The world’s golfing elite will be closely watching Thursday’s Scottish Independence Referendum, with the fate of St Andrews at stake.
The home of golf will never see the British Open again if the ‘Yes’ vote gets up.
The home of the oldest golf tournament in the world, that first teed off in 1897, will no longer be a member of the British Isles.
Other famous Scottish golf courses will suffer the same fate – Carnoustie, Gleneagles (where the Ryder Cup will be played later in the month), Muirfield, Royal Troon, and Turnberry.
As it sits, the 2015 British Open is scheduled for St Andrews, Royal Troon for 2016, and Carnoustie for 2018. Those venues will have to be changed if the ‘Yes’ vote wins.
So how will a ‘Yes’ vote affect other sports?
Scotland has always competed in its own right at the Commonwealth Games, but will then compete as Scotland and not an integral member of Team Great Britain at the Olympics.
But latest reports suggest there won’t be enough time for Scotland to get its act together for the Rio Olympics in 2016.
On the other side of the coin, a ‘Yes’ vote won’t affect the Six Nations rugby tournament, the northern hemisphere’s Holy Grail, but it will affect British and Irish Lions – word has it there will be a rebrand, with the team to simply be called ‘The Lions’, taking nationalities out of it altogether.
In tennis Andy Murray will at last have (SCO) after his name, instead of (GB), and Scotland will contest the Davis Cup in its own right for the first time, and not worry anybody.
There’s only been one Scottish-born cricketer to captain England, and that’s Mike Dennis in the 1970s. Scotland will then compete on the open cricket market, and again worry nobody.
The biggest downside will be Scotland’s ineligibility to receive sport funding from the national lottery, and that will be very very costly, in the millions.
But there are a whole lot more vital issues if the ‘Yes’ vote wins.
Watching Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, over recent weeks, has been looking at a rabbit in the headlights.
The 59-year-old has been so uninspiring and has happily dodged such vital questions as what currency an independent Scotland will use, how Scottish will banks handle the new order, whether Scotland will be admitted into the European Union, and border protection.
They are just four of many unanswered questions. We will know the outcome sometime Friday, or at least have a more clear-cut answer.
At the moment the referendum is too close to call, as the golfers worry about the future of St Andrews, the home of golf.
Nick
Guest
Well geologically Scotland, northern England and northern Ireland were once attached to North America, while Wales, southern Ireland and the rest of England were located on the otherside of what is now the Atlantic. Farsightedly, David may simply be looking at this in terms of eons rather than just the short term. For what it is worth the Open has been played outside Britain (but within the UK) at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland in 1951 and is expected to return there, possibly in 2019. So playing future opens in Scotland - which will still be in GB if not the UK - will not be problem.
Nick
Guest
It's called the Open Championship because when it began in 1860 there was no other championship and consequently there was no need to define it by country. As a consequence, as part of sporting history, it has simply been called the Open Championship ever since. The same situation arises in tennis with Wimbledon rather than the British/English Open as per the Australian, French and US Opens. Just one of the advantages or not of being the first to do something! Why would anyone get upset about the World Series which iirc is named for the original sponsoring newspaper rather than the planet?
ACarlo
Guest
Even if the vote is to separate, independence will not take place for another year and a half. Not rocket science to figure out that the 2015 Open will take place before that. So to ask where McElroy will defend is to be charitable an uninformed question. Wonder why people scorn the media? Not hard to figure out. They simply rarely get it mostly right, and never completely right. That would take some effort.
Brian M
Guest
Its interesting that people criticize the US for calling its baseball championship the World Series as "arrogance" but no problem with the British calling their golf championship The Open like there are no other open championships around the world. Sounds like British arrogance to me. As to the article, Scotland will remain part of Great Britain the island.
Thomas
Guest
True. Scotland and Ireland (representing both the Republic and Northern Ireland) split off from the ECB some time prior to 1997.
jimbob
Guest
Utter nonsense. 'The Open Championship' is nothing to do with the UK. It is governed by the R&A (Based in St Andrews, Scotland) who may hold their tournament where ever they choose. Also, Scottish cricket is already separate from England. It is the 'England Cricket team' and the 'ECB - England and Wales Cricket Board'. 'Cricket Scotland' run all cricket in Scotland. Players from other countries may play for England if they qualify by a number of ways. See Eoin Morgan or Chris Jordan for example.
Steve Kerr
Roar Rookie
He's actually quite specific on that matter though: "The home of the oldest golf tournament in the world, that first teed off in 1897, will no longer be a member of the British Isles" Presumably Mr. Lord knows of a plan to detach Scotland and tow it off to somewhere North of the Faeroe Isles in the event of a 'Yes' vote.
Wobbly
Guest
Yep der obvious in it Mr Lord!
Brendo
Guest
As an expert you should probably know that the Royal & Ancient also has it's headquarters at St Andrews. So even if Scotland's independence from the UK goes ahead (not that it will have any bearing on the Open Championship), there won't be any removal of Scottish courses from the rotation. If anything, the scope of your article is written from the wrong side.
Chris
Guest
Still less embarrassing that some of his recent articles, but the island of Britain will not cease to exist with a yes vote.
Fox Molder
Guest
It is officially 'The Open Championship' and is branded as 'The Open" on all merchandise etc. It is really only called The British Open by Armericans and to some extent Australians. Therefore it seems it can continue being played in Scotland.
Phil
Guest
why would the British Open not still be in Scotland? Is there a rule that it has to be in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? Scotland isn't moving geographically. It is still on the island of Great Britain.