….. Sydney, Australia 

Golfers are use to dealing most aspects of ‘Mother Nature’ such as lightning, rain, wind, hail, snow and blowing sand.

But rarely have some of the best golfers in the world faced the problem of smoke.

The bushfire smoke has blanketed Sydney for a number of days now turning the skies from a normal summer day bright blue to a pinkish red.

It’s played havoc constantly irritatng people’s eyes and just making the task of being outside in the open very uncomfortable.

New Zealand’s Ryan Chisnall wears a mask to combat the smoke and shoots a level par 71

New Zealand’s Ryan Chisnall (photo above) went to the trouble of wearing a face mask to protect himself and produced a level par 71.

Here’s a selection of comments from a number of players www.golfbytourmiss.com  spoke following the opening round of the 104th Australian Open here at The Australian Club.

Ernie Els – 72

“The conditions were really difficult and the smoke is really thick, not thick enough you can’t see but it’s got my eyes stinging.

Mike Weir -75

“Today was probably a lot worse than the last two days.  I found myself coughing a bit while my eyes have been watery all day.  I haven’t played in conditons like quite a while.

“My daughter goes to school in California and they’ve had those really bad forest fires, and she’s had to evacuate a few times.

“So, I know just how dangerous these fires can be and appreciate how much it is a serious issue for people living here in Sydney.”

Matt Jones – 67

“I’m not sure what the forecast is, but the smoke’s not good at all. It’s tough to see your golf ball when you’re out there playing, where it finishes. Your eyes do burn.

“I’ve got that cough like you’ve got something in your lungs, phlegm in your lungs or whatever, but it’s not fun. I hope my kids are inside in the hotel room.”

Paul Casey – 68

“Honestly, I don’t care about me, as I said, you’ve got to feel for the people who are right next to the fires.

“We’re hundreds of kilometres away. So, you’re not going to hear me complain about it because I’m not in a position to complain. Apart from stinging eyes, it has no effect on our golf out there. It was just a difficult golf course though. The first time I’ve had to play it with a score card in my hand. It wasn’t even blowing very hard today, but I found it really tricky.”

Adam Scott – 75 

“I’m used to it after the last few days. I’ve been acclimatising.

“It got pretty thick for a while; it still is. It’s not great. The first day here my eyes, on Tuesday, my eyes were really stinging. I don’t know. I was joking that I need to cleanse, but it feels like I should shove a bit of salt water up my
nose or something and try and rinse myself out.

“Obviously not the conditions we want to be playing in. You kind of hope for rain.”

And how can you combat the smoke.”

“Maybe wear a mask, I don’t know”.

Does it work?

“I’ll have to do my research tonight. I don’t know what we can do. We can’t do much. It’s the same for everyone and we’re out here playing, so you’ve got to get on with it.”

Chun-An Yu – 65

“The smoke does hurt your eyes. The air didn’t smell really good, but I can get used to it, so no big deal to me.”