The secret to Carnoustie is to avoid doubles
It takes a special golfer to triumph around Carnoustie.
The course can be brutal and unforgiving and that is before the wind has even picked up. But for Stephen Dundas, it only brings back special memories.
When he turned up at the Angus links as an 18- year- old for the 1992 Amateur Championship, he boldly told his father he was going to win it.
The Glasgow man duly delivered as future Major and European Tour winners Padraig Harrington, Stephen Gallacher and Bradley Dredge were all defeated along the way.
It was the best week of his golfing life, but as a Carnoustie Champion, does he have any advice for the players ahead of The Open?
“My biggest tip is patience,” he says. “You must understand everyone else will make mistakes and steer clear of double bogeys.
“The other Open venues are tough but none of them compares to Carnoustie. It’s just one difficult hole after another.
“When I won the Amateur, I had a calm feeling all week. I told my dad I was going to win it beforehand. He laughed, but that’s how confident I was.
“It was crazy windy and I shot 80 at Carnoustie and 78 at Panmure to qualify for the top-64 in matchplay in fourth place!
“I was one down with two to play against Harrington, but I didn’t panic. Padraig made a big mess of the last two holes. He hit into the water at the 17th and made doublebogey, then hit out of bounds on the last for another double as I won the match.
“The one on the 18th was probably the worst golf shot I’ve ever seen. He snaphooked it 50 yards left with a seven-iron from the middle of the fairway.
“I was surprised what a lasting effect it had on him. He mentioned it three or four times in the week he won The Open there in 2007.
“That week, everything came together for me. I hit it down Hogan’s Alley every day off the sixth and was a few under in a couple of matches. It was a cool feeling.”
n Jordan Spieth admits the enormity of being crowned Open champion 12 months ago hit him like “a punch in the gut”.
The American won his third major, and his first Claret Jug, courtesy of an eventful final round in which he lost and then regained the lead with a run of birdie-eagle-birdie-birdiepar over his closing five holes to edge out Ryder Cup team-mate Matt Kuchar.
Spieth said the announcement of him becoming Champion Golfer of the Year was like being hit in the stomach – in a good way.
“When those words were spoken on the green at Birkdale, it just kind of hit me,” he said ahead of his arrival at Carnoustie.
“It was like someone had kind of punched me in the gut in the best way possible.
“Just you need to realise how special this is and embrace what it means.
“I look forward to teeing it up and having those chills go through me, and obviously get focused to try to do it again.”