R&A Cancels Traditional Post-Open Presser; Cites Heat Wave For Attendance Drop At 2013 Open

Scott McDermott and Euan McLean slam R&A Chief Inspector Executive Peter Dawson for not holding his annual State of the Open press conference and speculate that despite a mostly outstanding week of golf and operational excellence, he was not interested in answering any more membership related questions.

However the R&A did offer a reason on the attendance drop at Muirfield compared to the last Open held, there, which was particularly noticeable Thursday and Friday.

The statement read: “More than 142,000 people attended The Open this week. That is almost 90 per cent of the figure in 2002 and we are pleased with this attendance.

“We believe the extremely warm weather put off some of our pay-at-the-gate customers.”

Extreme warm weathering meaning the temperature approached 80 for a few hours!

More likely the drop was related to high ticket prices and the elimination of a senior discount.