Editor’s Picks: My favourite Open venues
Hello fellow golf nerd enthusiast – I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist clicking on a list of my favourite Open venues. And I was right. We all love a list at the best of times, don’t we?Right now is anything but – so I thought it would be reassuring to fall back on the kind of thing that used to fill our joyously mundane lives: namely arguing the toss over hypothetical sporting comparisons.
I’ve some great topics lined up, from the trivial to the vaguely serious but please let me know if you’ve got a good idea. I’m going to kick this new series off with my favourite Open venues.
Please don’t think this is an NCG Top 100-style list and confuse it with what I think are the best Open courses.
This is a list of where I have enjoyed watching the Open the most and is based on a whole series of individual, emotional, and illogical factors.
Let’s get cracking.
My favourite Open venues: No 10 – Royal Liverpool
Horribly unfair because the 2006 Open was a classic in just about every regard, my abiding memory being the incredible heat that week. There were very few spectators out on the holes around the turn because they simply couldn’t get that far before having to turn around for home.
The two winners since Hoylake’s return to the Open rota – Tiger and Rory – have been more than acceptable too. I also loved watching the Walker Cup here last year and am an increasing fan of the course. In the debit column, the messing around of the tee times due to the weather forecast did not and still does not sit well with me.
We also had an absolute dog of a house during the 2014 Open – think damp, smelly, poorly equipped, over-populated and in the wrong place.
Finally, from my home in Leeds, it’s hard work to get to, even though it’s only 100 miles. I told you this list was subjective.
Dan Murphy
Dan loves links golf, which doesn't mean he is very good at it. He is a four-handicapper at Alwoodley. A qualified journalist and senior editor with 25 years’ experience, he was the long-time editor of NCG. His passion is golf courses and he is the founding editor of NCG Top 100s course rankings. He loves nothing more than discovering and highlighting courses that are worthy of greater recognition.
