Open golf - a question.

[the other bob wilson]

Carnoustie has a reputation for being too hard a test for an open venue, but looking at the number of scores in the mid sixties today, is St. George’s too easy?

[cyril evans awaydays]

Re: Open golf - a question.

I think like most Open Links courses, when the weather is good then modern golfers can hit low numbers. St Andrews is an example where the modern game has outgrown it unless the weather intervenes.

[MacAdder]

Re: Open golf - a question.

It could be argued that it is the same for everyone.
However, the higher ranked players might not think that way and possibly rather a more challenging course to sort the men out from the boys.

They could put the pins in more challenging positions for the last two rounds.

Personally, speaking from a spectator's perspective, watching a load of birdies and eagles is far better than watching the best players in the world hacking their way round a brutal Scottish links course in shite weather.

[Moodybluebird]

Re: Open golf - a question.

Carnoustie has a reputation for being too hard a test for an open venue, but looking at the number of scores in the mid sixties today, is St. George’s too easy?

Considering the negative comments made by some of the players before the tournament had even began, their worries about uneven bounces and good shots being punished seems to have been unfounded. This is borne out by some of the world's best like Oosthuizen and Speith being very much in contention.

[Hilts]

Re: Open golf - a question.

Playing golf when the rain comes and the wind blows is a completely different test.

[the other bob wilson]

Re: Open golf - a question.

I think like most Open Links courses, when the weather is good then modern golfers can hit low numbers. St Andrews is an example where the modern game has outgrown it unless the weather intervenes.

Agree about St. Andrews which is such a shame to see what it has become. As for St. George’s, it just strikes me that, it’s always a low scoring Open when it’s played there, but that’s not to say that some of them have not been dramatic (e.g. Sandy Lyles and wasn’t it where Thomas Bjorn had the tournament in his grasp only to make a mess of a short hole?).

My golf playing days were short lived and I watch it entirely from the perspective of a spectator, so give me a Carnoustie any day of the week - a course where the sound of Americans arrogantly bleating on about it not being a fair test can be heard at the end of most of the times the Open is played there! The final round of Paul Lawries win in 1999 took place on the day we were told that my mother was not going to recover from the second of two strokes she’d suffered within just over twenty four hours, yet the drama of the golf that afternoon was sufficient to lift me out of the despair I was feeling for a short while - my Mum loved her golf and would have been enraptured by the drama at the end of that Open, even if she would have felt so sorry for Van De Velde.

[A Quiet Monkfish]

Re: Open golf - a question.

It could be argued that it is the same for everyone.
However, the higher ranked players might not think that way and possibly rather a more challenging course to sort the men out from the boys.

They could put the pins in more challenging positions for the last two rounds.

Personally, speaking from a spectator's perspective, watching a load of birdies and eagles is far better than watching the best players in the world hacking their way round a brutal Scottish links course in shite weather.

Which is why the greens have become as large a the fairways. Essentially it's become a putting competition, especially as the likes of Dechambeau driving par 4's regularly..

[MacAdder]

Re: Open golf - a question.

Which is why the greens have become as large a the fairways. Essentially it's become a putting competition, especially as the likes of Dechambeau driving par 4's regularly..

Unfortunately the only thing going for many courses which host The Open is the history.
Watching Watson and Nicklaus coming up the 18th fairway at St Andrews do stir the flagging memory.

The Masters though is out on its own, in my opinion, regarding being a spectacle, it also has a rich history and many of the older courses are looking tired.

I would say though that even though The Open might not be great watching sometimes due to the weather, it does throw up different challenges for the players.
This has to be a good thing.

[MacAdder]

Re: Open golf - a question.

Agree about St. Andrews which is such a shame to see what it has become. As for St. George’s, it just strikes me that, it’s always a low scoring Open when it’s played there, but that’s not to say that some of them have not been dramatic (e.g. Sandy Lyles and wasn’t it where Thomas Bjorn had the tournament in his grasp only to make a mess of a short hole?).

My golf playing days were short lived and I watch it entirely from the perspective of a spectator, so give me a Carnoustie any day of the week - a course where the sound of Americans arrogantly bleating on about it not being a fair test can be heard at the end of most of the times the Open is played there! The final round of Paul Lawries win in 1999 took place on the day we were told that my mother was not going to recover from the second of two strokes she’d suffered within just over twenty four hours, yet the drama of the golf that afternoon was sufficient to lift me out of the despair I was feeling for a short while - my Mum loved her golf and would have been enraptured by the drama at the end of that Open, even if she would have felt so sorry for Van De Velde.

That Jean van de Velde collapse has to be one of the sad sights in sport.

Awful to watch but compulsive viewing.