Carnoustie

It's the only hole I've seen where the gap suddenly gets smaller as the ball leaves the club face. I'm sure the fence jumps in a couple of yards as the ball is hit ☺
 
The point I'm making is not how about how fair it is but rather how enjoyable it is. I would not enjoy myself if my easiest option was to play Wentworth West off the whites even if it might have a corresponding high SSS

Also I have played in the Tassie/Maulesbank a few times so know what the course is like, that is beside the question. My point is a) why do ladies play all their golf from the single set (unless they are elite level)

and

b) why are they generally set up so disproportionately long

Surely this has to be discouraging to some level and I am not trying to be patronizing here whatsoever.

Been playing golf with my wife for over 25 years and can probably count on one hand the number of courses that fall into category b) and they have been more modern courses where length is king, for ladies and gents cards. As for a) I think that fairwaydodger is right, for some courses/clubs, but, been in many where ladies tees are well placed and make for an enjoyable game. My wife plays of 15 and can usually hold her own when we play all but the longest of courses.
 
Arrived this evening and headed out for a look at the course, there is a bit if drizzle but not much wind, that will do me tomorrow.

Picked up a course planer to have a read of, amazingly it was free! I think the one at Royal Liverpool was nearly £10.

good nights sleep and then back up there in the morning, I expect I will be using my 5 iron an awful lot!
 
Stand on the tee and look down Hogans Alley and you'll see how close success and failure can be.

One of favourite golf holes.....made a dogs breakfast of it the only time i played it and have thought about how id play it again a number of times. One of those that you can walk off with a bogey or double feeling that you actually did ok.
 
Well Carnoustie beat me up again and I can't even blame the conditions, which were pretty decent albeit with a bit of drizzle but not much wind.

I had a bit of a meltdown unfortunately. Lost the ability to hit a driver in a straight line and battled the lefts all day. You can't really play that course if you only hit 3 fairways all day! I wasn't particularly wayward but amazed by all the horrible spots I found just off the fairway.

Funnily enough my problems began on hogan's alley after my best drive of the day. Too good - it brought the green into play for the second shot but I missed it right in a tricky spot. Third shot trickled off the back of the green into a bunker in an almost unplayable lie in someone's footprint right up at the side. 2 shots to cover 450 yards and then another 5 to get in the hole! Triple bogeyed the next and that was any chance of a decent score gone.

Didn't go in the burn (ok I bounced over it once) but was in loads of bunkers.

Highlights were "birdying" the 15th..... But with my second ball after losing the first. And a great par on the difficult 17th. The only time I really looked like a golfer all day!

Didn't even beat last year's score.... Shot 88! :(
 
Well what can I say, I really got a sense of tradition today that was missing when I played my only other Open venue, Royal Liverpool.
As Karen said the weather was pretty reasonable, we did have drizzle for the first few holes but the wind wasn't bad although it picked up a little towards the end of our round.
So how did I play? well mostly pretty well although sadly I did find a lot of bunkers, I start decently with a nice drive on the first but found a bunker with my second and ended up with a bogey 5, One the 2nd I drilled my drive into the first bunker off the tee after seeing one of my PPs find a bunker up the right, I tried to just miss the bunker but went straight in chipped out but couldn't reach the green and took a double bogey.
I had a nice par on the 3rd though and then bogied 4 after being nearer the 14th flag than the 4th on the double green, I missed from about 3 feet on 5 for a double and then arrived at Hogans Alley.
I aimed a little right to stay away for the OOB but found a bunker, got it out ok and after a decent 3rd hit the green with my 4th shot, sadly it rolled across the green into a bunker got it out but crossed the green again so a chip back and 2 putts for an 8!
Onto the 7th and my 2nd shot just caught the right hand greenside bunker, my first attempt to get it out, hit the top and fell back in, as did my 2nd and my 3rd attempts, finally got it out and holed the putt but a 7 for missing the green by a yard!
I hit the green on the first of the par 3s only to see my ball come back down the slope at the front, I took my putter and hit it up and over the slope, only to see it roll away past the pin and off the green at the back, another 2 putts gave me a bogey 4.
Slighty disappointed on the par 5 9th and I landed short to run up and it didn't, and I took 3 more for a bogey 6.

A bogey on the 10th was followed by a double on the 11th after driving into the rough and sticking my 2nd into a bunker. The 12th was a bit disappointing, I was lucky not to go into the burn off the tee and played so I had an 8 iron to the green, I though I had it it right but it just caught the mound of a bunker and sat on the top, I thinned a chip over the green and pitched back and 2 putted for a poor 7.
I found the green on the last of the par 3s and 2 putted for par
Onto the Spectacles, they do look daunting from the fairway but I played short of them in 2 and then hit I nice 3rd that finished a little short of the green didn't get my putt close enough so a bogey 6.
On the 15th I was a little unlucky, its a par 5 from the reds and my 3rd caught a bunker by the green, but it was right at the back so I took 2 to get out and double bogied it.
The 16th is a par 4 from the Reds and after a nice drive to about 30 yards short of the green I thought I would land one short and let it roll out, it landed where I wanted it but just bounced sideways so I had a down hill putt from just off the green, I though it just needed to get moving to roll down to the hole but I was wrong and it finished woefully short and I missed the par putt, so just a bogey.
The 17th, despite having a planner I forget to notice that the burn crossed the fairway twice and I found it off the tee, so a penalty which meant I had another double, after not being able to reach the green after my drop.
The last hole was pretty straight forward, a decent drive, a lay up short of the burn, wedge on and just missed with my par putt.

I had the shivers walking off the 18 and through the little gate, I realised that I was following in the footsteps of the greats of golf.

Overall despite the apperent length of the course, the SSS is 3 over the par of 74, I didn't find it a long course, I found that for the most part I could reach the greens in regulation providing I hit a couple of decent shots. The rough wasn't too bad when I was in it, which fortunately wasn't very often. As long as I had a decent stance I found the bunker ok to get out of, shame about the one on the 7th though. The greens were true and not as fast I as I expected.

I said in the OP that I would be happy if I broke 100, I just failed with 100 dead although it could so easily have been up to 10 shots less.
So a 0.1 increase to take me back to 11 :( but a cracking round of golf, I will almost certainly be back to play in it next year.
 
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