As a lifelong golfer and lover of golf architecture, I was fortunate to make my first pilgrimage to The Old Course last week. I’d like to share some of my experiences and reactions. So much has been written about this course by so many great students of the game that it would be arrogant for me to expect that my opinion holds any significant weight. Nonetheless, I hope that my views and experiences will spark discussion. I have thought long and hard about this post, because I know that these views are unpopular. I look forward to your vehement disagreements and criticisms!
Contentious Opinion #1: The Old Course is Downright Easy
I am a scratch golfer, I played from the “back” tees at 6721 yards (after getting special permission), and there was at least a one- or two-club wind on every hole. On every hole except 17, I would have to really screw up to make worse than a par. The course plays very short, the fairways are extremely wide, and the greens are huge. While the greens do have some exciting undulations around the perimeters, the pinnable areas of the greens are usually relatively flat. I only had 2 putts all day with any significant break or slope (on 11 and 18). Armed with a yardage book and some prior knowledge of the course (caddies are not necessary despite many claims otherwise), I found it relatively easy to avoid fairway bunkers entirely and to largely avoid long grass. This means that on the modal hole, I’m hitting a tee shot (usually not a driver) to a wide fairway and then hitting a short iron to a huge, flat green. Even if I hit a terrible approach shot, I’ll most likely have a flat, 40 foot putt for birdie. Obviously, there are a few terrible things to avoid, but if you know where they are, it’s very easy to do so.
Contentious Opinion #2: Many Holes are Boring and Devoid of Strategy
Because of the factors mentioned above, many holes at The Old Course are not particularly interesting, memorable, or exciting. Certainly, there is some thinking required on every hole. You have to look at the yardage book, the lay of the land, the wind, etc. and decide upon the right line and club off the tee. If you do that first part well, much of the excitement of the hole is over. Like I said above, I found it relatively easy to avoid the trouble off the tee with the right combination of club and line and I didn’t have to sacrifice much, because, in most cases, I still had a short shot into an accessible green. People often talk about The Old Course as a great strategic course, and I was really looking forward to this. In Ran’s course profile, he points out that you can bail out to the left on most holes, but he argues that this will leave you with a worse view or angle into the green. However, I found relatively little reward associated with challenging the trouble and relatively little penalty for bailing out. On many holes, you could hit to the middle of the shared fairway and still have a perfectly good view of the green and angle of attack. In fact, angles were almost irrelevant on most holes, because of the lack of slope around the hole and because the greenside bunkers were effectively not in play (again, 17 is the exception where the bunker is very much in play and the angle of attack is important). For the two holes where the green is significantly pitched (11 and 18), the pitch of the green, while fun and interesting, does not necessarily influence the strategy of the hole. On 18, for example, the green encourages you to bail out to the left off the tee which was already the safe play anyway. I should note that I played 18 in to a very stiff wind, but I could imagine that with a different wind, the hole might become more exciting and strategic as driving on the green or into the valley of sin becomes a more viable option. Again, to reiterate, there are just too many holes where you hit a safe club to the safe part of the fairway and then hit a short club onto a large, flat putting surface. Holes like that can have little excitement or strategy.
Contentious Opinion #3: The Overall Experience is Terrible
Setting aside the golf course for one moment, I found the overall experience at The Old Course to be one of the worst I’ve ever had at any public, private, or resort course. I was chastised by several people for not taking a caddie and for playing from the “back” tees. I had no less than 5 near-death experiences related to golf balls from other groups. My playing partners and their caddies were extremely rude to me and especially to my wife (who plays quickly and did not once slow down the group). I suspect that some of this was attributable to the fact that we played from different tees and didn’t take caddies, but most of it appeared to be blatant sexism directed toward my wife. The caddies made a point to tell us that they would not help us in any way (e.g., lines off the tee, looking for balls), they didn’t, and we didn’t need it. The caddies continually tried to force me to hit my tee shot when I could clearly see that the group in front was still in range and hitting their approach shots. Pedestrians and tourists swarmed the 17th and 18th fairways and failed to make way for golfers. And, of course, we waited on every tee and in fairway, and the round took over 5 hours. It was definitely worth the hassle to play the course, and I’ve tried to separate these issues from my evaluation of the architecture above, but I am less eager to return as a result of these experiences.
Final Note
Of course, I have been harsh, and I have focused on my negative reactions in order to spark discussion. Many others have already pointed out the virtues of The Old Course. For one, the place is breathtaking and unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. There are some truly world class holes. Personally, I loved 7, 11, and 17. Holes 3, 12, and 13 are also very neat. More than other courses, it probably changes dramatically from day to day as the winds change and as the pins get moved as much as 50 or 60 yards. However, I don’t expect that seeing a variety of winds and hole locations would lead me to significantly change my views above. You shouldn’t have to play a course a hundred times to really appreciate it if it’s truly one of the best in the world. For my taste, The Old Course is an excellent course with a ton of history, but it’s not one of the greatest in the world. It’s in my personal top 20 but not my personal top 10. My best guess is that its reputation is largely inflated by its history and by the fact that it’s very playable for the average golfer (probably much more so than any other Open Championship course). Thanks for entertaining such a long post. I look forward to your reactions!