The Old Course at St Andrews -the oldest golf course in the world
It will host the 139th Open championship on its generous fairways and greens. The Old Course where the world class players will compete is the birth place of golf.
The course is scenery of depressions and undulations. With sandy ground and plenty of huge bunkers to trap the ball, the long course of 6387 yards is covered with larger mounds of grass and heather. To make it more interesting is the wind that blows on the back nine holes.
The front nine holes which are also called Hole O Cross are at par 5 and they have a collection of massive bunkers on the right side. The 1st hole “burn” and the last one “Tom Morris” are side by side and this makes the course spectacular for the player. Right after the first tee box there is R&A Clubhouse so a little snack with Tiger Woods teeing off with his new Nike putter can be a worth sight from the R&A clubhouse. The R&A is a golf club which is privately owned. It is for the glamorous elites of the golfing league. It also works as a governing body that regulates golf throughout the world. British Open is one of the other championships that run under it.
The second fairway resides next to the links trust clubhouse. It displays the no 12 hole of par 4. It is called “Heathery." It too has a mammoth collection of blind fairway bunkers. Next to the no 19 is the Jiggers Inn, which was made in 1850’s. Then there is an old course hotel on the 17th fairway, which gives the player standing on the location a sudden lift of 15th century.
Road Hole namely the No 17 hole on the Old Course lies just beyond the green and is one of the holes that actually scare the players off. It is also called the toughest hole because if golfers try to play aggressive on this one, it will surely injure the spectators. Lastly coming to the famous 18th hole, which is made to check the professional skills of the golfers, is greatly affected by the winds blowing. On the whole, the last three holes are designed to challenge the best of the best.
One of the mesmerizing features of the Old Course is the huge double greens. Only four holes have their own greens rest 14 holes share seven greens. Another unique feature that attracts the attention of the world’s famous golf course designers is that the course can be played in either clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. The purpose behind this technicality is to let the grass recover better. Yet another famous artefact is the Swilcan Burn. This is the famous guard which stands next to the first green of the Old Course.
Regarding the location of the course, it is situated on the peninsula and is 500 yards from the right of the town. It has a par 72 with regular 18 holes. The city which holds the location of the course is Scotland, the birth place of golf. It is the same city in which for the very first time the world’s first and oldest golf club was established. The club was called Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.
The course has hosted 27 Open championships on the same greens, with the last year’s winner by 14 under the par Tiger Woods. It has also hosted the Women’s British Open for twice now with the last year’s winner 5 under par with a score of 287 Lorena Ochoa.
The toughest double greens, the worst 17th hole and huge bunkers, these specifications are to be faced again at the US Open this July by world’s class players. It can be Phil Michelson, who faces most of the troubles this season or Tiger Woods who has recently bought new Nile putters especially for the game. Whoever wins the tournament will surely have a breath taking story regarding the old course classic winds.
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