What Was YOUR score at The Old Course?

[Niall C]

Played it once, 77 off a 9 handicap. Lost 4 strokes on the last two holes. Sank every putt bar the 11th where my playing partner knocked my ball away before I could tap it in. Having a caddy made all the difference.

Niall

[Kevin Pallier]

Best = 77 off an 8HCP in 1999. 2 Birdies = 3 & 9 and 1DB  = 11 after hitting my iron over the back of the green. 

[Jaeger Kovich]

10 strokes above my handicap. 9 index shot 93 and lost at least a sleeve in gorse right.

[JWL]

Lots of good memories there.
71 in 1984 just prior to trying to qualify after doing pretty well in British Amateur.....pretty calm day.
74 2 years later in 1994 in 1 club wind going out, played with 3 Japanese guys, none of which spoke English  LOL   
76 in 2005 with 2 club wind coming in.   Very difficult day....34/40.   
I loved the OC the first time I saw it and I am sure I would love it today.

[Larry Gavrich]

83 in June 2008 playing with Tim (I was playing to a 10).  Lowlights were three doubles.  Highlights were birdies on 12 and 17!  I am having fun listening to all the agonizing on Open coverage about the Road Hole.  Straight drive over the 'H', six iron to 6 feet pin high right, sank the putt.  Piece o' cake.   We started our round in 65 degrees and calm, went to 40 degrees and raining sideways on #4 thru 6, and then back to 65 and sunny for the rest of the round.   

[Chris DeNigris]

Shot a very wacky and memorable 85 4 yrs ago off a 12 in my only play. Missed the ballot 3 straight days, got to the starter's shack at 4:30 on a Sat am and was #19 in line! Fortunate to get off at 1130 with a few new British friends.

Highlights:

1. Made an 8 footer for my "best" all-time par on number 1 after Finching my tee ball off the Rusacks Hotel and back onto the 18th fairway.  2 Tour buses had just emptied around the tee. Talk about wanting to dig a hole and hide!

2. Par on 18 after almost driving OB left of number 1 fairway. How does one do that?

3. Birdied 16, then hit the hotel with my drive on 17. Re-teed and hit it again! Road hole played tough for me that day!

4. There was an big air show at the RAF base that Sat and the Red Arrows flew over the course for what seemed like half the round. Wow! As if the spectacle of TOC wasn't enough!!


Totally unforgetable.

[Rick Shefchik]

I shot 92 playing off a 10 with rented clubs in 1984. I made a 9 on 14 and plenty of other big numbers, but I also eagled 9, birdied 11 and parred the road hole. So I've got that going for me...

[Mike Hendren]

Thus far my premise is supported - The Old Course is surprisingly difficult to legitimately score on while at the same time seeminly easy.  Strokes are almost imperceptably leaked/lost.  Can there be a better testimonial for a golf course?   

Mike

[Tim Bert]

Bogey - if you buy into the theory of the handicap - that one should rarely play to it - then I don't know hat these stories support your premise. There is an inordinate mix of people here providing tales of a net score that is very close or below par.

I have not played it. My handicap has fluctuated between 8 and 12 for the last 4 years and now sits at 13 and rising. I have no doubt what I would shoot if I played the course as an 8 or as a 12. With a very high degree of confidence, I could place my score between 90 and 92.

[Mike Hendren]

Tim, my yardage book indicates the Standard Scratch Score form the Medal Tees is 72 at 6609 yards.  I'm guessing that 90% of the scores reported on this thread were played at 6200 yards +/-. 

Bogey

[Ken Moum]

Tim, my yardage book indicates the Standard Scratch Score form the Medal Tees is 72 at 6609 yards.  I'm guessing that 90% of the scores reported on this thread were played at 6200 yards +/-. 

Bogey

Regradless, if you put a traveling golfer on an unfamiliar course--even one without the quirk of TOC--it's likely that he'd shoot scores about what you're seeing reported here.

Remember, the GHIN index is based on the 75th percentile score, most guys average 3-5 strokes higher than that. And one the road, on unfamiliar ground, they'd be lucky to shoot a 25th percentile score. Which about what I shot the two times I played.

K

[Tim Bert]

Tim, my yardage book indicates the Standard Scratch Score form the Medal Tees is 72 at 6609 yards.  I'm guessing that 90% of the scores reported on this thread were played at 6200 yards +/-. 

Bogey

Regradless, if you put a traveling golfer on an unfamiliar course--even one without the quirk of TOC--it's likely that he'd shoot scores about what you're seeing reported here.

Remember, the GHIN index is based on the 75th percentile score, most guys average 3-5 strokes higher than that. And one the road, on unfamiliar ground, they'd be lucky to shoot a 25th percentile score. Which about what I shot the two times I played.

K

K

That was my original point and not sure if you are agreeing with me or with Bogey but I think we have seen far more 75th percentile scores than 25th percentile scores. Granted this sample size is meaningless.

[Joel Zuckerman]

One round, about 5-6 years ago--shot 95 or so as a 9 or 10 handicap.

Made an 18 on #11 after driving into the Strath Bunker, and having something of an out-of-body experience over the next 60 or 90 seconds, whack-whack-whacking the ball time and again from the sand directly into the sod wall of the bunker.  If I had blasted out sideways or even backwards initially, I guess I would have shaved a dozen strokes or more...

But I rolled in a 40--foot triple breaker on the next, so the scorecard read 18-3 on those two holes...

[Jeff_Brauer]

I will never forget my first round there.  81 with 9 three putts and 1 nervous shank.  Got the nickname "Seve" for some nice recoveries from deep stuff.  It seemed like my lie was perfect every time I got off the fw.  Probably the best round of my life, sans putting.  

I have played twice since, but can't recall those scores off hand.

[Eric Smith]

the scorecard read 18-3 on those two holes...

That's hilarious, Joel.  Has to be a great memory, regardless of being 15 over on that particular hole.  I hope you framed that sucker.  

[Bill_McBride]

One round, about 5-6 years ago--shot 95 or so as a 9 or 10 handicap.

Made an 18 on #11 after driving into the Strath Bunker, and having something of an out-of-body experience over the next 60 or 90 seconds, whack-whack-whacking the ball time and again from the sand directly into the sod wall of the bunker.  If I had blasted out sideways or even backwards initially, I guess I would have shaved a dozen strokes or more...

But I rolled in a 40--foot triple breaker on the next, so the scorecard read 18-3 on those two holes...

Who was counting?   

I have played half a dozen rounds since 2004, my first trip at age 62.   

My best was 84 in reverse, average 86, worst June 2008 was 90 highlighted by 6's on both #8 and #11 when I drove into both Short and Strath and took 3 to escape.   My handicap was 12-13 at the time.

Those rounds were all from ~6200 yards.  I have no idea what I might have shot from today's tees in today's wind.  100+ for sure.

[Mike Benham]

I have played half a dozen rounds since 2004, my first trip at age 62.   

And he turned down a free beer (maybe that was a career first also) his first night at the Dunvegan ...

[Bill_McBride]

I was in bed sound asleep!  Honest!

[Andy Shulman]

I'm a 14 handicap and posted an 84 in '03 and an 86 (including a 10 on the Road Hole) in May '05.  Little or no wind in either round was a difference maker - just as it was for the pros - as those are my only sub-90 rounds in three trips (18 total rounds) to the UK.  One unique aspect of the second round is that the grandstands and scoreboards were already constructed in preparation for the '05 Open.  You can see the large grandstand at #17 in the background in the attached photo of me (white shirt) and my brother.  I hear that they used mats in the lead up to this year's Open, but that was not the case in '05.

[Mark Chaplin]

Needless to say I didn't keep score!

[Scott Warren]

Needless to say I didn't keep score!

Of course not. Then there'd be a chance the card might find its way back to the RCP handicapper!

That and you were, IIRC, too drunk to remember by the time you got to the green how many swings you'd had on each hole

[Mark Chaplin]

Indeed, I remember hitting the pin on the first and hitting the o.o.b road on the 18th!! I looked out for Melvyn in the Big Room but didn't spot him maybe I'd had too much Kummel.

[Jimbo]

I shot a sparkling 96 on July 22, 1994 with two local lads. The score card shows the front at 3272 yards and the back at 3294 for a total of 6566 yards.

[Jeff Taylor]

78 in docile conditions just 60 days ago.

[cary lichtenstein]

Played twice, 76/82 off a 5 handicap