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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]