The venue itself was beautiful, the course was very well presented.
Having been to many golf tournaments in the UK and Europe, the spectator facilities and transport were sorely lacking at this Open unfortunately.
For example, the pick up point for the shuttle bus to the course was at a junction, which had no specific name, with limited public transport. Within metro stations and bus terminals there was no signage of where to locate connections.
The shuttle buses stopped very early after the 'anticipated' finish of play. Due to this we, and many others, missed the last few groups playing into the 18th, and the playoff to determine the winner, as we had to make our way to the pick up point. If everyone had waited there would have been no busses left to take the volume of spectators back into the city.
At the course the shuttle drop off point had no facilities, I.e. toilets nor refreshments available (with security removing water etc from spectators). With an uphill 15/20 minute walk to the nearest refreshment area, this is not good.
On course toilet facilities were almost non existent, only 2 locations away from the central village.
There was only one gantry/seating area away from the village, not great for those with disabilities.
At the main village none of the bars next to the viewing screens sold soft drinks, only beer. To purchase soft drinks spectators were required to visit the, small, food area and queue with those ordering food. When soft drinks were purchased the cans had to be opened and poured into plastic cups (zero sustainability there), limiting how many one person could purchase at a time. One wait for refreshments was 45 minutes.
Finally, there was a lack of awareness among many of the stewards as to what their roles were - allowing people to walk in and out of the noisy gantries whilst players were putting, and not ensuring silence at these times.
Despite these frustrations, the tournament was enjoyable and the staff were friendly and very helpful, and we watched some spectacular golf in a beautiful setting.
