Why Hogan Hated Carnoustie

Players referred to it as "Carnasty" in 1999, the last time the British Open was held there. Jack Nicklaus called it the "hardest of all championship venues." Experts say it's among the toughest links course in the world, if not the toughest. This week the world's greatest golfers return to Carnoustie Championship Course to play the 2007 British Open. Judging by past Opens, players may be getting free golf lessons courtesy of the Scottish course.

One anecdote about Carnoustie sums it all up. Ben Hogan won his only appearance at the British Open at Carnoustie 1953. He didn't much care for the course. "This is like putting on putty," he told club officials, adding that he should have brought his lawn mower with him from Texas. Hogan would agree that playing Carnoustie regularly wouldn't help lower your golf handicap any time soon.

Fascinating Facts
So how difficult is Carnoustie to play? Below are some statistics that will give you a good idea of what playing this famed Scottish course is like:

* Carnoustie has a Course Rating of 75.1, and a Slope of 145 from the regular tees (yellow), making it officially the hardest course in Scotland, harder than St. Andrews (72.1/129), Royal Troon (73.2/134), Muirfield (73.0/133), and Turnberry (75.3/133).

* The last time the British Amateur Championship was played there in 1992, there were 283 competitors. On the first day of stroke play-in August-only two players broke 80. They both shot 79. The wind was blowing 50 to 60 miles per hour.

* In July 1996, the month before he won his third U.S. Amateur and turned pro, Tiger Woods played in the Scottish Open. He shot 81-75 to miss the cut.

* In the 1999 British Open, Sergio Garcia, then 19 years old, opened with a triple bogey, then shot 89. Phil Mickelson went 79-76 and missed the cut. Vijay Sing shot 77-84. First day leader with a 71, Rod Pampling shot 86 the next day and missed the cut.

Carnoustie has a rich and storied history-one that goes back almost to the beginning of golf. Historical records show that the course's construction started as early as 1527-long before the surrounding community even evolved. Shortly afterwards, Allan Robertson structured the first recognizable course. Later, Tom Morris designed the first 18-hole layout-one that James Braid and James Wright put the finishing touches on sometime after.

Since then, the course has been the site of some of the most memorable moments in golf. These include six British Opens, numerous amateur championships, several Scottish Opens, Jean Van de Velde's collapse on the 18th hole in the final round in 1999, and Jack Nicklaus' first British Open win in 1966. A native Scotsman won the first British Open held there in 1931. And Ben Hogan put on a masterly display of golf to win the British Open in 1953. During that time Carnoustie has been providing its own golf instructional sessions to a lot of players.

Precision Over Power
To win in 2007, players must favor precision over power-just as Nicklaus did in 1966, when he won his first Claret jug and joined the elite group of golfers who had won all four major titles. Where the fairways had seemed generous to Nicklaus in his amateur days, they tapered in places to a mere 20 yards and were surrounded by acres of billowing rough. Some players said the jungle of fescue grass was so deep in spots on the course that if you sent in a caddie to a find a ball, you might lose him.

Not much has changed at Carnoustie since then. It's still one of the hardest courses in the world and one of the greatest tests of a player's. Visually, it's a great looking course by all accounts. In addition, it has all the standard features of a good links course, a few blind spots, and mounds of fescue grass. And then there's the elements, especially the wind, which can buffet any shot that's not on a line.

Just in land from the North Sea, Carnoustie's first nine holes don't go out in one direction, and then come back in the opposite direction with the second nine holes. Instead, the holes change direction constantly. No more than two in a row face the same angle in the wind. The bunkers, like most Scottish links courses, have vertical revetted walls of turf. They're not always oval shaped, either. They twist and turn, making them difficult to play. In addition, Carnoustie has what many believe is the six toughest finishing holes in British golf, if not all of the sport. These six holes weren't designed for players with high golf handicaps.


Copyright (c) 2007 Jack Moorehouse