The Championship Course at Carnoustie is one of the toughest courses in the world, and a constant in the higher echelons of the NCG Top 100s: Scotland list.
It has played host to the Open Championship on eight occasions, along with also hosting the Senior Open Championship and the AIG Women’s Open, both twice.
A round at Carnoustie allows you to follow in the footsteps of some of the best golfers the world has ever seen, both male and female!
RELATED – Check out the NCG Top 100s: Scotland list
Why does Carnoustie’s Championship Course earn a spot on the NCG Top 100s: Scotland list?
Founded in the mid-19th Century, Carnoustie sits on the eastern coastline of Scotland, and became an Open Championship venue for the first time in 1931.
The venue was given the nickname ‘Carnasty’ after the 1999 edition of the Open Championship, thanks to the winning score of 7-over-par.
It is a course that is known for having one of the toughest finishes in world, especially with the iconic Barry Burn that winds its way across the 18th fairway…
RELATED – NCG Top 100s: Carnoustie (Championship)
What do our experts think about Carnoustie’s Championship Course?
Dan Murphy, chairman of the NCG Top 100s Rankings, began the chat about Carnoustie by mentioning one of it’s unique points as a links course…
“Here we have none of those ‘Kodak moments’, you very rarely see the sea at Carnoustie,” Murphy explained.
“In fact, if you don’t know to look out for it – you see it on the 2nd, and there are probably other chances, along with the 3rd tee – you’re not really engaging with the sea, you don’t see any sand so it is very flat. It is so flat in comparison to all of the courses we have discussed already (those ranked 7 through 10), they all have changes in elevation, but Carnoustie is just the opposite.
“It is a golf course that people perceive as being hard and people perceive as being grey. They think it is sunny at Kingsbarns, but not so sunny at Carnoustie. I love it, it is just my kind of thing! I love this type of golf, this is really what it is all about to me. It is one of the great closing stretches in all of golf, albeit I don’t love the 16th myself. The rest is absolutely as it should be.
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“I also don’t find it that difficult, I don’t think it is more difficult than other Open venues. It is pretty clear off the tee where it wants you to hit it, and the greens are big and flat, so it probably plays quite well for me.”
Tom Irwin, co-host of the NCG Golf Podcast and the NCG Top 100s Podcast, added that Carnoustie is an underrated destination compared to other regions of Scotland.
“It is probably the most underrated golf destination, I would say, the Angus region or Carnoustie itself,” he said.
“The other two courses there (Burnside and Buddon) are really good as well, Panmure next door is amazing. It hasn’t quite got the same sort of hotspot, trendy momentum like bit of Fife has, and places like East Lothian, Ayrshire and even the Highlands. These are very on vogue destinations.
“I think the American tourists tick Carnoustie off because it is an Open venue, but they are not staying in Angus, they’re not playing at Panmure, they’re not going to the other courses at Carnoustie. In many ways, it feels like it is the most underrated of the highest rated golf courses, if you like.
“It also delivered probably the greatest modern Open of the last 20 years, the [Francesco] Molinari one. It was dusty and sunny, Tiger [Woods] was in the mix, [Jordan] Spieth messed it up! It was an amazing Open.”
“In conditions, it was memorable for sure. You had the sight of people driving it to within 80 yards of the last green, which is absolutely crazy,” Murphy agreed about the 2018 Open Championship.
“It was just, the wind that week and it was running out 100 yards or so. It made a hole, where we remember Paul Lawrie trying to fly the burn with a 4-iron and having to get every last millimetre of ball on club to make the carry, and then by contrast, hitting a half wedge into it was absolutely mad.”
“It is a funny start, where you have that blind first tee shot, but after that, it is simply exceptional isn’t it?” Irwin asked the question of the layout.
“I love the 2nd tee shot, where you have to hit that hold-off fade off the left, and the short par 4 3rd is incredible. The next two, with the split green and then up the hill and to the green in the sky. When you get into the back nine, the storied holes like ‘Hogen’s Alley’, which properly delivers by the way, is a genius piece of design.
“I think the grandstand finish starts a bit earlier than people say. 15 is brilliant and the last three are bananas, aren’t they, in terms of their difficulty in the right wind. For the club golfer, where trying to hit a long iron or wood on to a tabletop green, and then using islands between the burns.
“The 18th delivers on that grandstand finish that you want for an Open venue, in all but the wind they got in 2018. It is an absolutely amazing golf course, and again, it is a place where the holes are memorable and you can basically describe every single one as you go round. It is a very work-a-day town, a strange thing, when you think about where North Berwick is, the Old Course is, where Royal Troon is, it is old Scottish money, and Carnoustie is not like that, is it?
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“It is the polar opposite of the courses that we have just been discussing [Kingsbarns, Castle Stuart and Trump International (Old)],” Murphy added to finish.
“It doesn’t try to be anything that it is not, and I have always felt very comfortable in Carnoustie, I like it there. It feels proper to me.
“If you go to Carnoustie in the early season, there is so little grass and you are basically one grain of sand away from dunching it with all your iron shots. It is the most proper test of your golf, your ball striking, but it is not impossible. If you hit the ball solidly, you will get your reward for it. However, if you’re not striking it properly, if you’re slightly skew-whiff then you will get punished all day long.”
Listen to the NCG Top 100s Podcast
CHECK OUT – Castle Stuart at Cabot Highlands – the ‘poster boy’ for new Scottish links
CHECK OUT – How you can play the New Course at Trump International on the NCG Top 100s Tour
Now have your say
Have you been fortunate enough to play the Championship Course at Carnoustie? What did you make of it? Let us know your thoughts with a post on X, formerly Twitter!
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