Doc50
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Golf is a game of risk vs reward. (so is life)
The Old Course at St. Andrews is the oldest and still one of the best tests of this premise.
When viewed from above, there's not a great amount of natural beauty, elevation changes, or dominant hazards.
Some have said it bears resemblance to an artillery range.
Upon walking and playing the course, nothing much stands out either, except the iconic old buildings surrounding the 1st tee and 18th green, and the Firth of Forth - that cove in the North Sea which juts inland and creates the beach just off the course, where the memorable jogging scene from Chariots of Fire was filmed.
But navigating the course and its subtle hazards and the infinite number of possibilities based on variation of shot - it's really just amazing how complex it is. For this reason, and due to the hidden trouble that takes years to learn, an experienced caddie is mandatory. The tiny map on the scorecard is of little help, and even the pocket yardage book which you can buy in the golf shops will not give near enough data.
That brings us to the challenge facing Jordan Spieth.
1) Nobody was very experienced with the layout at Chambers Bay, but his caddie was. While it's difficult to predict how many strokes he saved with that, there's no question that the familiarity was an advantage.
While Jordan and caddie have studied the course meticulously, they've played few rounds; before this week, Spieth played just one round there 4 years ago, as an amateur.
2)True links golf (with wind, rain, fescue, weeds, dunes, gorse, burns, and pot bunkers) is relatively unknown in the states. An Englishman or Scot without PGA wins would still be favored over some accomplished US pros.
Jordan has a simulator, but the wind/rain/lie variations can only be learned on the course.
3) Only once has anyone won the Masters, US Open, and British in the same year (Ben Hogan).
No one has ever won the modern grand slam, proposed by Arnold Palmer. Bobby Jones was the only winner of the old slam, consisting of the US Open and Amateur, and the British Open and Amateur. So, history is against it.
(BTW, do not refer to it as the British over there, or your pint may be tainted; it's The Open Championship.)
4) The experts refer to Jordan as a wise old young man -- his maturity, judgement, feel, and grace belie his young age of 21. The pressure only gets greater on this, the grandest golf stage in the world, made even more dramatic by the possibility of making history. I'm not sure even Spieth can keep his focus and game under that kind of weight.
Will be fun to watch, especially considering I've played the course.
Also played Gullane, where Fowler just won the Scottish Open; he's another young gun to watch, having broken out this year, and proving he can excel at links golf.
The best golf trip you can make in the US to simulate the kind of experience you get on the courses of St. Andrews is in Bandon, Oregon; they have 4 truly great links courses (lacking the history and some of the weather).
The Old Course at St. Andrews is the oldest and still one of the best tests of this premise.
When viewed from above, there's not a great amount of natural beauty, elevation changes, or dominant hazards.
Some have said it bears resemblance to an artillery range.
Upon walking and playing the course, nothing much stands out either, except the iconic old buildings surrounding the 1st tee and 18th green, and the Firth of Forth - that cove in the North Sea which juts inland and creates the beach just off the course, where the memorable jogging scene from Chariots of Fire was filmed.
But navigating the course and its subtle hazards and the infinite number of possibilities based on variation of shot - it's really just amazing how complex it is. For this reason, and due to the hidden trouble that takes years to learn, an experienced caddie is mandatory. The tiny map on the scorecard is of little help, and even the pocket yardage book which you can buy in the golf shops will not give near enough data.
That brings us to the challenge facing Jordan Spieth.
1) Nobody was very experienced with the layout at Chambers Bay, but his caddie was. While it's difficult to predict how many strokes he saved with that, there's no question that the familiarity was an advantage.
While Jordan and caddie have studied the course meticulously, they've played few rounds; before this week, Spieth played just one round there 4 years ago, as an amateur.
2)True links golf (with wind, rain, fescue, weeds, dunes, gorse, burns, and pot bunkers) is relatively unknown in the states. An Englishman or Scot without PGA wins would still be favored over some accomplished US pros.
Jordan has a simulator, but the wind/rain/lie variations can only be learned on the course.
3) Only once has anyone won the Masters, US Open, and British in the same year (Ben Hogan).
No one has ever won the modern grand slam, proposed by Arnold Palmer. Bobby Jones was the only winner of the old slam, consisting of the US Open and Amateur, and the British Open and Amateur. So, history is against it.
(BTW, do not refer to it as the British over there, or your pint may be tainted; it's The Open Championship.)
4) The experts refer to Jordan as a wise old young man -- his maturity, judgement, feel, and grace belie his young age of 21. The pressure only gets greater on this, the grandest golf stage in the world, made even more dramatic by the possibility of making history. I'm not sure even Spieth can keep his focus and game under that kind of weight.
Will be fun to watch, especially considering I've played the course.
Also played Gullane, where Fowler just won the Scottish Open; he's another young gun to watch, having broken out this year, and proving he can excel at links golf.
The best golf trip you can make in the US to simulate the kind of experience you get on the courses of St. Andrews is in Bandon, Oregon; they have 4 truly great links courses (lacking the history and some of the weather).
