Open Diary: British Food and Teeth

Editor’s Note: Tom Abbott is the host of ‘Golf Central UK.’ He will be filing a daily diary from Carnoustie, Scotland, providing you with a feel for what is going on outside the ropes at the 136th Open Championship.
 
True links weather reared its ugly head on Wednesday. As you may have seen from our show, the heavens opened midway through my shoot with Colin Sinclair as we went through some of the course changes from ’99 to ‘07.
 
The galleries seemed unfazed, rain suits went on, umbrellas emerged and the hardy Scots just got on with watching the world’s best; although, some players quite sensibly made for shelter. I did manage to spot several spectators wearing shorts, an extremely bold move considering the high was 59 degrees F, with a chilly east wind making it feel like the mid-40s.
 
Spotting familiar faces in the Media Centre is a very common occurrence, but today I was delighted to see one that’s very special to the GOLF CHANNEL. Renton Laidlaw popped in for a while to listen to some of the press conferences. Renton has been ill recently but was looking remarkably well. In fact, had you not known of his troubles this year you would never have suspected. He tells me he’s not back to full fitness just yet but he’s on the mend. We have arranged an interview for this weekend, so hopefully you’ll get to see that on “Live From …” later in the week.
 
Being a Brit who spends most of his time in the United States I am often teased by my American friends about the downfalls to British life, and two stand out more than most. Firstly, our food leaves a lot to be desired, and secondly, so do our teeth.
 
On the subject of teeth, without being too derogatory to my fellow countrymen and women, may I say that you Americans do have a point. At times during the day I find myself staring into random British people’s mouths and being unpleasantly surprised. I have been asked many times as to why this problem occurs and might I say I don’t have an answer.
 
Now to the culinary differences. In the television compound we have the pleasure of eating in the restaurant and I was delighted by the selection of food. At the end of the day our crew all sat down to dinner at the hotel and I was met with a volley of disappointment about the food. I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on that subject.
 
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