This was the old major championship preview I did for PGA.com back in 2008. From the article:
Indeed, all Merseyside rocks every 10 years or so, as though the Beatles have returned to prominence, every time professional golfers return to Birkdale. The patrons are duly rewarded for their fervor with outstanding views of the golf: Birkdale was a stadium golf course long before Pete Dye built Sawgrass in the states on a similar principle — the flattish fairways are set amidst the high dunes, some of the highest in all Britain. Patrons ring the dunes and look down upon the action.
“Birkdale is an outstanding links, one of my favorite venues of all, and one of the best to watch a tournament,” replied a positively glowing Karl McGinty, a popular golf writer for the Irish Independent. “The spectators can stand in rings atop the dunes and see the action well, sometimes on two or three holes.”
Happy Open Championship week everyone!
