Temporary seating supplier GL events says it is already looking forward to working on next year’s Open Championship after making its debut at Muirfield over the weekend.
The company, which supplied stands to The Open for the first time after signing a four-year contract with tournament organisers The R&A, made its own piece of history by installing the steepest stands the tournament has ever provided.
In total it supplied 23 stands, fitted with 18,500 brand new seats which were situated at 15 holes across the course. The majority of the stands had a rise of 375mm, except for those at the first tee, which rose by 500mm.
The size and rake of the stands meant that spectators could view the whole of the course from the top of one of the stands at the 18th hole, assisted by Muirfield’s unusual layout, which took players around two loops of holes, ending at the 18th, in the middle of the course.
Each stand was also raised by 2m at the front and offered generous legroom – the row depth measures 800mm – while the seats were, at 500mm wide, bigger than in previous years.
It took GL events just 13 weeks to install the stands – all of which were used at last year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games – during a careful build programme which began at the 18th hole in April.
In order to prevent damage to the 122-year-old course, aluminium tracks were laid across the fairways for the purpose of transporting equipment, while forklift trucks and tractor were fitted with special grass tyres.
