Scotland’s St. Andrews Some people think that in the men’s game, the Old Course at St. Andrews is no longer relevant. Every time the Open Championship comes back to the birthplace of golf, there appears to be a chorus that becomes louder.
Tiger Woods said in 2005 that heavy hitters were finding it “very easy” to drive near the green’s fringe in order to attack the shorter par 4s. Tom Watson said that the “old lady had no clothes on today” five years after Rory McIlroy tied the course record with a first round 63.
Taken out of its protective shell during favorable weather, Jordan Spieth proposed two years prior that it was reduced to a glorified wedge competition. That week, Cameron Smith set a new record for the lowest aggregate course score—20 strokes under par—and won the Claret Jug, which did little to quiet the clamor.
Even while the Old Course is very steep and only covers a little over 7,000 yards overall, it still has some bite. When the North Sea begins to open its lungs, McIlroy’s second-round 80 in 2010 served as a warning of the devastation that might occur. However, in 2015, the conditions were so dangerous that play was halted twice and finished on Monday.
Only the third time since 2013, the ladies’s Open is coming to St. Andrews this week. Given that the ladies are not carrying the ball as far off the tee, is it possible that the Old Course and its numerous impediments will serve as a reminder of how difficult it can be?
It is not just St Andrews that receives concerns about distance; the course is only 350 yards longer than it was almost a century ago. Seven of the par-4 holes at St. Andrews’ renowned “Road Hole” are shorter than 400 yards, despite the fact that the hole was lengthened by 40 yards prior to the 2010 Open in an attempt to discourage players from using shorter irons to avoid hazards.
The No. 25 man on the PGA Tour averages 308.8 yards with the driver, compared to 267.3 for the 25th-ranked LPGA pro. This significant difference in distance off the tee for men and women raised concerns because it meant the punishing bunkers that came to define the home of golf would no longer be a threat to the former.
"Outside of my own house, it is my favourite place in the world."
— AIG Women’s Open (@AIGWomensOpen) August 20, 2024
High praise from our last winner at St Andrews, Stacy Lewis. pic.twitter.com/Gq3RFZ2jo3
Only two Scots playing at home are Aberdeen-native Gemma Dryburgh and 2009 winner Catriona Matthew. With winds of 20 to 25 mph predicted for Thursday, Dryburgh is optimistic that a lower ball flight may be helpful and that the course will play more as it was designed to.
“The men can obviously carry a lot of that trouble. Not so much us, but I think it will play a lot better,” Dryburgh said on Tuesday.
“The other day we played 16 downwind, and I could actually carry those bunkers. Today it was in off the right so it was a lot of bailing out left into that rough. They are definitely more in play for us, and I think even 14 we were today having to go left onto the fourth fairway to avoid Hell’s Bunker.”
Playing the Old Course in her first year as a professional in 2013, England’s Charley Hull, who is looking to win her maiden major after two runners-up finishes last year (including the Open at Walton Heath), was seventeen years old at the time.
Although she is renowned for playing aggressively, she has already picked up some skills from her warm-up round at the Scottish Open, which was held at Dundonald Links two hours away. There, she finished in fifth place, seven strokes behind Lauren Coughlin.
“A couple of weeks ago my coach got me working on doing a lot of three-quarter swings because my golf swing got a little bit too long,” Hull said.
“But now I understand why because he’s introduced me to getting a low ball flight for these couple of weeks coming up for the links.
“Last week in the final round the wind died a little bit and my caddie said, ‘Just hit a normal 7-iron’. I was thinking to myself, ‘How do I hit a normal 7-iron?’ because I’ve been used to punching low all week with the ball set back in my stance.
“I do find St. Andrews a harder links for me, not necessarily because it’s super tough but because you can’t really (see) the lines in the fairways. It just looks very open so it’s quite hard to pick a point in the distance.
“When I played here in May, the wind was actually the opposite direction than yesterday. Last time, holes like the 10th and 12th I could get on, but yesterday it was a 4-iron short of the bunkers and then I hit it onto the green so it was a lot different.
“Hopefully it’s windy this week. It’s a bit more of a challenge. I really enjoyed that, the grind out there.”
Miyu Yamashita poses with her caddie at Swilcan Bridge. (Luke Walker / Getty Images)
Although the men’s Open Championship has been held here nine times, the majority of the 155 players in the field have never played at St. Andrews. Is it time for it to be rotated in more frequently now?
“Yeah, a hundred per cent,” Hull said. “I think it would be really cool if it was here every five years or so.”
Because there are not many trips to St. Andrews these days, it is a weekend for the bucket list.
The 2013 winner, Stacey Lewis, was so excited that she recruited a local caddie, Fraser Riddler, and played 11 holes in seven days the previous time. Teeing off above the hotel on the 17th takes several minutes as they film the event, which is also the reason why the Japanese media pack arrived here on Monday after the Iwai twins.
Monday marked the first time that world No. 1 Nelly Korda, who started this important season with a victory in the Chevron Championship, and last year’s winner Lilia Vu took the course. They also squeezed in a photo session at Swilcan Bridge, which is located on the world’s widest fairway (129 yards), shared by the first and 18th holes. They had to get used to the double greens and watch out for the blue and white flags that indicated which belonged to the front and back nine.
The 49-year-old Karrie Webb, who has more victories on the LPGA Tour than any other player (49) has returned to the game because she feels that she missed the cut 11 years ago and that the Old Course has a unique charm.
“I think what I love about it takes me out of my technical mind and gets me being more creative and hitting shots that you don’t normally hit,” says Webb.
“Here it’s all feel and visualising different shots. It’s knowing that you can hit it in the rough. Aiming at the rough on purpose as you miss off the tee because that gives you the best angle into the greens.
“I’ve not figured the golf course out. So I wouldn’t say it’s a course that I’m in love with because I could play it a hundred times and still not think I have the keys to how to get around here really well.”
(Top photo of Charley Hull: Ross Parker / R&A via Getty Images)
