4:16PM
Newsday (N.Y.): Royal Birkdale tough but ‘a fair test’ for British Open, says Jordan Spieth
4:16 PMBy Art Spander
Special to Newsday
SOUTHPORT, England — The town, all Victorian architecture and weathered citizens, somehow escaped the 19th Century. Southport, 25 miles up the coast from Liverpool, has dance halls, pubs and entertainment featuring comedians who apparently are funny if you understand English, as opposed to American.
It also has one of the great golf courses anywhere, Royal Birkdale, a place of 50-foot sand hills and wonderful history — just check the plaque to Arnold Palmer on the 16th fairway — stretched across a lunar landscape but hardly stretching the imagination when it comes to deserving champions, a list that includes Palmer, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson.
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