It is incredible how little room these guys need on the range. The place in which one player places his ball is only about 2 to 3 feet from the heels of the player in front of him. Compare that to your average amateurs on grass ranges. Everybody needs at least 3 yards to either side.

Same thing on the putting and chipping greens. Absolutely crowded, but they still manage to stay out of each others way.

Amateurs in Pro-Ams are completely unable to play anywhere close to the level of play their handicaps suggest. And it is not because of the way the course is set up. They are just so incredibly nervous, that they rush all their shots and make a mess of most of them.

Darren Clarke is a real class act. Despite being held up considerably by the point I mentioned above, he was constantly giving advice to his playing partners, told them the proper line and speed of putts, corrected their alignment on full shots and, above all, helped them search their balls in the long grass the whole time. Besides, he always knew the exact point where the ball had ended up in the rough. He was obviously really preparing for the tournament, hitting putts and chips to different parts of the green, when the hole was finished. And the pace of play that must have been incredibly slow for his standards, didn't bother him. At least you couldn't tell if it did.

The iron and wedges shots the Tour players hit into greens always look short just after they have hit them. It might have to do with the fact that those are almost never full swings, so you don't expect the ball to go that far. It might also have to do with the fact that I am used to seeing shots from 10 to 20 handicappers most of the time. Those have a tendency to come up short, when they look fine in the first third of their flight.
Not with these guys. Their distance control is absolutely breathtaking. I saw balls that ended up a little right or a little left, but I saw only two shots that weren't exactly pin-high. Obviously, without the usual pressure of tournament play, they have control over their length and ballflight, that is just out of this world.

During the Pro-Am round (I suppose during all practice rounds), the caddies study and write down every possible detail about the greens. All the humps and hollows and their distances to the edges of the greens are being measured and written down, just like the contours and by how much the distances to the front of the green differ for the left side, right side and middle of the green.

Michael Campbell and Peter Coleman really like each other. I think they still only work together, when Campbell's regular caddie stays home, but they are a very good team.
When Michael Campbell smiles, it's like the sun coming through dark clouds. And he smiles a lot, despite the fact that his game isn't where he would want it to be.

A very large numbers of European Tour players smoke cigarettes. And it's not "The Odd One". They smoke a lot, to be honest. Even some of the younger players, who all look very fit and in excellent shape.

The place where the players get picked up by the courtesy cars, really has the aura of a bus stop near a school, where everybody is waiting for a bus of his particular line, that will bring him home.

It is a bad idea to have a Bon Jovi Open Air concert about 7 km (5 miles) from a golf course that hosts a tour event on the eve of this tournament. The result is a gigantic traffic jam that blocks all the roads within a 35 km (20 mile) area. It is even worse, when the road that leads to the concert venue is also the road one has to take when leaving the premises of the golf course and when there is no traffic light on that intersection. The endless line of cars of Bon Jovi fans was passing by uninterruptedly, forcing everybody who wanted to get away from the course to wait for a long time or try his luck and risk an accident by just chasing out of there and trying to squeeze in.

Some players take their whole bags with them to the hotel. Those who don't and leave the bag in the official tour bag room, take out their driver and their putter and take those two clubs with them to the hotel. Probably even to bed. Everybody, without exception.

European Tour Chief Referee John Paramour is huge. I would never question him on any ruling. I don't hink anybody in their right minds would.

Sorry, no pics. Didn't dare to take my wife's biggest treasure (her Canon EOS Digital) with me, because of the weather warning which promptly became true.
It is also a bad idea to build the most exclusive golf course of the country exactly in the one place near the city of Vienna, where all the thunderstorms of the region always converge. They have done so for the past 500 years and everybody who is at home here knows it. Today there were 4 of them, having their jolly meeting exactly above the back nine. It will be the same on all four tournament days. Pity.

ok two things. firstly who are the smokers? secondly, if you are a german speaker, then your english is pretty close to flawless. the only mistakes i saw looked like typos...

oh, and thirdly, great info

edit: ok, english has to be your first language..

Thank you for the compliment, but English is not my first language. I started to learn it, when I was only six years old, though. So that is the reason, why I can express myself pretty well.
On the topic of smoking: Aside from Darren Clarke, Sven Strüver and Markus Brier, I couldn't really give you names. With those three, I knew before. But there are a lot of younger Spanish and Italian players here, who I do not know by name. Also some younger players from Eastern Europe. And I saw many of them with cigarettes in their hands or in their mouths.
It wouldn't bother me that much, if they didn't throw the butts away on the course, when they are finished. I have to admit, that I also smoke on the golf course, but I always carry a little gadget for the butts, where I can put mine and throw them away afterwards. It is like a small purse. The Austrian tobacco company produced them for some years and I think everybody who smokes on the course should have one of those in the bag.

thanks for the tournament insider info. These type of posts are my favorite. It's the observed accounts of the tour players that can only be told through these type of topics that I really enjoy. Good to hear about Darren Clarke

wow then congratulations. i have a spanish exam tomorrow and i have no such abilities there....

the thing about smoking is that it's just surprising. golf is surely one of the sports with the most smokers, but in terms of the pros, you rarely see them smoking on tv. apparently on the pga tour there is a lot of tobacco chewers, another one that slips under the radar. also cigarette butts just make the course look a bit cheap, so i have to agree with you on that one. maybe one day when austrians take over the world economy it won't be a problem

I think the PGA Tour makes takes great care in not showing players when they smoke. I mean, unless you smoke a cigar you're probably not going to be lighting up cigarettes all the time anyway, but I've been a hole marshall for the past 4 years at the Travelers Championship (formerly the Buick Championship, formerly the GHO) and I've seen my fair share of smokers. I think many players dip...I saw Chris Couch with a huge lip in one year and noticed ever since that he always dips during the entire round. Boo Weekley as well. John Daly and Tommy Armour III are the chain smokers, but you never see anyone but Daly smoking.

thats very interesting. i guess golf has a very clean image, especially in the eyes who arent familiar with it.

also none of those of smokers that you mentioned come as a great surprise. i wouldn't be surprised if tommy armour had a shady past, possibly in the adult movie industry... that is very presumptious of me, but he comes off that way. and daly doesnt even require speculation

Won't happen. Ever. Right now we want to win the European football championship. Or at least one game. Or at least one point. Or score at least one goal.

Back to the topic: some more observations:

Darren Clarke's Vokey Wedges have "DC" in shamrock green stamped on the back of them.

Most players had two drivers in their bags. Their current gamer and the latest model of their sponsor. Some also had three or four of the latest driver on the range. Obviously with different specs, different shafts, to try them.

Trackman on the range. When I first came there, David Howell was hitting balls with a few different Cleveland drivers with a Trackman behind him, while Darren Clarke was sitting there, with a laptop on his knees, analyzing data.

Great post mate, thanks for sharing.

The European Tour events are just nice places to be. Everyone gets on with everyone else and most of the time, they'll go out of their way to help others with their games.

There are a huge number of smokers on both Tours (that's what a few trips to qualifying school will do to you!) but I've also noticed that there are more on the European Tour. The reason you usually don't see them on T.V is that's not what the producers want to see. Nothing wrong with that.

I have to agree that your English is fantastic mate (without sounding condescending). As for the European Championships, just be grateful that you didn't have to qualify! I'll be crying into my pint for the next 4 weeks dreaming of 'what could have been'.

P.S Darren Clarke is pure class. I know he's been working hard on his game recently and I fancy him at the Open Championship this year. Come on Darren!!!

I think the thing with not seeing them smoking on tv is because with the exception of the BBC most golf coverage just shows the players hitting shots. It's only really on the BBC where they seems to squander the oppertunity of not having to show adverts, by intterupting the coverage to show a bush or a plant or a player standing in the fairway having a fag whilst his playing partner is hitting. I think the only other time you see players smoking on tv is in the closing stages of a tournament where most of the feild has finished and the main focus is on just a few players, for example Angel Cabrera last year at the US Open, although it's good to hear he's given up.

That would be jb holmes, not tommy armour

haha. with jb holmes you almost have to think its a ongoing thing. his caddy looks a bit shady (and walks while hes putting). maybe he is the producer...