Tänkte tråden kan börjas redan nu, Scottish är ju lite uppvärmning för the main event. Hoylake kom jag inte ihåg som den roligaste banan på rotationen, då när Earl Woods hade avlidit och Tiger slog ut med järn på var och varannat hål.
Men ni som spelat mycket i Skottland, liknar North Berwick Hoylake? Har själv bara två rundor på skotsk links. Kan inte minnas att jag sett nån tävling från North Berwick, bara hört en massa om den banan
-I was watching highlights of 06 and 14 yesterday and it was amazing how brown it was in 06 so I’d thought I’d try and show the comparison on the 4th hole tee shot between 06, 14, 23. Right now it’s def closer to 14 and even greener now. Tiger was hitting irons to the doglegs which seems crazy to me because I’m barely getting to the dogleg with drivers and woods !
-Def more scoreable than the back. Hole 5 is a reachable par 5 and some shorter par 4s like 2, 4, 8. You can get on a run if you’re feeling it. But the beauty of links golf is that, even on those “easier” holes, if you hit it into a bunker, you’re scrambling to make par.
-Hole 3 is the most interesting hole imo. You either hit it 245 off the tee and leave yourself around 190 yds or you take on the internal ob with driver. The OB runs all the way up the right even to the green. With a right to left wind, it’s going to be a really tricky fairway to hit since it doglegs right. I’m not a fan of internal ob because it always feels unnatural and forced but it’s a necessary evil because certain holes like this one would be way too easy. Decision off the tee depends on wind for me but it’s a well designed hole because there’s no for sure way to play it and makes you think.
-Unfortunately for fans looking for super firm links golf, you are prob not going to see it this week. It has rained all day today and we’re supposed to get some sunshine Wed Thur Fri, but I’m not sure it’ll be enough to really make it firm and we’re getting more rain all day Saturday. Friday afternoon will be peak firmness but not sure how much it’ll change by then. It doesn’t seem like there will be a huge difference between the waves for this Open.
-My overall thoughts on this course is that you really need to strike ur ball. (I know shocker). These fairways are narrow and the greens are small and play smaller. The greens are pretty simple, not much slope to them honestly, they just have lots of run offs on most of the sides so it’s important to hit the middle of the green or shape it the correct way. The putts themselves especially when greens are wet and on the slow side don’t have a ton of breaks. It’ll be interesting who putts well on these cuz there’s not a whole lot of imagination required like Augusta. These fairway bunkers need to be avoided at all cost, it’s practically a pitch out on almost every single one of them.
Om någon får feeling och vill dra till Liverpool finns kanske lite matnyttigt i texten här, även om den är från 2008. Vilket påminner mig om att jag borde åka tillbaka dit och se om det är lika bra nu.
Så är det snart dags för The Open på Royal Liverpool. Spelat där några gånger med blandat resultat. Det är nu ganska många år sedan jag var på Hoylake, men jag hittade en gammal text jag skrivit. Kanske inte ska berömma mig själv, men där var några fyndigheter som fick mig att dra på munnen och minnas med glädje hur fint det är i Liverpool-trakten. https://intertec.se/Golfbladet_3_08_Liverpool.pdf