Pin positions at The Old Course's 18th hole -- why not back right?

[Phil McDade]

There is a terrific photo in this week's print edition of Sports Illustrated that shows Spieth right after his ill-fated tee shot on the 18th hole at TOC during the final round of play at the Open Championship. The photo made me wonder -- similarly to when I visited the TOC several years ago:


Why is the Sunday (last day) pin at the Open Championship at TOC never placed in the upper right corner of the 18th green?


I get the attraction of the usual Sunday pin -- hanging on that ledge, steps from the Valley of Sin. But wouldn't a Sunday upper right pin also yield some interesting strategy?


-- You can drive it forever left on the 18th fairway. But the SI photo, and my recollections, seem to suggest a flatter lie exists the closer one is willing to challenge the right edge of the fairway -- an ideal place to play from if the pin is tucked back-right.


-- The back right of the 18th green -- again, from the photo and my recollections -- looks quite sloped. The player laying back for a pitch could aggressively go at a back-right pin, but an overly aggressive pitch results in all kinds of trouble, and even a modestly overly aggressive play would seem to yield a dicey downhill putt.


-- A back-right pin brings in a notable feature of the 18th hole -- OB along the entire right side of play, with the fairway running up right to the OB -- that rarely comes into play in the final day of play, if at all during the tournament.


I've been watching the Open at The Old Course for years, and can't recall ever seeing a pin back there. Any particular reason why?

[Tom_Doak]

It's too steep over there.

[Doug Siebert]

I was thinking it might be too steep but wasn't sure if my recollection was correct. Tom, would that location be pinnable when the greens are slower during the winter, or is it too steep to consider even then?

Even if it were pinnable for the Open, that back right position is probably going to encourage players to hit all their drives to the same spot short left, rather than foolishly taking on the OB and trying to drive the green on that side. If you approach from short left, whether you drive it pin high or 80 yards short of pin high, you've got a great angle for your second with all the green in the world to work with. Probably not a particularly challenging shot for someone with a tour pro's short game.

Whereas the traditional Sunday position behind the VoS lended some excitement as Johnson played a bit too conservative on his 72nd hole and left himself a long putt that turned out to be needed, while Spieth played a poor second that failed to clear the VoS because he knew for certain he needed birdie and was a bit too aggressive. It is too bad the green was so soft players could hit wedges long and suck it back so there was little variety, but in normal conditions you wouldn't see that, and there would probably be a bit more interesting range of shots from different players faced with the same dilemma. Maybe even including some trying to putt through the VoS from 20 or 30 yards short.

[Pete_Pittock]

It's too steep over there.

Dawson still has some more time to put a little plateau back there.

[jeffwarne]

It's too steep over there.

Dawson still has some more time to put a little plateau back there.

and sub air to reduce the suck back factor

[Wayne_Kozun]

When did they start using this pin position for the final round?  For the Doug Sanders missed putt in 1970 (which is on Youtube) and the Rocca putt in 1995 the pin appears to be farther back in the green then it was this year, much farther away from the VoS.