After my one round there a number of years ago, I was quite an admirer of Carnoustie. However, I found it difficult to explain this fondness when others (such as my father-in-law) so quickly dismissed it as being ugly, flat and basically devoid of character (as if ugly and flat aren't character on their own!). This was a concern as you shouldn't have any trouble defending a course you truly like.So . . . there was already some doubt in my mind before watching the Open this weekend. Fairway widths aside, though, I thought the course came across well. The first three holes are over more interesting ground than I remembered, the bunkering is a work of art (although a number of them were not as deep as I remembered) and I now know how to play the 17th! I suppose the aerial shots of the closing hole (from a crane, I suppose) probably did lull me into thinking that the sea is closer to the course than it actually is. Holes 5 and 13 went up in my eyes while 7 and 11 still don't seem like much. It was interesting to read that they took out most of the trees between 3 and 5.Moreover, I am convinced that television does a great disservice to most links courses. I'm not sure if it is due to the "flattening" effect of television, the lack of trees to provide depth perception or perhaps the great crowds and huge grandstands, but most of the Open courses do not come across that well on television. For example, if I had not played Birkdale before and all I knew of it was from last year's telecast, I would have no great desire to make the effort to play there. However, that would be a mistake as it among the finest 25 courses in the Brtish Isles. Last year's event had me scratching my head as Birkdale occupies one of the more dramatic pieces of land of any Open venue, so it should have been more impressive on TV.