The Open 2015

Played St Andrews. What a place. Epic feeling walking over the bridge towards the clubhouse. All well and good but I still think if the conditions are calm it isn't the best course on the roster as it's too short for the modern player and a lot of the fairway bunkers will be obsolete. Of course if the wind gets up..... Not convinced its a course that is really the best for the spectator too but again my opinion and others differ clearly
 
All well and good but I still think if the conditions are calm it isn't the best course on the roster as it's too short for the modern player and a lot of the fairway bunkers will be obsolete. Of course if the wind gets up.....

Not a dig at you Homer but I see and hear this get trodden out numerous times, and with respect I think it's nonsense. Look at the scores for other majors and you'll find the similar results. Spieth won the Masters this year with a -18 score. Tiger won at St Andrews in 2000 with a -19 score. And he won at Royal Liverpool in 2006 with a -18. Tiger and Rory have both won the PGA at Valhalla with -18 scores. Does that mean they're all too easy?

Further compare Augusta and The Old; 7,435 vs 7,305 yards (in 2010), course records of 63 and 62 respectively. To me that's not a separation that suggests the Old is without challenge. If the Old Course really was easy, surely we'd see a much bigger differential?
 
not sure about the old course being easy I have seen where they are going to be teeing off from and what lies ahead on each hole and can see where they will struggle! The 17th in particular and also the 12th too!

Yes if the weather is dry and calm then big scores might be seen but that's a big if!

If you want to see a challenge and some pros struggling still them on the Castle course and see how they manage on those mental greens lol
 
Like any links course it depends how they set it up and what the weather does. Yeah a calm day with soft greens and hard running fairways will lead to a 62 or so but if the breeze picks up then anything is possible as Rory showed in 2010, 63 followed by 80?
 
Nice afternoon yesterday so went out for a stroll and took another panorama out from the 12th tee. The course was closed so no flags were in. I've annotated the view a little for anyone interested as it's otherwise difficult to make out all the holes within view. I love this part of the course, it can either be lovely in its tranquility or an exposed nightmare.

Anyway, just be aware that it's a pretty big image...

Old Course from the 12th tee panorama

I'll see if I can get a few more pictures in the coming weeks as the build-up continues. Unless anyone objects of course... :)
 
Got a couple of nice pictures on Saturday evening. Not sure I'm going to last to July without bursting with excitement.

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No pressure when you tee off.

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A tight line looks even tighter from back here.
 
On the 17th tee, is that the 16th green in front? If it is they've moved the tee well back. And at 495yds par 4... not sure I like it.
 
To tee is miles away from where we went from! Will take some power to clear the hotel from there! 495,par 4 is mental lol
 
On the 17th tee, is that the 16th green in front? If it is they've moved the tee well back. And at 495yds par 4... not sure I like it.

It's not supposed to be an easy hole. ;) Yes, that's the back of the 16th green just off the left of the image. The bags in the foreground of the picture are placed near the 17th white tee which measures 455 yards, the yellows are further left at 436 yards.

It makes me all tingly thinking about it.
 
It's not supposed to be an easy hole. ;) Yes, that's the back of the 16th green just off the left of the image. The bags in the foreground of the picture are placed near the 17th white tee which measures 455 yards, the yellows are further left at 436 yards.

It makes me all tingly thinking about it.

I think it was a hard enough hole as it previously was. It now figures as a hole that someone could lose the Open on more than one they could win it on. I want to see someone going for birdie with their approach to the green, not forced into just playing for par.
 
I want to see someone going for birdie with their approach to the green, not forced into just playing for par.

I know what you mean but it is still a birdie chance, it's all about positioning for the second shot. A higher risk tee shot aiming for the right of the fairway is rewarded with a good chance of a birdie. The shape of the green naturally favours a long ball chasing up from that side and channels it to roll right to left, you can "easily" get to the protected hole positions at the back left of the green that way. Playing safer off the tee and going left leaves you a much more difficult approach to the green but you can still pitch short and roll up on the front of the green in two. Trying to carry the ball onto the green is where it all goes wrong. I reckon the pros will be scoring everything from 3s to 10s but maybe we'll see a lucky 2.

Mind, it's a completely different story if the wind is blowing.
 
I have a grandstand ticket by the 17th green on Thursday, so think I could be in for some interesting viewing. Into the wind the 17th will be out of range for many, though they will probably move the tee up.
 
The Old Course is closing later this week and this morning was my last chance to play it. The weather forecast wasn't that great last night but I woke up this morning to an absolute perfect day. Short sleeves for me and no wind for the first time I've played this year - ridiculous considering it's June. The whole place is swarming with building and maintenance activity. It's been a real pleasure to be able to play in conditions like this, as if it's not a special enough place anyway, the feeling of playing within the grandstands, tents and TV towers is spine tingling.

The course is playing wonderfully but if anything it's getting very dry. The fairways are running forever and the rough is getting tall and whispy. Locally the conditions have been weirdly cold, dry and windy for a long time this year and everything seems to be behind on the growing season. Not sure what this means for Open week itself yet but local gossip suggests we could be looking at a lot of brown fairways and some fast-running links golf if these conditions carry on. Good or bad for the pros? Who knows...

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There are many worse places to be on a Monday morning.
 
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