The British Open (also casually referred to as “The Open”) was first played in 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. The Open was held at St Andrews this past weekend. The British Open was first held at this venue in 1860. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest and most prestigious golf clubs in the world (the oldest being the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers at Muirfield). The R&A was also one of the prominent governing bodies in the sport of golf up to 2004. Many consider St Andrews to be one of the most challenging golf courses in the world.
Louis Oosthuizen (who is from Mossel Bay in the Western Cape) turned professional at age 19 in 2002. Before the 2010 British Open he was ranked at 54th in the world. He shot a 65 on day one (placing him in 2nd place), a 67 on Friday (which gave him the lead in the tournament) and a 69 on Saturday (that placed him at 15 under par and 4 strokes ahead of Paul Casey). He shot a round of 71 on Sunday putting him at 16 under par (272) for the 2010 British Open Championship. Oosthuizen won the championship by 7 strokes in the end.
He became the 4th South African in history to win the British Open and his world ranking has shot up to 15th (just ahead of fellow South African Retief Goosen). He’s joined the ranks of Bobby Locke (who won the tournament 4 times), Gary Player (who won the championship 3 times) and Ernie Els (who won the championship in 2002). Oosthuizen has also become the first golfer to make St. Andrews the site of his first major championship since American Tony Lema in 1964. This victory also happened to occur on the 2nd Annual International Mandela Day (in honor of Madiba’s birthday).
If you’re aspiring to become a world class golfer or if you just enjoy the sport you might to check the classifieds for Golf in our Ball Games category for 2nd hand golf clubs, golf bags, etc.
