After the last Open here, my opinion at Carnoustie cratered. There's something incredibly irritating about a course that insists on wrapping itself up in such a tough guy image. If it wants to be one dimensional
, then we should judge it so. Holes like the sixth with its eight yard wide area to hit one's second shot were ruined for the 1999 Open. True, all this was the fault of the course preparation for that one week but once it fell, I never gave it a bounce back up...until now.
Rich's Experience Carnoustie Golf Links, his third installment in analyzing the great UK links, helped me re-focus on why I initially liked Carnoustie so much: the quality of its weak holes is nearly unmatched in links golf. Rich's text and unique three-dimensional terrain modeling of the course highlights its world class holes (the second, sixth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and seventeenth). At the same time, and just as importantly, it shows the strength of their supporting cast.
Nobody puts the fourth hole among their dozen favorites on the course but after that, there is little agreement as to those holes that offer the least appeal. A primary reason for the course's enduring appeal is the underrated variety found within its green complexes. Some feature great interior contours (e.g. the third, fifth) others are fantastically situated in hollows (e.g. the first, eleventh). Sometimes, the length of the greens (e.g. the second, thirteenth) give those holes great flexibility in how hard they play with the back hole locations at least a half stroke harder. False fronts (e.g. the seventh, eighth) add intrigue on a daily playing basis. It goes without saying that many greens (e.g. ninth, fifteenth) accept a running approach shot beautifully well.
Let's hope they won't screw up the set-up again - this famous and mighty links deserves better. Information on how to acquire Experience Carnoustie Golf Links from OptimizeGolf (
www.optimizegolf.com) is included at the end of the Feature Interview, which is presented on a hole by hole basis. The first question pertains to the first hole, the second question to the second hole and so on. Hopefully, it helps point out various features/playing qualities to be aware of as we all watch it on the telly in a few weeks.
Cheers,