For many years I had hoped that the USGA and R & A would not take their tournaments to newer courses, thinking that the majors -- both professional and amateur versions -- were best left to classic Ross, Tillie, MacKenzie, Raynour, Flynn, etc. courses.  I even disliked when the Open went back to Hazeltine in 1991.  

But this influx of well designed new courses makes me think that perhaps my real issue was that the typical "championship" designs that came along in the 1950s through mid 1990s were, for the most part, artificial, bland, and uninspired.  In other words, I have no problem having a major held on a new track that lacks history, so long as it is a grand design.  Now I'm actually pretty excited about seeing more majors played on courses like Whistling Straits, Pac Dunes (I enjoyed seeing the Curtis Cup there), Erin Hills (based on some reviews), etc.  

How would you feel if the USGA took the U.S. Open to Erin Hills in the next 10-12 years; or if the R & A happened to play the Open at Kingsbarns?  The former is more likely than the latter, obviously.

Good question. What I think the USGA, and some related organizations, deserve credit for these days is their willingness to take major tourneys to both new sites of some architectural merit (Pacific Dunes being a primary example) or older courses where length wasn't a huge issue in terms of the field (Prairie Dunes for both women's open and senior men's open, Salem a few years back for the senior men, Newport this year for the women, Chicago for the Walker Cup). I think it's been good, generally, for golf and golf architecture to have these courses televised, and allow folks to appreciate the work of Ross, Maxwell, McDonald et. al.

I still am biased toward hosting the US men's open (and women's, for that matter) on a traditional course -- and looking back, the USGA held the men's open only three times on courses that were widely/somewhat criticized: Bellerive in '65, Champions in '69, and Hazeltine in '70 (Hazeltine was absolutely villified by not just Hill at the time, but a great number of folks). The USGA I think deserves more credit than it generally gets for its willingness to hold the Open at older places like Pebble ('72), Shinnecock ('86), Pinehurst ('99) and Bethpage ('02) that a) were unproven as US Open courses and b) proved to be great successes.

I do like the idea of Kingsbarns hosting the Open. Birkdale and Turnberry were relatively new courses (by British standards) when they first hosted the Open.

... Hazeltine in '70 (Hazeltine was absolutely villified by not just Hill at the time, but a great number of folks).

I, for one, liked Hazeltine better in those days.

Bunch of crybaby touring pros, if you ask me.

talking of "new" courses holding the open got me thinking that there has been relatively few new links courses in developed in the uk in the past 25 years... however, in ireland, there has been so many great links courses built recently, quite a few of them by eddie hackett but also some (like the european, ballyliffin and rosappena) by pat ruddy and tom craddock...

...coincidentally, with mention of trump above, he has bought a site just nort of murcar near aberdeen where he plans to build a huge hotel, two links resort... has that been mentioned before on here?... i dread to think what a heavy handed job he may make... anyone hear who the architect is supposed to be?

Aaron -

For better or worse, the PGA Championship has certainly been more inclined to look to newer/modern courses (Shoal Creek, Valhalla, Whistling Straits) as venues for that event.

The USGA has also used modern courses such as Pumpkin Ridge and Pacific Dunes for their events other than the Men's Open. But the reality is the logistics of hosting the Men's Open does limit the number of courses available to host that event.

The USGA has already committed to having a Championship (the Publinx, I think) at Erin Hills within the next couple of years. If
all goes well, who knows what might happen there.

DT    

Thanks for the Trump link, David.  There was something in the back of my mind that he was doing something of this kind, hence my mentioning him.  

The R & A has taken more than Prestwick off the roster (it's hardly a rota).  As well as Old Musselburgh it dumped Prince's, R Cinque Ports, R Portrush, and for many years did not visit Carnoustie, R St George's or R Liverpool.  It introduced Turnberry, but then dropped it for a while.  They've tried the Senior Open at R Portrush and R Co Down, but I don't think either will get the nod, especially with an increased roster now that Hoylake is back.  

Jon,

What's the intended market for Castle Stuart--similar to Kingsbarns, i.e., public and very expensive?

Tim,
judging by the (building) architecture. EXPENSIVE!

http://www.g1architects.com/lei_stuarthotel.html

Hmm . . . not exactly traditional.  

Jon,

Thanks.  Is Hanse working on both courses there?

Tim,

at the moment Hanse is only doing the main course. To the best of my knowledge there has been no decision about who will do the second one.

David,

no the course is still in the first stages so it won't open until atleast 2008. As far as I know they will start seeding sometime next spring. Holes 1-3 & 10-12 are right down on the beach with the rest of the course sitting up on a plateau. Like KB you will get great views of the sea from most holes with the land inland form the course being mainly hidden by dunes.

Kevin,

from what I saw the Castle Stuart site had excellent access and does sit only a few miles from the airport.

Tim,
judging by the (building) architecture. EXPENSIVE!

http://www.g1architects.com/lei_stuarthotel.html

 
FBD.

Are you sure that this is not a mix-up with some blueprints for a planned expanision on the airport (glass, glass, steel, steel...) in Prestwick?

Ally,

not sure the Open (not British Open) is restricted by national boarders. I think it is more important that it is held on a classic links. Still I doubt it will move outside the UK.