& # 039; You can't do crazy things & # 039; – how a nighttime outage of Portrush made Allis sink & & # 039; 1951 Open hope

& # 39; The Open – Portrush & # 39; 51 & # 39; will return to the only previous time the Dunluce Left hosted the event

The Open – Portrush & # 39; 51

Dates: Wednesday, July 10. Coverage: BBC One Northern Ireland, 22:35 BST; Available on BBC iPlayer and further broadcast on BBC Two, Wednesday July 17 at 4:45 PM

The legendary voice of the BBC, waved with chuckles in memory of its implosion during the Open Championship of 1951.

Only six weeks after completing his national service in the RAF, a 20-year-old Peter Alliss and his brother Alec arrived at Royal Portrush alongside 181 other players who fought for the Claret Jug.

But after an impressive performance in the dual qualification at Portstewart and Royal Portrush to seal its place in the main 72-hole action, a night out to do the hopes of the young Englishman & # 39; s Open Championship bags.

"I had (with Royal Portrush) opened with a 69 (in the second qualifying round)," says 88-year-old The Open – Portrush & # 39; 51 who arrived on Wednesday, July 10 at 10:35 p.m. will be broadcast on BBC One Northern Ireland.

"Then my brother and I went to town that evening and met some girls on vacation from Lond on

Because he clearly felt the worst for wear, Alliss shot a 79 the next day on the Dunluce course and following an 80 followed on Thursday, the young man's adventure game in Portrush was over, although he continued to see fellow countryman Max Faulkner win the championship during the last 36-hole action on Friday.

"Me I then realized that if you want to play well, you have to feel (good). You can't go and do stupid things. "

Alliss & # 39; Open debut had come as a 16-year-old during the victory of Port Dush native Fred Daly & # 39; s over Hoylake in 1947, before missing the next three championships due to his national service

Max Faulkner won the 1951 Open with two shots

With his father Percy who was one of the leading British players in the 1920s and 1930s, Alliss was quickly included in the professional ranks.

But even the top professionals at that time were nothing like the spoiled existence that today's golf magnates enjoy.

"The war had just ended. The pro stores were empty. There were no clothes. There was no food and they ran the Open Championship. I think the first prize (in 1947) was £ 150. Perhaps two or three hundred people showed up to qualify for the championship.

"I'm sure Fred Daly won the Open and went back to his club the next day. The top professionals were famous, but they were nothing.

Max's sons and son-in-law remember how he played in 1951.

"You were expected to live in a maximum of three hours and 10 minutes on Friday, because you had to go home to your club to look after your members for the weekend.

" And if you won? something like the Open, instead of charging five shillings for a lesson, 25 pence, you could charge 50 pence or more. But that was it.

"It was a very kind of low key thing until the 1960s and you had the arrival of Palmer and then the excitement of a new man, Nicklaus," recalls Alliss, who played for Britain and Ireland in eight Ryder Cup games between 1953 and 1969 – including the victory over the Americans at Lindrick in 1957.

The 88-year-old recalls the weather in Portrush in 1951 as a bit mixed which meant that many spectators were dressed in smart long raincoats and trilby hats as they walked alongside the players on the fairways.

"If you compare them with today, you would think they look like they are going out to eat or something, but it was the same at football matches," adds one of the few remaining participants from the & # 39; 51 Championship with Northern Irishman Norman Drew, who later joined him in the 1959 Ryder Cup team.

"The players had to fight through the crowd to get to their ball and back again through them to get on the green and continue to get off the green. It was so different. I would like to make it again for today's players. "

Alliss played in eight Ryder Cup, equaled for more than 16 years

The week started with Faulkner, not long from the RAF itself, and was discounted as a potential contender by the other pros even though he finished sixth and fifth in the previous one two championships at Royal St George & # 39; s and Troon.

"Dai Rees came to me, we had a cup of tea and he said: & Poor old Max. He can't play. We played for a pound, but we refused to take his money & # 39;

"This was two days before the championship started.

"But I am not sure if it was in Portrush, he found a little driftwood on the beach, it was perhaps an old shaft, and put a head on it and put it on it.]

" was as light, about as heavy as two cigarettes, and he beautifully putted on the greens and he won. "

The Open returns to Portrush after 68 years

Alliss was watching on the 16th, which will be the last hole next week, when Faulkner closed his famous second shot on the green in the third round after being out of control kept on.

"There were three strands of thread and he tried to shake around so that he could get a swing and eventually did and fired up and I think he got a four.

" I can't forget to get him to see the check of his winner. It was £ 300 almost double that of Fred Daly and he swung it through the air and he said, this will pay for my son's education and his son went to Charterhouse School, one of the great schools in England. "

That was Peter Alliss & # 39; 1951 Open and he has since attended every championship as a player or broadcaster.