Carnoustie Diary: 'Race row' is storm in a teacup as members murmur about the price of a royal sandwich

"Golf chief in Open racist storm" screamed the headlines after Graham Brown delivered a speech in Carnoustie at the annual dinner of the Association of Golf Writers. After giving a great impersonation of Seve Ballesteros, Brown, a member of the Royal & Ancient's rules committee, told a couple of jokes that a handful of AGW members thought were politically incorrect. The fact is, the vast majority of the membership was far more concerned about another issue – the price of a sandwich in the media centre. Brown was warned beforehand that he was addressing a mixed audience. "Don't worry," he said. "I never swear." And nor did he – until the flak hit the fan in the most ludicrous fashion.

CLARKE'S A SNAPPY DRESSER

Darren Clarke is launching a shoe range. It's called the DCCC, which stands for Darren Clarke Collection Classics, but it could have done with another C. The shoes have a crocodile-skin trim, which may make you a snappy dresser but does nothing for your ethical carbon footprint.

NOT A PLAYER'S PLAYER

So Gary Player says he knows for a fact that players are taking drugs. He doesn't name anyone but maintains they're out there and taking HGH, human growth hormones. "Every doctor I go to says, 'Gary, you must take HGH'," Player said. Which doctors? How many is he seeing? And why are they recommending drugs? Golf is not weightlifting, and some of the biggest hitters in the game are lightweights. Player, who is 71, is not on the golf scene. Tiger Woods is, and he said: "I really don't see anybody doing anything or have heard of anybody doing anything." More and more players are asking Player to put up or shut up. They claim he's giving the game, which has an almost virginal white image in professional sport, a bad name.

BOO BOY IS A FAVOURITE

Boo Weekley is not a promptto an audience to delivermild derision, nor a sister publication of 'Hiss Monthly', but one of America's more colourful additions to The Open. Nicknamed after Yogi Bear's sidekick Boo Boo, Boo studied turf science at agricultural college before working as a labourer at a chemical plant in Pensacola. This season he has had the touch of an alchemist, winning nearly $2m on the US Tour. Rain or shine he plays in waterproofs, because cotton trousers cause him to break out in a rash. Boo is best known for being knocked out at a county fair by an orang-utan. On his Open debut he has been any which way but loose and has been right up there.

GLOVER PUTS FOOT IN IT

Quote of the championship was provided by Lucas Glover, who teed it up in The Open after arriving in Scotland as first reserve. After making the halfway cut, Glover said: "This is the icing on the gravy." Needless to say, he is no relation.

ROE CHIPS IN TO HELP LEE

If Lee Westwood has shown an improvement in his short game, a commentator for Radio Five Live can take some credit. Mark Roe, who recently retired from the European Tour and is contributing to the BBC's coverage, has helped Westwood with his pitching. From tee to green few are as impressive as Westwood, but when he has to chip his game tends to go to pot. Around Carnoustie he held it together, although his eagle three at the 14th owed nothing to his wedge.