Every Hole At Royal St. Georges

[David_Tepper]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6dJU6COj20

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Thanks for posting that David. I wasn't aware that Frank Pennink had a hand in the re-design of RStGs.


Nice to watch this one again from 2011:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK2lN6_THIQ

[Garland Bayley]

Thanks David,

I look forward to seeing it on the telly.

[Thomas Dai]

Thanks David,
I look forward to seeing it on the telly.

I've taken to watching Uk/European golf on my iPad via the European Tours YouTube link. Colours and screen quality seem much better. Maybe its coz the screen is much, much closer and helps my old eyes!
atb

[Ally Mcintosh]

Couple of interesting things I just saw on the telly:


- Paul McGinley suggesting a few of the fairway undulations are too severe and he’d consider “softening” them, particularly on the 1st and 17th


- Followed by Radar explaining that the R&A have widened some of the fairways; the 17th being 46 paces wide.


These two comments were independent but completely related. Well done on the R&A and RStG for realising they needed slightly wider fairways to deal with the random undulations.

[David Jones]

This interview with Martin Ebert from Geoff Shackelford is interesting -




https://quadrilateral.substack.com/p/q-and-a-with-martin-ebert-part-1


https://quadrilateral.substack.com/p/part-2-q-and-a-with-martin-ebert


Interesting to hear about the changes to the bunkers on the 18th to encourage the longer shot down the left. There was so much rain on the course yesterday, on top of a recent wet spell, it will need plenty of sun and wind to get things speeding up over the rest of the week.

[Kevin Pallier]

Of all the Open rota courses I think this is the most underrated.


I have it only after TOC / Muirfield / Royal Portrush. Looking forward to seeing it again on TV.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Definitely the most underrated by the pro’s, probably because of that unpredictability from all the fairway movement…


One of my absolute favourite courses. Best in England?

[William_G]

nice location, classic links golf

[Niall C]

Couple of interesting things I just saw on the telly:


- Paul McGinley suggesting a few of the fairway undulations are too severe and he’d consider “softening” them, particularly on the 1st and 17th


- Followed by Radar explaining that the R&A have widened some of the fairways; the 17th being 46 paces wide.


These two comments were independent but completely related. Well done on the R&A and RStG for realising they needed slightly wider fairways to deal with the random undulations.

Ally

I recall back when Ben Curtis won playing true links golf with plenty of low punch shots. That same year David Love III, who was notorious for hitting some of the highest tee shots of any of the pro's, was complaining about the random bounces. Clearly it never occurred to him that the lower the trajectory, the easier it is to predict/control the general direction of run and bounce.

I'm just wondering therefore if the widening of the fairways is to cater for the Davis Love's of this world who lack either the will or capability to adapt their game ? As an aside, do McGinleys comments not confirm what we were talking about on the other thread about pro's and fairness.

Niall

[Adam Lawrence]

Definitely the most underrated by the pro’s, probably because of that unpredictability from all the fairway movement…


One of my absolute favourite courses. Best in England?

By some distance IMO. The perfect mix of 'real links' and championship test.

[Niall C]

Is RSG really under-rated ? What I mean is it's a superb wonderful course (IMO) and that view seems to be the consensus, at least on here, so in what way is it under-rated ?

Niall

[Adam Lawrence]

Is RSG really under-rated ? What I mean is it's a superb wonderful course (IMO) and that view seems to be the consensus, at least on here, so in what way is it under-rated ?

Niall

Not on here it isn't. But in the wider world the Jack Nicklaus view that it is the worst course on the rota is quite influential.

[Steve Wilson]

Niall,


Was it Davis Love who was saved from going out of bounds because his shot hit one of the OB stakes and caromed back into the fairway?
And Ben Curtis was my hero for winning that and also for contending in a couple of other majors.  If the course is underrated Curtis was certainly disrespected for his accomplishment.   A lot of commentators acted as though he was undeserving and had stolen the Claret Jug.  Oh well, he's an Open winner, a Champion Golfer of the Year, and everyone who treated it as a fluke--well, they are none of those things.


Damn, didn't realize I was going defend Curtis quite that vehemently when I started this post.

[Garland Bayley]

Definitely the most underrated by the pro’s, probably because of that unpredictability from all the fairway movement…


One of my absolute favourite courses. Best in England?

Having not played it, I can't judge its quality. I can say it is my favorite to watch the competition on, and about the most desirable for me to want to play.

[Matt Kardash]

Looks like my kind of links. Kind of quirky.

[Niall C]

Is RSG really under-rated ? What I mean is it's a superb wonderful course (IMO) and that view seems to be the consensus, at least on here, so in what way is it under-rated ?

Niall

Not on here it isn't. But in the wider world the Jack Nicklaus view that it is the worst course on the rota is quite influential.

Adam


I think I'd forgotten about that quote. It certainly sounds familiar. It did make me go back and look at how the course was ranked in years gone by and I note that GW had it as follows in their UK Top 100;


1999 - 20th


2001 - 15th


2004 - 16th


It was regularly beaten by all the usual suspects plus the likes of Portmarnock and Dornoch. Mind you, it did fare better than Hoylake which came in at 65 one year. Only 9 places behind Slaley Hall !!!!


Niall

[Niall C]

Niall,


Was it Davis Love who was saved from going out of bounds because his shot hit one of the OB stakes and caromed back into the fairway?
And Ben Curtis was my hero for winning that and also for contending in a couple of other majors.  If the course is underrated Curtis was certainly disrespected for his accomplishment.   A lot of commentators acted as though he was undeserving and had stolen the Claret Jug.  Oh well, he's an Open winner, a Champion Golfer of the Year, and everyone who treated it as a fluke--well, they are none of those things.


Damn, didn't realize I was going defend Curtis quite that vehemently when I started this post.

Steve


You have a good memory as I believe it was Love. Also good on you for sticking up for Curtis who was a very worthy winner in my book. Also not meaning to pile in on Love but he was also the guy who said the Open got the champion it deserved in 1999, although he didn't mean it as a compliment about the winner.


Niall

[Peter Flory]

The 12th hole (the antiquated one) looks especially amazing. 

[Brent Carlson]

It's a tremendously fun course with quirk.  I would love for them to build a small tee box where the original Maiden tees were.  What fun!  Sounds like the original course would have been even more so.

[David_Tepper]

Another excellent video tour of the course, produced by Sam Cooper:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLs-mQ3MpB8
 

[Ally Mcintosh]

Incidentally, I think the conversion to natural bunkers like on the 7th look really good here, primarily because they are built in to natural dunes rather than man made mounds. Look much better scaled and less cookie cutter.

[Sean_A]

Definitely the most underrated by the pro’s, probably because of that unpredictability from all the fairway movement…


One of my absolute favourite courses. Best in England?

By some distance IMO. The perfect mix of 'real links' and championship test.

I can't name a GB&I course that I think is clearly better than Sandwich, but there are very few courses I think are in the conversation as the equal of Sandwich.

Ciao

[Garland Bayley]

WOW!a

[Simon Barrington]

[Duplicate posting (from a John Low Thread) as think this may be of interest if folk are searching by course, old routing maps link especially]:

Bumping this thread as a recent highlighting of the 4th at Woking by the Cookie Jar Golf folk reminded me that the ultimate expression of "victory" in the "Penal vs. Strategic" argument for John L. Low may well have been when the 14th Hole at Laidlaw Purves' Royal St Georges was revised replacing the cross hazard with an imitation of either the "Principal's Nose" or Low/Paton's bunker on the 4th at Woking (itself a homage to the former) sometime after 1907.

Today's hole:
https://x.com/CambridgeGrey/status/1858773998047314206

Pre-1907 Maps showing the penal cross hazards:
https://x.com/evalu18golf/status/1414173055912452098