funding both from government and from Olympic participation. I have no doubt that Olympic golf is comfortably the biggest grow-the-game opportunity that exists, to help us bring golf to so many countries where it's just starting up."
Top marks for Titleist
From the Open field of 156 golfers, Titleist claims that 95 players, or 60.9% of the field, were teeing up with the Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x. This was the 29th consecutive year that Titleist has led the Open ball-count, going back to when the ball-count began. Among the 95 golfers playing Titleist was the winner Padraig Harrington.
Shark bite for Evert
The most photographed ‘WAG' at Royal Birkdale this year was, without question, Greg Norman's blushing bride, three-time Wimbledon champion Chris Evert. The only problem with this was one of brand loyalty, as Evert's picture plastered all over the papers prior to the weekend showed her sporting a Nike cap as she followed Norman on the golf course. This small branding issue was put right by the weekend, however, as Evert converted to a brand new Greg Norman Collection cap, complete with MacGregor logo on the side.
Shot of the week
This is an open-and-shut case: shot of the week has to be Harrington's second to the par-five 17th in the final round, to set-up an eagle and a four-shot lead.
Harrington played a Wilson Staff FYbrid 5-wood from 249 yards on a downslope, and the ball eventually finished three feet from the hole. "The five-wood is my favourite club," says Harrington. "I used the downslope to my favour and it came out nice and low. Once I hit it, it was perfect."
Harrington's coach Bob Torrance described it as "the best shot I ever saw".
Well played, Padraig!
