Royal St Georges - the quirkiest course on the Open rota ?

[Niall C]

I can't recall who said it but someone said it in commentary during the Scottish Open. I'd never thought of RSG in that way but I suppose there may be a case. Thoughts ?

Niall

[Kalen Braley]

They had a big discussion on this very word last night on the Golf Channel.

Rich and Justin were struggling to say nice things about the course, while Brandel was universally praising it as one of the best courses in the world.

But they all agreed its very unpredictable, where a "good" shot can be lost and a "poor" one end up on the fairway/green, and claimed that is the #1 pet peeve of the pros.  Hence the quirk.

[Peter Pallotta]

In the discussion Kalen mentions, Brandel noted that high-ball hitters Nicklaus and Watson were among the greatest of Open champions (and I'd note that Norman won one of his Opens at RSG) -- and Justin concluded/conceded that 'attitude' was more important than 'aptitude' when it comes to playing good links golf, especially on a 'quirky' course like RSG.

[Mike Hendren]

It would not have dawned on me to describe the course as quirky.  I don't recall hitting over a train shed, for example.   I'd prefer to describe the course as muscular and at times rollicking.  Its topography is sublime.


I'm not sure it's lovable, but I sure do like it a lot.


Mike

[Tommy Williamsen]

Interesting. I was just going to begin this thread. I played on a trip where I played a dozen links courses. Quirky never entered my mind about RSG. it was tough as nails and gave you some bad bounces but so did most of the courses. I loved the twists and turns of the fairways, uneven lies, and bunkering. I’m. Of sure where I would rank in the Open rota but I could play it every day and enjoy it.

[Kalen Braley]

The basic definition of quirky is:  characterized by peculiar or unexpected traits.

In the context of your typical PGA Tour venue where "its all out in front of you" it certainly has a lot of quirk in that the pros are faced with "peculiar" shots where "unexpected" things happen and in general "good shots" may or may not be rewarded.

[Sean_A]

In the context of current Open courses, is there one funkier than Sandwich? The only two which even enter the conversation are Sandwich and TOC.

So much character has been ripped out of Sandwich. It's very sad.

Ciao

[Tim Gallant]

The basic definition of quirky is:  characterized by peculiar or unexpected traits.

In the context of your typical PGA Tour venue where "its all out in front of you" it certainly has a lot of quirk in that the pros are faced with "peculiar" shots where "unexpected" things happen and in general "good shots" may or may not be rewarded.

Well said Kalen - I guess it would depend on your comparison as you say. If you asked me to name the five quirkiest courses in the UK&I, RSG wouldn't even be given a thought. But in the context of courses that we see pros play, it certainly has its fair share of blindness and potential for odd bounces, which some might classify as quirky

[Jonathan Cummings]

I seem to be the exception but I've played all the Open venues multiple times and St Geo. is OK but far from my favorite.  Like them all it's a beast in the wind and on the docile side on those rare calm days.  If character is our personal measure of a golf course, I'd take TOC, Turnberry, Muirfield, and Troon over St Geo. for Open venues. 

[Adrian_Stiff]

The Old Course is quirky.


Most of the features 'we' would like got removed before the 1981 Open at St George's. Though the cambered fairways still remain many are softer now.


The old 3rd was an up an over a bit like the 5th at Prestwick, that hole was about as popular as a turd in a swimming pool to the pro's. The 8th was a par 3, 11 was a par 4 that changed too. Back in 1981 the 2nd was driveable, but not now with the tee extensions. Even though it is a huge site there is not much scope to extend the course now for length.

[Mike_Trenham]

Looking at the flyovers of the property and the massive separation between the holes, this looks like the ideal location for a Ryder Cup from appearances it could handle more fans than any other venue I can recall.

[Jaeger Kovich]

Looking at the flyovers of the property and the massive separation between the holes, this looks like the ideal location for a Ryder Cup from appearances it could handle more fans than any other venue I can recall.

Close to the Chunnel would make it easy to get there from the continent too. You could legit drive/train there which is cool.

[jeffwarne]

Looking at the flyovers of the property and the massive separation between the holes, this looks like the ideal location for a Ryder Cup from appearances it could handle more fans than any other venue I can recall.

LOL-haven't been to a proper links since 1977
a pretty links good run from 1961-1977 in the UK, followed by Walton Heath, then it gets comical as far as recent Euro sites.
Nothing like mud in the fall.
Hard to understand how this is even possible...

[Mike_Trenham]

Looking at the flyovers of the property and the massive separation between the holes, this looks like the ideal location for a Ryder Cup from appearances it could handle more fans than any other venue I can recall.

LOL-haven't been to a proper links since 1977
a pretty links good run from 1961-1977 in the UK, followed by Walton Heath, then it gets comical as far as recent Euro sites.
Nothing like mud in the fall.
Hard to understand how this is even possible...

Jeff - what I am trying to say is maybe they could have the biggest galleries ever by a big factor and make the P&L work for the decision makers.

[Sean_A]

Looking at the flyovers of the property and the massive separation between the holes, this looks like the ideal location for a Ryder Cup from appearances it could handle more fans than any other venue I can recall.

Imagine the reaction of members when the Comm says we are gonna pay to host the Ryder Cup 🙃.

Ciao

[Michael Whitaker]

From an article on GolfWeek.com:

“I believe St. George’s to be the most quirky of all the layouts,” 2009 Open winner Stewart Cink said. The two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season finished in a tie for 34th in 2003 and in a tie for 30th in 2011 at Royal St. George’s. In those two contests, only five players combined finished the tournament under par.

“And they’re all great courses, all fabulous,” Cink continued. “But St. George’s has the most unexpected bounces, the potential for the weirdest bounces. Especially on the back nine, some holes where the ridges run not quite at a 45-degree angle, but they’re just angled off to one side or the other. You can hit great shots off the tee that end up getting kicked one way or the other.

“You just got to be ready for some of that.”

[Jason Thurman]

Can anyone point to specifically quirky holes, greens, features, etc? I get that lots of people say "it's quirky." But as a guy who's never been there, watching on a 2-dimensional medium, I'm not seeing tons of funk.


12 looks pretty wild, but also seems pretty tame for the pro game since there's plenty of fairway and most of the bunkers short aren't going to be in play for wedge approaches. 17 fairway looks pretty significantly rumpled, but it's wide enough that I have a hard time imagining that I wouldn't choose it over any number of fairways at Torrey Pines or Kiawah if I needed to hit a fairway to save my life.


I see some falloffs around greens and slopes in fairways and gathering bunkers, but is it really THAT wild?


I can buy that it's the quirkiest course on the Open rota. But is it above the 50th percentile of quirky links courses in GB&I?

[mike_malone]

I have only played it in combination with Rye and Deal so I thought it was brawny and not subtle.
 I’m enjoying it on tv. The pros are spoiled brats. Why should a ball not bounce out of the fairway?

[Michael Whitaker]

Jason - the ground at RSG is very crumpled… especially compared to the other Open rota courses. It’s not “quirky” in the way some links are with blind shots and such, but the odd bounces that result from the undulations make the pros use the “Q” word. It is a “proper” links course and might be my favorite… after Deal of course! 😉


Tony Muldoon and I had a wonderful day there a few years ago on a “courtesy” day from Royal Cinque Ports. We were supposed to play foresomes, but at our tee time our playing partners were nowhere to be found. The pro told us to go ahead and play our own ball, so we played a two ball and had the course all to ourselves. It was like playing our own course nearly all alone. It was fun and we had a good time. Afterwards at lunch I enjoyed the best Dover Sole I’ve ever had! A near perfect day!

[Ally Mcintosh]

It’s a fantastic and certainly the “quirkiest” after TOC. But really it’s just big, elegant and perfectly contoured.


That said, blind tee shot on 4, blind second on 5 with broken fairway, blind tee shot on 7 and approach shot over broken ground on 8 does add “quirk” to all of the beautiful undulating greens and fairways.


Great, great course.

[Thomas Dai]

I didn’t find RStG quirky. Next door at RCP seemed much quirkier (and preferable!) IMO.
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[Jonathan Cummings]

I didn’t find RStG quirky. Next door at RCP seemed much quirkier (and preferable!) IMO.
Atb

I agree with you Thomas.  I prefer playing RCP over St Geo but as said earlier, I agree the lunches are superb at RSG.  Have the TV announcers talked yet about Ian Fleming's house??

[Kalen Braley]

In the context of what the pros said earlier this week, and then half the field goes out and shoots par or better, I always wonder if the governing bodies develop a bit of indifference to these comments in fashion of "The Little Boy who Cried Wolf"

I'm guessing it was a calm first day and all, but if the bounces truly are quirky and random 250-300 yards off the tee, it wouldn't make much difference anyways...

[Niall C]

Kalen


I watched a fair bit this afternoon but unfortunately Sky have turned out to be as poor as the BBC in that they tend to stick with select groups. From what I did see quite a few ended up in the heavy stuff but were able to shift the ball on OK. That might change if they get any wet weather but I don't think that is forecast.


Niall

[Thomas Dai]

I didn’t find RStG quirky. Next door at RCP seemed much quirkier (and preferable!) IMO.
Atb

I agree with you Thomas.  I prefer playing RCP over St Geo but as said earlier, I agree the lunches are superb at RSG.  Have the TV announcers talked yet about Ian Fleming's house??

I wonder if they’ll mention Royal St Marks for RStG plus Blacking for Whiting sometime?
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