Musings from the Jar
July 2023
The Walker Cup Mixer 2023
Those of you that closely follow our content will understand our passion for the amateur game. Indeed, many would consider the pinnacle of the amateur game to be The Walker Cup. Going for almost 100 years, and returning for its 49th edition at St Andrews in September, we have been wanting to do a Walker Cup inspired event for some time. The Home of Golf could not be a more special venue and so we are delighted to cordially invite you to our Walker Cup Mixer. Come and enjoy some live music, excellent beer and camaraderie at the Brewdog Bar on South Street in St Andrews. It's a great venue so it's sure to be a festive evening and we look forward to seeing you all there. If you wish to attend, please RSVP by completing the form below.
Brian Harman Leads: Can He Be Caught?
The 36-year-old Georgian waggler maintained his grasp on the 151st Open Championship with a steady 69 on Day 3. It was a superb reply to Jon Rahm’s morning 63, which piled on the pressure and made it clear the current Masters champion is not done yet. Asked about his response to Rahm’s statement of intent after a shaky start, Harman said: "Yeah, I mean, it would have been really easy to let the wheels start spinning and really kind of let it get out of control, but I just kind of doubled down on my routine and knew I was hitting it well, even though I hadn't hit any good shots yet.” Cameron Young moved himself into solo 2nd, with a classy round of 66, yet remains five strokes behind the inconspicuous Brian. Young, although still without a PGA Tour title, seems to be the obvious candidate to mount a [...]
The 18th at Hoylake: You’re Not Dun Yet
Understandably, much has been made by the golfing press of ‘Little Eye’, the new 17th hole here at Hoylake. Its status as a championship test has been pondered and debated, but the stats from Round 1 and 2 prove it’s not playing much above its par. It even relinquished an ace on Friday. Just a stone’s throw away from 17’s amphitheatre tee box, however, is the beginning of 18, Dun, a hole that’s spectacle has been rather overshadowed. Played as the 16th for the members, this long dog-leg Par 5 with internal out-of-bounds, seven sand traps and a colossal amphitheatre around the green will go a long way to ensuring the best champion is crowned. In the first two rounds, Dun was the only Par 5 on the course that played over par (+4). The 5th (-101) and the 15th (-92) have surrendered a host of birdies and are [...]
Talk to the Sand
The course on Day 1 made a statement to the players that they best keep their ball out of the bunkers. After plenty of build-up about the greenkeeper’s use of the hay rake, which with wider teeth can cause the ball to nestle a little further down in the sand, the players found the sand traps to be penal hazards indeed. Perhaps more noticeably challenging on Day 1, was the way in which the bunkers have been dug flat, with balls getting trapped in the corners and up against the faces. With 81 traps in total on the links, we saw plenty of players finding trouble in the sand and I found it very interesting to watch. It’s proving to be a conversation that splits opinion, amongst the pros, the media and the patrons in attendance this week, but I think it has been tremendous fun seeing the players navigate [...]
5 things From Day 1 at The Open
A wonderful start to The 151st Open Championship. Alarms were set for 5:30am to ensure we were in the grandstand in good time to watch local boy Matthew Jordan hit the opening tee shot. The group - also featuring friend of the jar Richie Ramsay, and Brandon Grace along with a strong showing from the Royal Liverpool membership to support their man - would be the one we’d follow. Here are the top 5 takeaways from the morning’s action: 1. The bunkers are no joke. The work by James Bledge and team to flatten the base of the sand and remove the bowls that you would typically expect to see in the bunkers have been replaced with a flat floor of sand. The result is one where the ball will race up to whatever edge is in its way, without consideration for the player's stance or ability to progress the [...]
Little Eye’s First 30
So much has been said about the new 17th hole here at Hoylake and the unique challenge it will pose the players this week. As Cookie Jar’s roving reporter for the day, I headed over there to see how the first 30 players took on the challenge and how they fared. After seeing Michael Kim’s tweet late last night with the Round 1 Pin Sheet attached, before I had even arrived at Little Eye, I knew that the pin was going to be tucked front right. Just as I arrived at the greenside stand, the greenkeepers were finishing cutting it in that very spot and it looked daunting. Home boy Matthew Jordan and his group that arrived first at 17, set the tone for how the first 30 would decide to tackle it on Day One. There was certainly a bit of breeze up there, nothing major, but enough to [...]
The 151st Open: Amateur Hour
With play at the 151st commencing at 6.35am tomorrow, all eyes appear to be on Rory, Scottie, Jon and the host of big names coming into the week with form and pedigree. Whilst anticipation is through the roof for seeing how the game’s elite fare around Hoylake in some rather changeable weather, less has been said of the cohort of amateurs who are not only vying for the Claret Jug, but also the Silver Medal. Competed for since 1949, the Silver Medal has seen a host of illustrious winners: Sir Michael Bonallack, José María Olazabal, Tiger Woods, Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy to name but a few. Provided they complete all 72 holes, one of this year’s six amateurs will be taking it home. Much has been made of Hoylake’s historic connection to amateur winners, with Royal Liverpool members John Ball Jr. the first Englishman to win The Open [...]
The 151st Open: The Champion Bag of the Year
Before you start reading, I must warn you that I’m about to enter down a very niche and rather weird golf equipment rabbit hole, but its Open week and I’m here for it. During a brief escapade on the course during today’s practice round, the mad dashes of colour bobbing down the fairways of Royal Liverpool were offering up a stark, but welcome contrast to the menacing clouds drawing in overhead. The Open staff bags have arrived. Am I really writing this? Yes. We march on. Here at Cookie Jar Golf, we love stash, and it is a central cosmetic part of any major week. So, we have decided to critique and rank the staff bags produced for this year’s 151st Open at Hoylake. Don’t worry, this is all being done rigorously and scientifically, so there will be no questioning whatsoever of which bag earns the prestigious title of [...]
Hoylake to Hong Kong: Two Clubs Intertwined
Words by Charlie. In December of 1857, in Greenock, on the south bank of the River Clyde, a boy was born who would etch his name into the history of Hoylake and who would play a pivotal role in the transporting of the Royal and Ancient game to Asia. His name has understandably been overshadowed by the greats that line the oak-panelled walls at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, but he was a golfing pioneer, nonetheless. That bonnie lad was Gershom Stewart. The young Gershom’s stay in Scotland was to be a mere sojourn for he was moved to Merseyside, on the Wirral Peninsula early in his boyhood. It was during this period that he first picked up a set of brass-heads and wandered the linksland around the racecourse at Hoylake. From a young age, he was characterised as a ‘stranger in a foreign land’, a facet, perhaps, of [...]
June 2023
The Muddyman Torpedo: A Mid-Amateur Scratch Event (28th July)
'The Muddyman Torpedo ' Blackwell Golf Club Friday 28 July 2023 36 holes scratch medal Mid Amateur event (aged 25 or over on 1.1.23) Those of you who follow our content know how passionate we are about the amateur game - particularly those great anecdotes and characters who sadly seem to be less common in today’s more professionalised, sanitised world of golf. Well, in fighting for the true spirit of amateurism, we’re delighted to resurrect a famous event of the Blackwell calendar - The Muddyman Torpedo. ‘The Torpedo’ was an annual contest hosted at Blackwell by one of the legendary figures at the Club, Paul Muddyman, aka 'Muddy'. Muddy encapsulates many of the great attributes we all strive for in golf - a friendly, welcoming personality, a brilliantly sharp sense of humour and one of the most prolific short games in the country. The Torpedo was the name of the [...]
