Philip is right that a revised profile on Royal St. George's has been posted under Courses by Country and Architecture Timeline.
Ever the gentleman, he is too modest to admit that he won our (unofficial) match there. I won't bore you with details but suffice to say, with the All-Blacks and Wallabies both losing the night before, I was emotionally, spirtually, and physically in no condition to play a match. Indeed, some may contend that my shaking hands as late in the match as the thirteenth green
could be considered a moral victory.
Anyway, enough of that. Two weeks ago Ben Crenshaw said that Royal St. George’s is his second favorite course on the rota, behind the obvious. He was genuinely effusive in his praise, in particular, singling out the greens and the variety of their placements. He detailed his good friend Bill Rogers’s win, stating he was the best iron player in the world for a three-year period. (I thought he was the best/most accurate driver but Ben said for quality of contact and ball control, Bill’s iron play was unmatched).
Ironically, one of the few links that can compete in regards to greens happens to be 6km down the coast at Deal but I won’t get started on that debate regarding the relative merits of these two noble links (though of course Noel will quickly pen a 500 word post pleading his case like a good homer).
The players and viewers at the next Open at RSG will find a better presented course than the last one (i.e. more width off the tee). Specifically, the Club wasn’t happy that less than 30% of the field hit the seventeenth and/or eighteenth fairways and there will be more room to play next time.
Other comments on Open courses by Crenshaw: Royal Lytham might well be his third favorite, marveling at how the architects got so much out of the property. He thinks Hawtree’s work around the greens has remarkably improved Birkdale in recent years. The thought of playing the back nine at Troon into the wind is not but so appealing. Also, not surprisingly, North Berwick is among his all-time favorites based on the quality of shots the golfer is asked to invent.
Since the 1986 Masters, five tournaments stand out for me:
1) Tiger destroying the field at St. Andrews,
2) Tiger destroying the field at Pebble,
3) Tiger beating Ernie on C&C’s Plantation Course at Kapalua in that thrilling playoff,
4) Faldo beating Norman at the Masters. It became Tiger’s world after that and hindsight shows that it marked the end of the Masters/Augusta National as we knew it.
5) And, finally and perhaps the best of all, the 1993 Open at RSG.
Great courses/designs allow great golf to be played at all levels and, for me, RSG is one of the dozen finest in the world in that regard (as well as in any regard). Many may disagree but the fact that RSG stirs such strong emotions on both sides says plenty about how the Club hasn’t allowed it to be beaten down into another conventional, nice course conforming to the modern whims of perfect visuals, etc. Though many changes have occurred since Purves’s day, St. George’s remains thoroughly original, passing with flying colours one of the definite criteria for greatness.
Cheers,