At least it was during last week's British Mid-Amateur Championship. Perhaps in response to a U.S. entrant who by email chastised them for hosting a championship round on a course just over 6000 yards (6195, par 70), the R&A set the pins in difficult spots on every hole. On three of the par 3's (5, 8, 15) the following wind off the Eden Estuary made it practically impossible to stop the ball anywhere near the holes where they were cut, even with short irons. On the first day, the low round there was +2, and only one score the 2nd day equaled or bettered par (a -1 69).
The Jubilee Course was the course used for the other stroke play round and for match play, and it was set up tough as well but the test there is more tee-to-green and the pins were not as tough (the greens aren't as boldly sloped as the originals on the Eden). The low round there was even par shot by several on the 2nd day. The scores improved over the match play rounds as the wind died and the weather stayed calm.
It still amazes me how different a hole on a links course can play when the wind switches direction. A 3-wood/3-iron to reach the 17th on the Eden turned into a 5-iron/8-iron when the wind switched. My driver found the green on the 341-yard 12th in the practice round, then I hit 8-iron into the same green for the approach when the wind switched for the tournament.
Other thoughts about the Eden and Jubilee:
1. Holes 14-15 on the Eden feel completely out of place at St. Andrews, with a pond directly affecting play on each.
2. The greens on holes 1-8, 10 and 11 are fantastic, but the others come off as uninspired. I know several new holes were introduced when the practice center was built, but couldn't just a little more imagination have been used on the new greens?
3. The criss-crossing par 3's at 5 and 8 Eden are the best par 3's at St. Andrews other than #11 Old.
4. The Jubilee gets a bad rap as simply a difficult test without the charm of the other courses at St. Andrews, but it has some thrilling shots and some very good greensites (#2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, 15). The tee shots at 14-16 are probably the toughest such stretch at St. Andrews.
5. The 17th tee shot at the Eden may be the toughest tee shot at St. Andrews. The 17th combines elements of the 16th (Principal's Nose, OB right) and the 17th (green configuration) of the Old Course, and the OB presses in closer to the ideal line than it does even at the Road Hole.
6. Washtub greens like the 8th and 10th on the Jubilee are most welcome when the wind is blowing.
7. The 15th tee shot at the Jubilee may be the 2nd toughest tee shot at St. Andrews (even with the removal of two of the left pot bunkers). There is simply very little room in a crosswind to put the ball in the narrow strip of fairway between the gorse-covered sandhills right and the dropoff left, and I found that ripping it down the 4th fairway was just as good a strategy as threading the needle with a long iron.
8. Firm, undulating ground immediately in front of a green, like on the 7th at the Jubilee, presents a great test on a downwind approach. Even with a short club, landing the ball on the green will send the shot long, so the approach must be played through the broken ground short, requiring excellent judgement of where the ball has to land and where it will bounce in order to finish anywhere near the hole.