Regardless of how many times MHM has brought up the historical event, why is a 568 yard hole considered daunting? It is essentially a medium length par 4 (or short par 4 for longer hitters) ...
For accomplished golfers, a shortish par 5, in the 500-525 range would put more pressure on the start of your round as you are inclined to think you need to make birdie right out of the gate.
And for those curious, I did not witness Young Tom's feat in person ...
I have to take issue with a couple of these thoughts (and not to defend MHM either, it should be well known what I think of him)
A 568 yard hole is not a mid or short length par 4 for any golfer on this planet, save maybe Jamie Sadlowski and Jason Zuback. Even Bubba Watson will have 200 yards at least left into the green, and thats assuming the hole plays down wind and firm. While a 568 yard hole is reachable in two, its not a short par 4 by any stretch of the imagination. Did you mean to say short par 5?
On to a 525 yard hole...that hole presents no challenge unless it has something very unique about it, like the 13th at Augusta. A 525 yard hole is a Driver-5 iron hole for nearly any elite player on a firm golf course. As for shorter players, hey, they leave themselves a perfect wedge approach...want to bet they make birdie 2 or 3 times out of 4?
On to what it would need to be today in order to play the same...I can't seem to find what clubs Young Tom used on the hole...However, I will work through a couple of suppositions based on the facts I have A) it is said in several articles that Young Tom was one of the longest players in the game at the time B) it is known that the opening hole at Prestwick was a par 6 hole at the time. So, lets extend that out to today's time. According to the USGA, a par 6 hole is any hole greater than 690 yards. However, I should say that nearly every professional golfer could reach that hole in three shots, likely with a short or mid-iron in hand. So, lets them take one of the longest players on tour today, Mr. Dustin Johnson, and presume he is forced to hit Driver-3 wood-3 iron into a par 6 hole. Well, his longer drives likely go 330 yards, I should say that an average 3 wood for him goes 290 yards off the ground, and a 3 iron will probably travel in the neighborhood of 250 yards (I hit my 3 iron about 220, Dustin is 30+ yards longer than me off the tee, so I'll keep the numbers the same). So, lets add that up kids, 330+290+250=870 yards.
Yes, in order for this hole to play the same today, it would need to be an 870 yard opening hole. Anyone here ever seen an 870 yard hole? I know I haven't.
So, the question of asking if there are courses starting with 578 yard openers is fairly well flawed. 578 yards, unless it's a slightly downhill par 4, is not a difficult hole, generally speaking, by today's standards. On another note, Scott Warren gets it.