Royal Birkdale tough but fair
“The charm about this Open is the golf course. I love it. ... It rewards great golf.” Justin Rose
in the air, which is what links is all about. If you keep it out of the wind as much as possible, the better you have it. This the fairest and best links course in the rota.”
This is the 10th time Birkdale is hosting the Open. It also has been home to the Ryder Cup (1965 and 1969), Walker Cup, Curtis Cup, Senior Open Championship and Women’s British Open. As evidence of its brilliance, six members of the World Golf Hall of Fame have won the Open here: Mark O’Meara, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer and Peter Thomson (twice a winner).
“Bottom line, it’s a strong golf course,” said Miller, who outdueled a young Seve Ballesteros to win in 1976. “You need to hit fairways is the bottom line. The reason I won the Open in ’ 76 is my caddie literally made me hit a 1-iron. I hit a 1-iron 12 out of the 14 tee shots. And I can see a lot of driving irons and 3-woods off the tee like Henrik Stenson did last year. Birkdale just seems to be the right amount of test that allows the top players to hang in there if they’re playing good golf.”
Founded in 1889 and awarded “Royal” status in 1951, the course hasn’t had many changes in the last 95 years aside from the addition in 1935 of the distinctive white Art Deco clubhouse that looms over the 18th green. Simply, the course hasn’t needed many changes.
“The charm about this Open is the golf course. I love it. I think it’s the fairest links golf course we play. It rewards great golf,” Justin Rose said. “The vagaries of the bounces are slightly less in play here than at some other golf courses we play in the rotation.”
Unlike most of the other courses in the rotation, Birkdale begins with a bang — a 448-yard par-4 that bends slightly to the left and breaks the hearts of many.
“There is no letup on the golf course, and the first hole is one of the toughest opening holes on the Open Championship rota,” said Jim “Bones” Mackay, who will start his new job as an on-course commentator this week after toting the bag for Phil Mickelson for 25 years. “And the sixth hole is one of the hardest golf holes in all of golf. Getting on that tee, my gosh, if you can somehow play that hole in even par or 1 over for the week, you’d be picking up so much on the field. It’s a fantastic course. It provides so much excitement.”
The sixth — a 499-yard, par-4 beast that doglegs to the right — ranked as the hardest hole in the last two Opens in 1998 and 2008. Stenson said he’s pretty sure that will be the case again this year.
“The hole hasn’t gotten any easier. It’s a long hole, and you’ve got to hit two good shots to get it in position on the green,” he said.
A large bunker at the turn of the dogleg must be avoided. Lay- ing back leaves you a longer iron into the green, which is protected by three bunkers. And the hole usually plays into the wind.
“Six is a big challenge,” twotime major winner Jordan Spieth said. “If you hit a good tee ball, you’ve got a long iron in. Around the greens, as long as you’re not in those first two pot bunkers, you can make a four. It’s really in the tee shot. And I think a lot of this golf course is in the tee ball. It’s a very tough but fair test, one that’s demanding off the tee. If you’re in position off the tee, you’re golden out here, because you will have some large opportunities.
“The greens aren’t crazy. There are only a couple that have any kind of ridges to them. You can play to the center of the green and putt to the corners. So it’s about controlling your ball off the tee in these crosswinds to give yourself the opportunity to hit the center of the green. It’s just a great test of golf.”