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HOYLAKE, England -- Old Tom Morris would barely recognize the British Open these days. Its one thing for golf to evolve from gutta percha to polyurethane, from niblicks to hybrids, from hickory to graphite. Now the British Open is all about LED screens, apps and routers. Yes, there are wireless routers affixed to every grandstand at Royal Liverpool. Leave it to the Royal & Ancient to be on the cutting edge of digital technology among major championships. The British Open is believed to be the first major golf event to offer wireless in every grandstand, allowing spectators with mobile phone and tablets to watch the BBC coverage, track their favourite player through GPS, and get details through up-to-the minute scoring updates. "The experience for our spectators will, I believe, be the best they have ever received," said Peter Unsworth, chairman of the R&As championship committee. "Using their own smartphones and tablets, and our groundbreaking Wi-Fi network which is available in every grandstand, they will be able to enjoy live BBC television and radio coverage, live scoring and get news and updates without leaving their seat. "The information available to our spectators has never been so readily available." And to think this major only three years ago banned cellphones from the golf course. Now theyre telling spectators theyre missing out if they dont have them. The R&A last year installed wireless signals as an experiment, with the source of streaming capabilities coming from London. It was so pleased with the result that it now has installed its own fiber optic network at most of the links courses where it holds The Open, starting with Hoylake. Malcolm Booth, the R&As communications director, said the signal is strong enough for as many as 20,000 fans to stream video at the same time. A popular theme at the R&A over the last two decades has been finding a balance between tradition and technology. R&A chief executive Peter Dawson always thought that would involve only equipment. Now he is trying to grasp a world of live streaming and second-screen channels. "What it will be 10 years from now I can scarcely imagine," Dawson said. Traditions die hard at the oldest golf championship in the world, which dates to 1860. Tom Watson, a five-time champion who played his first British Open before Tiger Woods was even born, couldnt help notice some of the changes during a practice round Monday. "What happened to the yellow scoreboards?" he said. For starters, the scoreboards changed from yellow to green years ago, but point taken. For the longest time, there was a manual scoreboard behind each green that showed the cumulative score of the players on that hole, and the scores of the group next to play. Those are gone, replaced by LED screens that now give scores, news updates on the championship, and even a rules quiz during the practice rounds. "Theyre in the modern age," Watson said. Dawson said former championship committee chairman Jim McArthur was a strong advocate for getting up to speed with digital technology, and it then was turned over to Booth and the communications department. Booth said it wasnt a hard sell to the Royal & Ancient, though "there was a lot of explaining to do." "There was a need to explain how this could impact on the experience for spectators," he said. "Having a radio at the Open is not new. People have been doing it for decades. Having a television picture on a hand-held device has been pretty common at big events like the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup. They were aware of these devices. What they werent sure about was how easy it was to take that technology and have it on each persons phones." Oddly enough, it was at Royal Liverpool in 2006 when spectators took so many pictures with their phones that mobile devices were banned the following year. The R&A finally relented on that strict policy in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Now it has Wi-Fi networks, routers, live streaming, geofencing. Is there anything still ancient about the Royal & Ancient? "Me," Dawson said with a smile. He retires next year after 16 years as chief executive, the last few years filled with technology changes he never imagined. He still likes the balance between old and new. The Open still is played on the same turf where Old Tom Morris and Willie Park Sr. vied for championships. The claret jug has been passed around for 86 years. "But I think in the modern era," Dawson said, "the way that people now embrace this technology is something that golf also has to embrace." Kanken Bag Sale . Just ask Arsenal fans. However, Arsene Wenger has repeatedly told anyone willing to listen that finishing in that spot is more important than winning a cup competition. Fjallraven Kanken Uk Cheap . 3 Ohio State. Amedeo Della Valle had 15 points, Marc Loving scored a career-high 13 and the bench provided 38 points as the Buckeyes sprinted past Nebraska 84-53 on Saturday. http://www.kankenbackpackuk.com/ . After missing 20 games as a rookie a year ago, Valanciunas - like the Raptors as a whole - has been fortunate to be in good health this season. As he spoke about it, the Raptors sophomore centre scanned the room for wood to knock on. "It is disappointing because we lost today so thats the worst part of the day," said Valanciunas, who left Tuesdays game with a lower-back sprain in the third quarter, missing the rest of Torontos 118-113 overtime defeat at the hands of the Hawks. Kanken Classic Backpack Uk .J. -- Freshman Eli Carter scored a career-high 31 points and hit the go-ahead basket in the second overtime as Rutgers rallied to stun No. Fjallraven Kanken Backpack Uk . - The Pittsburgh Pirates plan on keeping promising left fielder Starling Marte playing alongside National League MVP Andrew McCutchen for years to come. ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Colorado Avalanche will be heading into their first post-season in four years without leading scorer Matt Duchene after the forward suffered a quirky left knee injury. Duchene hurt his medial collateral ligament when he ran into a teammate on the opening shift against San Jose over the weekend. Hes expected to miss about four weeks. The loss is a big blow for the Avalanche, who have turned things around in coach Patrick Roys first season in charge and are in the running for home-ice advantage with eight games remaining. "We hope for a speedy recovery to be back as soon as he can," Ryan OReilly said after practice Monday. Duchene was trying to avoid a collision with teammate Jamie McGinn, but they awkwardly bumped anyway near the Sharks blue line. Duchene fell to the ice and then gingerly skated to the bench. "One of those freak accidents in hockey," McGinn said. McGinn said hes called and texted Duchene, telling him to "stay positive." Duchene posted on his Twitter account Monday that the "thought of not playing in the first round for me has been devastating." He added that he will be "doing everything in my power to be ready for Game 1... And if not then, shortly after!" The 23-year-old Duchene has set career highs this season in points (70), assists (47) and shots (217). He missed three games earlier this season with an oblique injury. The team went 3-0 in his absence. For now, Roy said the plan is to move rookie Nathan MacKinnon to centre to fill in for Duchene, with OReilly and McGinn playing on the wings. "Weve been finding ways to win games," Roy said. "Well continue to find ways to win." Heres an encouraging sign: P.A. Parenteau, who sprained his knee on March 10, briefly skated on his own Monday. Roy said Parenteau could possibly be back for the regular seaason finale in Anaheim on April 13.dddddddddddd "We have depth and a lot of confidence in our players," Roy said. "Our players have a lot of confidence in themselves. Its a team concept. Its how weve been winning our games. Its not going to change." Right after practice, Roy assembled his team at centre ice, just to give them one final pep talk before taking off for their game in Columbus on Tuesday. He told them he was "proud of them" and that the team shouldnt be satisfied, especially with Colorado trailing Central Division-leading St. Louis by only seven points. The message was well received. "All year, guys have stepped up and done a great job," McGinn said. "We just stay positive and work hard and good things will happen." Asked if there was any pressure stepping in for Duchene, MacKinnon responded, "No." "Im not going to try to replace Dutchy, because you cant," said MacKinnon, a clear favourite for rookie of the year. "Matt is a big-time player and were going to have to find ways to win without him." Roy knows all about missing an integral player for the post-season. He and the Avalanche were without Peter Forsberg during their 2001 Stanley Cup run when Forsberg had to have his spleen removed after the first round. The team carried on without the Swedish star, beating the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 to win the title. "Thats the way it was in 2001 -- it was about the team," Roy said. "Peter was a very important player on that team, dont get me wrong. But our culture was we had to work hard every time we were on the ice. We had to find ways to win hockey games. "Thats what this team has been doing all year. This is what were talking about when youre talking about a team changing their culture. Were not looking for an excuse. Were looking for a solution." ' ' '