Nine things you should know about Carnoustie

It’s been more than a decade since The Open Championship has visited Carnoustie Golf Links, so we’ve produced this quick primer to familiarize you with the site of this year’s championship. The northernmost course in The Open’s rota also is its most difficult. Five of the seven winners at Carnoustie are enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame (and another Carnoustie champion, Padraig Harrington, seems destined to join them in St. Augustine). Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Tom Watson are among the legends who have conquered Carnoustie. What else should you know about Carnoustie? Here are nine things to get you prepared for this year’s Open: 1. CAR-NASTY: The weather plays a huge role on any links, but the course called Car-nasty can be difficult even on a rare calm day. More than half of the winning scores at Carnoustie were above par. Harrington’s 7-under 277 in 2007 is the lowest winning score at Carnoustie, with Watson’s 9-under total (on a then-par 72 layout) in 1975 is the lowest relative to par. “When the wind is blowing, it is the toughest golf course in Britain,â€� said World Golf Hall of Fame member Sir Michael Bonallack. “And when it’s not blowing, it’s probably still the toughest.â€� Carnoustie is a long, narrow layout that is protected by well-placed pot bunkers. Several of the sand traps are placed in the middle of the fairways and in front of greens, requiring players to choose the best route around them. At 7,402 yards, it also is the longest course in The Open’s rota. Players only get peeks of the North Sea from the course, but its impact is ever-present. Strong winds blow across this exposed stretch of linksland on Scotland’s Angus coast. “It’s definitely the toughest of the whole lot,â€� said two-time Open champion Ernie Els. “It seems like the wind always blows here.â€� Carnoustie’s difficult reputation was burnished in 1999, when players were faced with pinched fairways lined with lush rough. Phil Mickelson quipped that the rough should be marked with red stakes because of its steep penalty. The field averaged 76.8 strokes and the cut fell at 12 over par. There were only 18 under-par rounds. Paul Lawrie won with a score of 6-over 290. “If the average player had to play out there, he’d probably quit the game,â€� David Duval said in 1999. “A lot of pros, too.â€�
 2. MAKING MEMORIES: Just two of the nine courses in The Open’s rota – Royal Birkdale (1954) and Turnberry (1977) — made later debuts than Carnoustie, which first hosted The Open in 1931. Carnoustie has been kind to its native sons. Lawrie is the last Scot to win The Open. His countryman, Tommy Armour, won the first Open at Carnoustie. Four of the seven Carnoustie champions hailed from the British Isles. A look at the past winners: 2007: Padraig Harrington, Ireland (277) 
1999: Paul Lawrie, Scotland (290) 
1975: Tom Watson, USA (279)
 1968: Gary Player, South Africa (289) 
1953: Ben Hogan, USA (282)
 1937: Henry Cotton, England (290) 
1931: Tommy Armour, Scotland (296) Padraig Harrington won his first of three majors at the 2007 Open Championship. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images) Two of the United States’ greatest players, Hogan and Watson, won at Carnoustie in their Open debuts. Hogan completed the Triple Crown at Carnoustie in 1953. He never played another Open. Watson won his first major at the 1975 Open. It was the start of a nine-year span during which he hoisted the Claret Jug five times. Hogan remains the only player to win the major in his lone appearance. 3. TOUGH FINISH: Golf Channel commentator Arron Oberholser, who competed in the 2007 Open, called Carnoustie’s final holes the “scariest finishing holes in major-championship golf.â€� Five-time Open champion James Braid is credited with Carnoustie’s modern-day design, but the closing holes were the creation of an accountant seeking to toughen up the course before its Open debut. The final four holes – three par 4s that measure longer than 450 yards and a par 3 that’s almost 250 yards long — all played over par in 2007. Here’s a look at the par, yardage, scoring average and ranking (from 2007) of Carnoustie’s closing holes. 15: 472 yards, par 4 (4.35, 3) 16: 248 yards, par 3 (3.31, 6) 17: 460 yards, par 4 (4.17, 9) 18: 499 yards, par 4 (4.61, 1) Watson called the 16th, which often plays into the wind, the hardest par-3 in golf. He didn’t par the hole in his 1975 victory at Carnoustie. In 1968, Jack Nicklaus was the only player to hit his ball past pin-high during the final round. He needed a driver to do it. Hogan felt that he had clinched the Claret Jug in 1953 when he reached the 16th green safely with a 4-wood in the final round. “John, you can go get ready for that interview now. This tournament is over,â€� Hogan told CBS radio broadcaster John Derr. (Carnoustie’s other two par 3s, whose teeing grounds are tucked next to each other on the far corner of the property, are relatively short compared to the brutish 16th. The 187-yard eighth hole hugs an out-of-bounds fence that can cause problems for any shot missed left. The well-bunkered 13th hole measures just 175 yards.) 4. BURN NOTICE: The Barry Burn is a narrow hazard that plays a large role on the final two holes. Players have to cross the hazard multiple times on both 17 and 18. Legendary golf writer Bernard Darwin invented his own word to describe the serpentine hazard: circumbendicus. The burn also was a hazard for spectators trailing Hogan in a qualifying round for the 1953 Open. “Fully 3,000 admirers overpowered golf stewards and scrambled to vantage points along the Barry Burn of Carnoustie’s Burnside course,â€� Officialsportsbetting.com reported. “The crowd – most of them teenage Scottish bobbysoxers – shoved and pushed until several tumbled off the bank into the burn for a good soaking.â€� The burn originally served an industrial, not recreational, purpose. The linen industry drew water from the burn to assist in production. Its current also drove the huge waterwheel at Barry Mill, about two miles away. The burn wraps around three sides of the 17th fairway, which is why the hole is named “Island.â€� It’s just an undercard for the toughest finishing hole in The Open’s rota, though. 5. HOME, NOT SO SWEET HOME: Jean van de Velde may be the most famous victim of Carnoustie’s home hole, but he’s hardly the only one. The Frenchman famously triple-bogeyed the hole to fall into a playoff with Lawrie and Justin Leonard. Lawrie’s win on home soil was overshadowed by the indelible image of van de Velde standing in the Barry Burn, pants hiked up to his knees, as he debated whether to play his ball out of the deep hazard lined by stone walls. The 18th hole requires players to contend with water, bunkers and out-of-bounds on every shot. The 499-yard, par 4 played to a 4.61 scoring average in the last Open at Carnoustie. The Barry Burn wraps around both sides of the fairway. There’s also out-of-bounds left and deep fairway bunkers to the right of the landing area. “You have to be brave and aim down the left side,â€� Lawrie said, “and hope it doesn’t go left out of bounds or right into the bunkers.â€� The burn also crosses the fairway in front of the green. A bunker and out-of-bounds fence also protect the putting surface. The OB is just a few yards from the left side of the green. Harrington won the 2007 Open despite hitting two shots into the burn on the final hole. His tee shot sailed right, bouncing off a bridge and into the water. After taking a drop, he rolled his third shot into burn. He got up-and-down for a double-bogey that dropped him into a playoff with Sergio Garcia, who lipped out a 10-foot par putt of his own that would have clinched the Claret Jug. In 1975, Johnny Miller needed two shots to escape one of the 18th hole’s fairway bunkers. Miller made bogey to fall one shot short of the playoff between Watson and Australia’s Jack Newton. “Johnny Miller went for broke in a bunker, failed to get out and two unrated golfers tied for first place in the British Open championship,â€� Sports Betting News reported. Watson was a 25-year-old with two TOUR wins when he arrived in Carnoustie for his first Open Championship. He had earned a reputation for final-round struggles in majors but holed a 20-foot birdie putt at the last to tie Newton, whom he beat by one shot in their playoff. Newton bogeyed the last hole after hitting into the greenside bunker and missing a 12-foot par putt. 6. HOGAN’S ALLEY: Carnoustie is one of several clubs, along with Texas’ Colonial Country Club and Riviera Country Club in California, known by the nickname “Hogan’s Alley.â€� Hogan won three times at Riviera, including the 1948 U.S. Open, and five times at Colonial. He only played Carnoustie once but is forever linked to the town where he was dubbed the “Wee Ice Mon.â€� Hogan made history at Carnoustie, becoming the first man to win three professional majors in one year and completing the career Grand Slam. The sixth hole still bears his name because of his risky route that illustrated his unmatched mastery of the golf swing. “Hogan’s Alleyâ€� refers to a narrow pathway between an out-of-bounds fence and fairway bunkers that bisect the fairway. The fairway’s right-to-left slant towards the out-of-bounds further increases the risk. Players who take that path are rewarded with a better angle for their second shot, though. There are differing accounts about how many times he used that route during the tournament, but it’s agreed upon that he used it for a crucial birdie in the final round. Hogan, who shared the 54-hole lead at Carnoustie, played the first four holes of the final round in even par before a chip-in birdie at No. 5. After taking the aggressive line off the sixth tee, he reached the apron of the par-5’s green in two shots. Those back-to-back birdies were part of a course-record 68 that gave him a four-shot victory. Even the game’s most prolific major champion, who was known for his dependable fade off of the tee, found trouble while trying to squeeze his tee shot down that chute. Jack Nicklaus was so incensed after hitting it OB in the final round of the 1968 Open that he kicked his golf bag hard enough for it to fly out of his caddie’s hands. Nicklaus finished two shots back of Player. Nicklaus finished two shots back of Watson at the same site seven years later. 7. THE SPECTACLES: Carnoustie’s only other par 5 also is named for a distinguishing architectural feature. The 14th hole is called Spectacles because of the pair of deep, circular bunkers that protrude from the middle of the fairway. The short par-5 14th at Carnoustie features two deep, circular bunkers in the middle of the fairway. (David Cannon/Getty Images) The short par-5 of 513 yards was the easiest hole in the 2007 Open, playing to a 4.5 scoring average. Most players can easily carry the hazards, but the bunkers can cause trouble for those who miss the fairway or if the hole is playing into the wind. Eagles at 14 were key to victories at Carnoustie by both Watson and Player. Playing into “blustery and bone-chilling winds,â€� as Sports Betting News described the conditions, Player used a 3-wood to hit his second shot within 2 feet of the flag. “If there is such a thing as a career shot, this one qualifies,â€� Player said seven years after his win. “It gave me a two-stroke lead over Jack Nicklaus and that was my margin of victory.â€� Watson chipped in from 30 feet to make 3 there in his playoff with Newton. He had lost leads in the previous two U.S. Opens. “I just thought my time had come,â€� Watson said. “I had a goal in my life to win a major championship and I fulfilled it.â€� 8. FLEET STREET: In his last major round, England’s Tommy Fleetwood shot a record-tying 63 at Shinnecock Hills. He finished one shot back of Brooks Koepka after matching the lowest final-round score in major history. Fleetwood shot the same score last October to set Carnoustie’s course record. It came in the second round of the Alfred Dunhill Links, the European Tour’s version of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Pros and celebrities compete on St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns. The record round came just days after the birth of his first child. “Carnoustie course record holder – it sounds good doesn’t it? It was a good day’s work by any standards,â€� Fleetwood said. “When you consider all the great players who have played here, in Opens and in this tournament, it is very special to have the lowest score ever recorded on this course. Yeah, I hit it in some places where you probably won’t be able to hit it when the Open comes back here next year, but I’m still very proud.â€� Fleetwood bested the 64s shot by Steve Stricker and Richard Green in the 2007 Open. Stricker shot 64 in the third round to get in the final group alongside Garcia. It was Stricker’s only under-par score of the tournament. He shot 10 shots higher Sunday to finish T8. Green shot 64 in the final round to finish in fourth place, two shots back of Harrington and Garcia. 9. A STORIED HISTORY: Golf in Carnoustie dates back to at least 1560, when the game of “gowffâ€� was mentioned in the parish records. Sir Robert Maule is believed to be Carnoustie’s first golfer, though it is unknown where he played the game. A rudimentary course was laid out in Carnoustie in 1834 and the Carnoustie Golf Club was formed five years later. It is the world’s 10th-oldest golf club. In 1867, Old Tom Morris extended the 10-hole course to an 18-hole layout of 4,565 yards. Braid oversaw sweeping changes to Carnoustie in 1926, five years before its first Open. Carnoustie also provided the United States with many of its first golf professionals. Among them was Stewart Maiden, the instructor to Bobby Jones. The Smith brothers – Willie, Alex and Macdonald – also came out of Carnoustie. Willie and Alex combined to win three U.S. Opens. Willie won the 1899 U.S. Open by 11 shots, a record margin that stood until Tiger Woods’ 15-shot win at Pebble Beach in 2000. Alex won the 1906 and 1910 U.S. Opens, and one of his brothers was runner-up each time. Alex finished seven ahead of Willie in 1906, while Alex beat Macdonald and John McDermott in a playoff in 1910. Macdonald Smith also was runner-up to Jones in the 1930 U.S. Open that was part of Jones’ Grand Slam haul. “In golf’s formative years, more than 100 lads emigrated to the U.S. as instant pros from the tiny, bleak Scottish town near the North Sea,â€� The New York Times’ Dave Anderson wrote, “with its one small street of stone houses, its railroad tracks and the flat, barren public links where the British Open is being conducted.â€�

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