Hogan's Alley (Part Two)

In short, despite the horror stories they may have heard, the pros will like this course and there are likely to be few complaints. Because the prevailing wind comes off the sea, it tends to blow across rather than up or down the course. And given that Carnoustie is not quite a links of the nine-in, nine-out variety, do not expect the field to be completing one half in the low 30s and the other in nearer 40.

That said, more often than not, most of the front nine will be into and across the wind, with the reverse on the way back. This is probably preferable to the alternative, which means that three of the fearsome closing four holes will be into the wind. At 472, 248 and 499 yards, the 15th, 16th and 18th can become an ordeal in such circumstances.

There are only three short holes, and considering the nature of the aforementioned 16th, that is effectively two. And this year there will only be two par fives, with the 499-yard 12th reverting to a par four having been a five in 1999. One of the long holes is Hogan's Alley and the other Spectacles, the famous 14th. At 514 yards this should play as the easiest hole but other obvious birdie opportunities are not easy to identify.

On the front nine, the 3rd, Jockies Burn measures only 358 yards but has been toughened up for the championship by the addition of new bunkers and an area of rough in the middle of what was previously a generous target for such a short hole.
The R and A say they may even move the tee up on one day, depending on the conditions, to tempt bigger hitters into having a cut at the green.

The very next hole is one of the more innocuous and should yield plenty of threes while the chief defence of the 5th lies in its two-tiered green that slopes sharply from back to front.

The back nine is widely regarded as the harder of the two and, after the 383-yard 11th, it is easy to see why. Only the 14th offers respite thereafter while the 15th requires much more than a Lucky Slap, its name, to get away with a par in anything more than a mild breeze. The tee shot must ideally be drawn and the long second faded to counter the contours.

At the 16th the problems are obvious, namely that fully 250 yards separates the tee from the middle of the green, but the 17th is altogether more subtle. As you stand on the tee the sinuous Barry Burn really does appear to be everywhere and it is not clear where to hit towards. The solution is a tee shot of between 230 and 260 yards favouring the right-hand side.

Anything left will finish in the burn, as will a drive that does not correspond to this yardage. Typically of Carnoustie, the further right (ie safer) the drive, the harder the second, with a nest of bunkers short and right of the green obscuring the golfers view.

Having crossed the Barry Burn twice on the 17th, it must be negotiated on no fewer than three further occasions on the last hole, which also features out of bounds down the left. Three bunkers to the right of the fairway mean there is no margin for error and even having found the fairway with a drive of some 300 yards, a 200-yard second awaits.

From that range the burn should not be in play but much further back, from the rough or into the the wind, and it is very much a factor. And it should be remembered that this is no stream a good three yards wide, there is little chance of it failing to collect any ball in its environs.

It makes for a finishing hole to end all finishing holes and it can be safely assumed that man who stands here on Sunday July 22nd as Open champion will have well and truly earned his Claret Jug.