We are just weeks away from the 151st Open Championship. This year the world’s best golfers will be converging on Hoylake, England to play at Royal Liverpool. The championship will be the final major of the 2023 season. The defending champion is Cam Smith who won last year at The Old Course at Saint Andrews.
By simple definition, gorse is a wild, dark green bush with sharp thorns that can bloom with yellow flowers. It can bloom with those beautiful yellow flowers in the spring time and is mostly found in Europe. While golfers know it as a ball-gobbling hazard on a coastal links course, it can grow in many habitats. A gorse bush can grow 15 feet high and up to 30 feet around. The thorns are fearsome growing up to two inches long themselves.
The gorse bush has been used for medicinal and other purposes in the past. The flowers were used to make tea and even wine. As a herbal medicine, gorse was used to treat a great number of maladies including sore throats, colds, asthma, and skin issues. Today, it’s not really used for these purposes and it’s overall nutritional value is unknown.
When it comes to golf and specifically links golf in the UK and Ireland, gorse provides both beauty and frustration for the golfer. Gorse sucks up golf balls faster than a vacuum cleaner.Additionally, those golf balls are gone for all eternity. Due to the gnarly nature of the bush, golfers really don’t go rooting around into the gorse looking for golf balls due to those previous mentioned thorns.
Get ready to see the world’s best compete at Royal Liverpool here in a few weeks. Additionally, get ready to hear the word gorse. Even the best in the world will find it the gorse during the 2023 championship. I can hear the announcer now “oh no, he’s hit it into the dreaded gorse.”