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SANDWICH, England – The petty among us prefer to see white hats on the Channel, umbrellas that snap in half, raincoats as our favorite garment. If the wind wants to howl at a reasonably high rate, that would be good too.
It’s open time. The kind that showcases – and sometimes exposes – the best golfers in the world. It can be maddening and frustrating, but it’s pure entertainment for the golfing public who love to see the pros endure the elements at the game’s oldest championship.
Of course, Mother Nature does not always cooperate. And there are many who took advantage of the rather pleasant day at Royal St. George’s for the opening round of the last major championship of 2021.
It was sunny for quite a while and not a hint of rain. It was very windy, however, but not enough to prevent several players from breaking the par. Watching Thursday would make you wonder what it was about.
Royal St. George’s, near Sandwich Bay and within sight of France, has rarely stirred the passions of bond lovers. It is also not highly rated in terms of open places. What he lacks in beauty he often makes up for in muscle, although this was lacking in relatively benign conditions during the first round.
“Why don’t we like it?” Said Englishman Paul Casey, who started the tournament with a 68. “Because it’s so difficult. It is.”
Casey grew up in Weybridge, Surrey County and remembers the Kent County games played at Royal St. George’s when he was an amateur.
The place beat him.
“It was just tough; a tough, tough golf course to play,” he said. “It was not pleasant.”
And yet, on Thursday, Louis Oosthuizen shot 64 to take the lead in the first round, just the sixth score of 64 or better in the 15 Opens at Royal St. George’s dating back to the late 1800s.
Jordan Spieth and Brian Harman are behind. There were almost 50 below par. And the average score for the day was only slightly above average. This is unheard of for an Open, especially at Royal St. George’s, where Tiger Woods hit the fairway with his first tee shot in 2003, then saw him bounce into the rough. The bullet was never found. He started with a penalty of 2 strokes and a triple bogey 7.
He ended up finishing 2 strokes behind Ben Curtis.
“Slightly out of service, isn’t it?” Casey said of what happened to Woods. “I think that’s why the facility can kill people’s enjoyment of this golf course. This week’s setup is phenomenal. ”
And maybe that’s why the score was pretty good. And maybe why there were fewer shots on the course.
Brooks Koepka was just being honest when he said earlier this week that it wasn’t his favorite, due to all the blind shots. Rory McIlroy hated it 10 years ago when he came to Royal St. George’s as the defending US Open champion and came away frustrated after a tie for 25th.
But McIlroy noted that some of the hard edges have since been muted. Some of the lunar landscapes the course is known for – the mounds and bumps in the middle of the fairways – are less severe due to the summer rains and, perhaps, with some direction towards the Royal St. George’s crew via the R&A.
“We are very aware that this course has a lot of very severe undulations in the fairways and in the landing zones,” said Martin Slumbers, Managing Director of R&A. who lands on who doesn’t start at a pace that could lead him to a deep, deep rough. It’s a little greener than what you would have seen on other courses, and it’s useful. ”
It’s quite rare that those in charge of organizing tournaments admit that they fear a price is unfair.
But that’s part of what’s going on this week, and part of the reason you see a lot more smiles than frowns.
“I’d rather say a little smooth,” said Spieth, who first played the course competitively and shot 5 under 65s. “I kind of pulled myself off with a few tee shots in the first cut. that maybe if he was firmer he could have made his way right through the fescue. I’m sure for a lot of people it’s the same.
“It’s a course where you have so much ripple in the fairways that if it gets firmer it becomes very reliant on the bounce. That’s what I had heard happen. Then after playing it, you can see it. The wind is up, and the pins are on the buttons and the crowns and they did … they put some pins in some really fun places for us [Thursday] where you could reach them in bowls. But these are only a few holes. The rest of them, they’re on some of the hardest spots to somehow separate the field. Whether you hit it really well or not, you end up in better positions than not. ”
Spieth was aware of the reputation of the course prior to his arrival and tried to keep an open mind.
“Historically, I’ve been to places I’ve never seen before in any tournament and I’ve always just tried to find something that I like about it,” he said. “I came here and was in a good mood about it. I was like, ‘Dude, this could be a really fun and complicated piece.’ It’s definitely weird compared to some of the others. ‘ ‘
The forecast for the remainder of the tournament calls for temperatures in the 60s and a fairly brisk breeze that could blow up to 25mph. This can cause fits, as the best in the world are filled with doubts when they don’t know what impact the wind will have, especially on links where there are so many weird bounces and pauses.
The steady wind means the course is likely to get firmer and faster, bringing into play some of those old concerns that have given Royal St. George’s a less-than-stellar reputation. Unless, of course, the powers that be intervene.
“I think the architecture is absolutely phenomenal,” said Casey. “Some of the best bunkering and green approaches. The only reason it’s never in my UK top five is a blind tee shot too much for my liking. And that’s my personal preference. But that’s kind of a weak excuse not to put it in my top five, right? But there are several. You tend to lose sight of the golf ball quite frequently on strokes. departure.
“But the fact that they’ve moved the first fairway slightly to the left this year is a prime example. Tiger’s tee shot in the middle [in 2003] rolled onto his side and he lost the golf ball. Crazy. I think this is why the facility can kill people’s enjoyment of this golf course. This week’s setup is really good. ”
The configuration is good. The weather is nice. And, so far, the golf is good.
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