How The Open was covered in 1985

I was The R&A’S press officer from 1982 to ’97. In 1985, the media centre was still in the dark ages. They put the tent up four days before The Open started.

The telling point came next year when we had to wait for the tent to arrive from the Royal Show and it was dropped into sand when they first put it up. For the early part of that week, journalists were brushing sand off chairs. That was compounded in 1987 at Muirfield when it chucked it down and there were leaks and sparks coming off the electrical supply at the back

When Sandy won, there were about 600 media, of whom about 50 were American writers, and not everyone had a seat. There were only five of us running it. One year I had 20 hours of sleep in seven days.

My biggest regret was never bringing in Jack Nicklaus, but I did Seve in 1984. I was standing with his mother when he holed that putt - she had only just arrived. That was my favourite Open, then Nick Price at Turnberry in 1994 as he was so ecstatic and such a genuine guy. And then Sandy in 1985.