No one knows their way around The Open Shop like Steve Carroll, so we sent him to see what’s on offer this year
How many pieces of merchandise can you emblazon the number 150 upon? The answer, it turns out, is a lot.
You’d expect The Open, of course, to cash in on its sesquicentennial but even this seasoned merchandise buyer was caught off guard by the sheer scale of products produced to mark this landmark tournament.
The Open shop is like a supermarket these days – everything from the weird to the wonderful is tempting you to part with your hard-earned cash.
So if you’re coming up to St Andrews this week and want a sneak peek at some of what’s on offer, or if you’re simply curious about just what they can stick a Claret Jugo logo onto, let’s take a look at some of the staples, the unusual, and the just plain out there, that you’ll be able to get your hands on when you point your credit card at a till.
The staples
If you like hats, you may never get out alive. They are everywhere, in every configuration, colour, and style. From the swish of that lovely 150 scripting to the old-style Open typeface, from mid-fit to New Era, if you can’t find something you like here then you’re just way too fussy.
But if you want something bold that’s still on the classy side, you can do far worse than plump for the iconic Claret Jug sitting at a jaunty angle across the front. Thirty pounds to you.
We’ve haven’t talked about beanies and bobbles and, though it is roasting outside, there are inordinate versions to remind you the winter months are not too far away.
Away from headgear, getting hold of a pin flag is an absolute must if you’re coming to the world’s oldest major and, as early as Monday morning, they were doing very swift business indeed.
You’ve got a choice this time too. You can go traditional, or you can go my way and plump for a version with the obligatory 150 splattered front and centre across that famous yellow colour scheme.
I’m sure you don’t need me to blab on about headcovers, balls, and markers, save for a rather tasty effort that was picked up by my colleague Hannah Holden.
I don’t think it’s gold, but the engraving of the 18th green and the R&A clubhouse is a famous image – and can remind you of happy days at the Home of Golf as you line up putts for years to come.
The unusual
I’ve got a wall full of Lee Wybranski posters. If you’ve never heard of the American before, he’s the artist who produces those iconic paintings that have featured from the Masters to the Ryder Cup. As much as I like his work – and I really, really, do – I’ve never really thought about wearing it. But that’s exactly what you can do if you buy this eccentric-looking t-shirt showing off his scene of the 1st and 18th.
It wouldn’t be The Open without a commemorative FootJoy shoe and the Premiere Series Packard look the absolute business. Nothing unusual about a pair of shoes, you cry and, yes, I hear you.
But I can’t imagine – outside of what you can see on the shelves in St Andrews – that there are too many of these beauties about. I’m hoping they’re going to become collectors items. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself to justify the small fortune (£210) I may not be able to get away from investing in them over the coming week.
The out there
I don’t know what you’d do with it. Is it ornamental? Is it a chopping board? Do you hang it up? Is it a coffee table thing? Whatever purpose it serves – and maybe the point is that it doesn’t have any meaning at all – if you’re prepared to shell out £150 you can walk off with a wooden version of The Open pin flag.
I’ve always quite fancied one of those ‘Quiet Please’ boards that the marshals tote around too, and quite a lot of trees seem to have died to produce replicas of these too. But at £100, I fancy plenty of other things that are going to catch my eye first.
If you can’t get to St Andrews, you can still pick up some The Open merchandise by visiting the online shop.
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