Tiger Woods is an authority on many matters related to golf. It pleases me that he speaks reverently about the Old Course at St Andrews. Twice he won The Open on the Old Course.
Links golf is a different kind of golf according to Tiger. His first exposure to it was watching the 1986 Open on television. He recalled that it was weird to see guys bounce balls onto the greens; he had never seen that before. He did not understand the type of game he was watching on television until he got the chance to play links golf. Upon his first opportunity to play in The Open, he confronted a very different type of golf and he loved it. Here was a game he played that allowed him, or rather required him in many instances, to bounce the ball into the greens. The wind was a factor as he found out when as he said he caught the tide at the Old Course at the wrong time and every shot was into the wind making drivable holes play exceedingly long. That experience caused him to remark that it was the hardest golf course he ever played. The golf course can play so many different ways depending upon the weather. Mother nature dictates play.
He makes some stark distinctions between links golf, particularly St Andrews, and American golf. Tiger discovered that to play the Old Course, and this pertains to links courses in general, you have to open your mind and change your way of thinking because the golf courses can play many different ways. He is describing course management. Ben Hogan said that at the highest level all the players are approximately the same in terms of technical abilities and the ones that separate themselves and win are the ones that excel at course management. He felt that course management in terms of importance was about 70% to 75% of what decided a golfer’s fate on the course. One of the greatest achievements in golf was Mr. Hogan’s only appearance at an Open where he displayed brilliance in course management, lowering his score each successive round, and winning the title. Tiger recalled that Nicklaus, while not possessing the best short game, his way around the Open courses and had remarkable success at The Open.
Tiger believes the characteristics that add to the challenge and enjoyment of the Old Course are that the ball bounces therefore the impact and roll of the ball are crucial to account for on every shot, that the shot angles must be considered in order to gain advantages like distance and proper approach angles to the greens, that there is always the consideration to play safe and bail out or take an aggressive line for a decided advantage for the next shot, and that mother nature plays a significant role in how you manage your round and you must figure out how the weather conditions can impact each shot.
He believes those factors are not present on the PGA TOUR courses where trajectory is paramount: how high you hit the ball is key, the ground is not your friend because typically you are either having to carry a bunker, rough or a water hazard so the ground is not a factor, very few options exist. Every hole is one dimensional and you only have to hit the ball high and make it stop on shelves. If you miss the green it is always high rough surrounding the greens so it is always the same shot around the greens, lob wedge to hack it out of the rough. Contrast this to the Old Course where you must consider many options, learn how to control the ball in the air in order to be able to control it on the ground, and consider the slope of the ground, how the ball may kick a certain way. Tiger made the connection between the trajectory of the shot and the ground features. In the United States that connection is disconnected and the emphasis is mostly on the trajectory and usually that means hit it high to make it stop because the ground in between is inhospitable to a rolling ball.
The first time I saw and played the Old Course I was impressed by the close proximity of the course to the town; it snuggled into the corner of the town; and, I expected the greens to be much more contoured when in fact many of the greens had plateaus that were somewhat level. That was a surprising discovery. Upon reflection, it seems to me the most interesting greens incorporated these sharp, and tumbling features but in varied ways that were not repetitious. I like the placement of bunkers away from the center of the green, and instead, the use of slopes and bumps to challenge the play into the green. The slopes and knobs in addition to being challenges unto can also serve to direct balls toward the bunkers to the sides. Because there are so many occurrences where a sharp slope is in front of the green or rises up within the green it is remarkable that the course does not seem repetitive. The lack of repetitiveness may have something to do with the characteristics of each hole: upon arrival at the green, everything may appear fresh and new. Or, it may be that having played the course just a few times I have not picked up on a sense of repetition. I doubt it though. The more I study the greens the more distinctive each one becomes in my mind.
The Old Course has undergone changes over the years and most recently the changes were controversial and seemed too invasive. If I were to change anything about the course I would reduce and eliminate much of the irrigation infrastructure with the intent of returning the course to something resembling what Bobby Jones found so endearing as evidenced by this comment from him: “I am happy now that I did not miss playing seaside golf when the greens were hard and unwatered and the fairways and putting surfaces like glass. Nothing resulting from man-made design can equal the testing qualities of such conditions.”
It is difficult to absorb the entire landscape and make sense of where you are on the course in proximity to other holes and features. This creates a sense of disorientation and at first, may be viewed as a negative. As Tiger observed links golf courses and this course, in particular, are unlike any courses in the United States so it takes a few rounds at the Old Course, for example, to appreciate its qualities and to forget what you thought you knew a golf course should be like.
Tiger opened his mind and changed his way of thinking about how a golf course should be played and his brilliant approach led to two historic victories in 2000 and 2005, matching Jack Nicklaus’s Open triumphs at St Andrews in 1970 and 1978. For so many of us that had watched Nicklaus and Tiger win there and had played there ourselves it remains true that “probably no portion of ground of the same size on the whole surface of the globe has afforded so much innocent enjoyment to so many people of all ages from two to eighty-nine, and during so many generations,” as James Balfour observed and noted in 1887, after having played St Andrews for forty-five years.
