The Old Course - Biggest Surprises

[Mike Hendren]

After a Sunday stroll and two rounds on The Old Course last fall, I was surprised by the following:

1.  The double-greens are the most beautiful land forms I have ever seen.

2.  There is much less elevation change than anticipated.

3.  The greatness of The Eden hole cannot be fathomed from photographs or drawings.

4.  The fairway bunkering is not as random as I had been lead to believe.

5.  The playing corridors, while optional, are fairly defined.

6.  The 9th is the most pedestrian hole on a championship course I've ever seen - though I still managed to screw it up.

7.  Downwind, the second to the first is one of the most difficult shots in the game.

8.  The bunker sand reminds me of my native Lauderdale County, TN soil that produces the greatest tomatoes in the world - powdery and brown.  I did not see such sand elsewhere during my trip and am really intrigued by it.  

9.  The course is far more subtle than dramatic.

Any comments or surprises that stick out in your mind?

Mike

[THuckaby2]

Comment:

Re #9, it is somewhat pedestrian... BUT... get in one of the bunkers and all of a sudden this "gimme birdie" becomes "please let me make no more than 5."  And the way the bunkers are placed, there's a lot of luck involved in missing them... they are right where a lot of good drives might land... but the ball can and does bounce over them also... to me this makes the hole very interesting and fun...

For me, the experience was a bit different because before the first time I played it (1987), I sorta knew about it, but not much - I had given it next to no study.  So EVERYTHING ABOUT IT surprised me. Coming back again in 1998 and then again 2003, well... I had no surprises because I had seen it, and by that time had studied it in greater depth than just about any course I can think of.

I guess what did surprise me in 2003 is something I hadn't noticed before, and that is that it seemed to me one faced the same shot into greens quite a few times:  up and over a false front.  

But I concur with all the rest of your ruminations anyway.... except I saw that powdery brown sand several other places in Scotland, I think... I don't recall that at the Old Course being unique... but I surely could be wrong.

TH

[Mike_Cirba]

The 9th is the ultimate in subtle sophistication.  

The lack of anything defining the approach creates depth perception mind games from Hell.  Sit there and watch how many approaches get within 15 feet, even for the professionals.  

That is mind-boggling considering most are approaching from less than 125 yards!

[THuckaby2]

Mike - you actually hit on another cool aspect of the golf hole:  it's COMPLETELY different from the way way way back tee the pros use.  They don't even try to reach the green, because from what I recall, they stretch it back far enough so that they can't in most instances.  So that being the case, most pros then do try to lay up to a comfortable full wedge distance and take the bunkers out of play, being that they are so trained to do so... And then they are faced with that absolute lack of definition shot, which does tend to confound them as you say.

Contrast that to visitors tee, which is typically set somewhere between 260 and 310, meaning with that hard ground, a lot of people can and do reach the green... bringing those bunkers into play off the tee.

Pretty cool for a pedestrian hole, huh?

TH

[James Edwards]

Mike H, I agree with all your points accept 8 which I am unfortunately not qualified to give an answer

Yes. Mike C, absolutely correct on No 9, especially on windy days, when it's just the flag fluttering, 100 yards between you and the hole and the resulting shot can be left a long way from the hole more often than not from such a short distance.

I would add..

The V.O.S is a larger than I had expected, the original R.H.B was deeper than I had expected and smaller.  Also, the green on T.R.H was narrower than I had thought.  The 2nd green is one of the most undulating I have ever played especially when the flag is top left.  The plateau green on 12 has one of the narrowest plateaus in the game to land or run a ball up on to

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

The surprises on my first trip were in fact how strategic course really was. This was many years ago and well before my GCA days. I never thought I would fall in love with a hole like I did #11. The 2nd shot on one with the prevailing downwind. How par did not matter, just golf your ball. The scale and uniqueness of the greens, including how very cool the double greens are. The scale and value to the hole many of the traps had. I had one at my home course but it was not the same. How much a part of life golf is to St. Andrews and Scotland.

[Kelly Blake Moran]

Mike,

Believe it or not I was surprised by how subtle the greens were compared to what I anticipated, and how tight the fairway/playing areas were, I mean it was like hitting off a hardwood floor.  Also, I was surprised by how enjoyable it is to play golf i wind and rain.  I play now in just about any weather condition, cold, wind and rain add to the experience!

[Mike Hendren]

KBM,

Interesting.  I also now play in weather I would not have dreamed of playing in before I traveled to Scotland.  In some sense that is a legacy of my trip.

Mike

[Robert Thompson]

Thoughts on The Old Course: It was all a bit of a blur, like opening presents at Christmas when you were a kid. However, I did really appreciate how strong a par three 11 is and just how difficult the green at 16 can be.
I was also suprised at how much room there was off the tee in places.
That said, I hope to have a better sense of the course after tackling a second time when I tee it up at the end of April.

Robert

[Marty Bonnar]

As one of this site's 'token Scots', I suppose I should add a comment or two to this thread.....

For me, the single biggest surprise on first visit to the Auld Lady was the 'Blindness'. It seemed to be utterly pervasive - every hole was (felt like?) either a blind drive or a blind second or - in my case - a blind shot out of a satanically deep bunker.....

Second surprise was those greens - I'd never putted 80 yards before or since! IMO, they are TOCs best feature. Amazing FUN with incredible borrows. If you think you're a good putter, try them on for size.

The Road Hole - Too Easy! I've parred it more often than not. What's all the fuss?

The Hotel - even after it's major facelift in the eighties, it's still not a patch on Turnberry or The Marine (North Berwick).

At the Millennium Open, our Club (as one of the locals) was asked to marshal the stands behind the 7th/11th green and beside the 8th Tee. That was 7 days of standing on or near that amazing green complex and really having time to survey it in ridiculously close detail. It is nothing short of incredible. During the practice rounds, the guys were putting from all sorts of angles and really enjoying it! We watched them then play their tee shots to the par 3 8th and were thinking 'these guys are crap' as they were never within 40ft of the pin. Only later did it occur to us that they were playing to the pin positions for the tournament, ignoring the flag they could see......THESE GUYS ARE GOOD!!!!

FBD.