The alarm went off long before sunrise, and by 6 am, GA Mag was aboard a train leaving Sheffield, bound for Liverpool and, ultimately, Royal Birkdale.
As the miles rolled by, and Liverpool started to get closer, signs of The Open Championship started to consistently filter into the peripheral. Golf polos, backpacks, and sun-smart attire became more common as Birkdale approached.
The number of golf fans boarding was fantastic to see, especially on a Tuesday practice day.
Liverpool has always been one of Britain's great sporting cities. Red and blue (Liverpool and Everton) dominate the conversation, but the culture stretches well beyond football. It is a blue-collar city built on sporting pride, from its rich boxing and MMA history to its championship golf courses. This week, there is an unmistakable feeling that the biggest event in the game has arrived on its doorstep.
Even better for the locals, one of their own sits firmly among the favourites, Tommy Fleetwood.
The third and final train on the journey is the Merseyrail line towards Southport, and the Open Championship has properly revealed itself. The accents become wonderfully mixed from travelling fans; Scouse remains the main soundtrack, but it is joined by Americans talking winners, Scandinavians discussing which side of the draw will be the biggest advantage, and Australians already debating which star players suit links golf best.
By Tuesday morning of Open Championship week, Royal Birkdale was already buzzing.
The merchandise areas were overflowing, with Birkdale flags and polos starting to highlight the galleries. Families wandered through the dunes, children desperately trying to finish soft serve ice creams before they surrendered to the rare Lancashire sunshine. Groups gathered around leaderboards not yet in use, swapping stories about rounds they'd played here years earlier or who they thought would be holding the Claret Jug on Sunday.
The championship has always had a significant impact on people, and seeing generations enjoy the lead-up to the tournament in such large numbers emphasises that.
Then there is Royal Birkdale itself. On Tuesday, it looked ready.
After weeks of dry weather, the fairways were as you’d expect, firm beneath your feet and the ball bounding away from the players.
Water has been used on and around the greens to maintain presentation and playability, but with little wind forecast early in the week, there remains hope the surrounds continue to brown off and become even firmer as the championship unfolds.
If that happens, Birkdale will ask every question links golf possibly can.
The players certainly expect it.
“Hope to create some more great memories here. It's a fantastic track. Maybe the hardest Open venue, most difficult Open venue; obviously, weather dependent. It's certainly shown that in previous Opens with scoring,” 2017 Open Champion at Birkdale, Jordan Spieth told the press.
“Dried up this week. It's going to play quite different than the last time we were here. We've had an opposite wind too the last couple days,” he added.
For Southport's own Tommy Fleetwood, returning carries even greater meaning.
"Birkdale was always kind of hallowed turf for people that lived in Southport, and I definitely didn't get to play here as much as I would like to."
The towering, rough dunes separate holes, and almost every fairway feels like it has its own theatre. There are no grand, manufactured hazards or artificial spectacles. Just raw links land, unpredictable rough, pot bunkers and strategic nuance to expose even the smallest lapse in judgement.
“It's a course that makes you think. I think it's a course that gives you options. You can hit driver everywhere if you want. There's never anything stopping you do that. It's not how I would see the golf course, but some people will,” Fleetwood adds.
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