Voices from high, low and in between

Golf Digest

Our best reads before the Open. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

The Open Championship starts in 10 days. Before you set the coffee timer and get ensconced in the familiar utterances of your favorite broadcasters, we have pertinent stories from a diverse group.

Our longform must-read takes you to Hakea maximum security prison in Australia, where Royal Portrush qualifier Ryan Peake spent five years locked away for gang-related violence. The recent redemption story of the former junior national teammate of Cameron Smith and Min Woo Lee has been misunderstood in important ways, but writers Joel Beall and Evin Priest, in cooperation with Peake and his family, have arrived as close as yet to grasping this incredible tale of psychological resilience.

From the desk of the current Captain of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, a first-person account of what it’s like to hit one of golf’s most harrowing tee balls—the ceremonial drive-in on the Old Course. In “Making the Shot,” Ian Pattinson describes how he did exactly that last September.

Also straight from the source, six-time Open Championship competitor Edoardo Molinari has penned “The Three Skills You Need to Win the Open.” A stats guru who is also Arccos Golf’s Chief Data Strategist, Molinari explains who his longshot pick is this year.

Heading even further north than Portrush, an excerpt from Beall’s book, "Playing Dirty: Rediscovering Golf’s Soul in Scotland in an Age of Sportswashing and Civil War" profiles a highly talented superintendent who could’ve worked anywhere, but chose nine-hole Durness Golf Club, which is basically the edge of the world.

As for the in between, I try to get at exactly why “American Golfers Drink More.” It’s counterintuitive given the fondness for drink of the Irish and Scottish (and even the English...) is so storied, but history gives us clear answers.

Enjoy the Open,

Max Adler, Editorial Director

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