1.
Played it twice in one week, in June 2002. Slightly different winds, conditions, and times of the day. I also spent around ten hours each day for a week, walking the course, and especially assessing the shots played by better plays, and locals, at different points on the course.
2.
I love TOC, starting with the folklore, and the history of the place. I really enjoy visiting and playing the great courses of the world (who doesn’t?) I especially get a buzz when I think of great players who have played the same holes, at crucial moments in golf history, decades before me playing my own shots, on those same blades of grass.
For me, TOC held much of what I suspected it would, and a lot more. The absence of clear framing of many holes, and a great variety of methods in which to play a hole, was something I liked. I marveled at how my playing partners who were not familiar with such styles of golf course, could get so disoriented so easily. My playing partners and I routinely laughed when we had all holed out, and we often said, “well, there’s more than one way to skin a cat!”
I loved the idiosyncrasies of the course. Bunkers that were very small, and seemingly, in weird spots, until one thinks of the course played in reverse. The immense feeling of space was enjoyable. The egalitarian nature of the course was something I suspected I would see evidence of frequently, and enjoy, which I did. Lesser drivers escaped big penalties, despite errant shots from the tee; those pushing for a score, sometimes attempted daring shots, and met with dire consequences when executing poorly. The undulating fairways and greens are course features of which I would never tire. The challenge of approaching the hole, and putting on the vast surfaces was also enjoyable.
Such a variety of short game shots required at TOC.
Perhaps because of the stature of the course, and the likelihood that I would not play the course that often in future, I really studied prior to playing, and I can now name and locate most bunkers on the course without a worry. I feel I know my way around there well. I escaped all bunkers during one of the rounds, and only ran into Cheape’s Bunker on the 2nd time around. It was immensely satisfying to successfully navigate a path, and play well, on such a grand arena. Perhaps that was some of the reason why I have such a strong liking for TOC.
It’s more than just appreciation for TOC from a purely golf perspective for me. The sensation of walking down onto the course, from those steps next to the R&A clubhouse, was like walking onto a stage. The round was strangely completed, with an ‘exit stage left’, on the same steps, with a little applause from the locals on the white rail around the 18th green. The feeling I experienced when making the turn towards the town, and teeing it up on 12, was wonderful. There was a spiritual quality to it, I have not experienced before or after. I really felt I was making a journey, which golfers from centuries before, had made; there was a palpable link to golfers of many generations past, and indeed, our game’s forefathers. I thought of Tom Morris peering out his window, while I putted out on the last.
From a playing perspective, a strategic perspective, a course design perspective, and a historical perspective, The Old Course at St. Andrews holds a special place for me. To borrow the words of Bobby Jones - the more I study it, the more I love it, and the more I love it, the more I study it.
3.
I held high hopes for TOC experience prior to playing, and was a fan prior to seeing the course in person. It only grew in my appreciation after playing. I imagine that if I were to play it ten more times, it would continue to grow in my estimation.
Looking fwd to reading everyone else’s posts !!! Great topic Darren.
Matthew