Upon Further Review, Open Championship Edition

One of his readers brought this video of the proposed changes to Turnberry's Ailsa course to Shack's attention, and it's well worth seven minutes of your time under any of the following circumstances:

1. You have an interest in golf architecture;
2. You enjoy images of the rugged Scottish coastline;
3. You've never understood why I go on as I do about the glories of links golf; or
4. It's effin 35 degrees out and you've nothing better to do.

So dive in and enjoy, with my thoughts to follow:

I come away from a single viewing of this video more favorably disposed to the changes, which are far more extensive than I'd previously understood.  While my concerns about the new Par-3 ninth remain, I am heartened to see changes that address the two principle issues with the track, to wit:

1. In it's current configuration, the opening three holes and the final two holes are dreadfully sub-standard.  This is a not-infrequent issue on links, as the architect often needs to take the players through less interesting terrain around where the clubhouse is situated and out to the dunes and water, but in the case of the Ailsa the holes are especially uninspiring;
2. The golf course kicks into high gear at the fourth hole, which begins the magical stretch of golf holes along the water from whence it rightfully derives its reputation.  The problem with this stretch is that Holes 4-8 play in exactly the same left-to-right prevailing wind, less than ideal from a "test-of-golf" perspective.

Perhaps this routing graphic will help you visualize the issue:

I was glad to see them addressing to profound problems with Nos. 1, 17 and 18, but really perked up at the mention of the new tee location on No. 6, a stout Par-3.  If I understood correctly, the tee will be moved inland requiring the players to deal with more of a quartering wind, which is to the good...

Can you deal with a brief digression ton the challenges of links golf?  The sixth is indeed a stout one-shotter, 221 yards from the white tees with a massive bunker some 30-40-yards short of the green.  We last visited Turnberry in 2009, and played the course twice a full week apart.  On our first visit, with the wind hurting, I hit driver, quite the rookie mistake that left me dead in the aforesaid bunker...for some reason, Theresa insisted on memorializing it in this photo:

Trust me, you can't get there from here...

The next time, obviously with a completely different wind, six-iron put me over the green...

It seems that Shack likes the new tenth and eleventh holes, though he feels compelled to note that there's not much strategy involved.  Sometimes you can be completely correct but miss the larger point as well... the wind will create differing challenges each time you play them, and judging the wind and creating the appropriate shot shape will be sufficiently demanding.  And they're of course drop-dead gorgeous, which ain't chopped liver...

I'll also second Shack's amusement at the extent to which this all assumes that the Open will, in fact, return to the Ailsa...including a rendition of U-shaped grandstands around the 18th green much like what we saw at Hoylake last year.

One last note about this year's Open venue, reader Mark W. found time in his busy schedule to respond to my prompt in the recent post about the grandstands to be erected on the Old Course.  He provides a link to this rendering of the two-tiered grandstand behind the 18th green:

He also amusing notes that had you purchased a 1.5 million quid unit on a lower floor of Hamilton Hall, the red-brick building behind the green recently converted into rather pricey condos by Herb Koehler, you might be surprised to find that you no longer had a view of the proceedings...

Mark also notes that the aerial views in the video in this post shows the Road Hole grandstand "Mercifully" located on the far side of the stone wall.  Unfortunately, I believe that those aerials are from the 2010 Open, and so may not still be operative...here's what the R&A had to say on the subject:

The arena will be completed by a new L-shaped grandstand being constructed behind the 17thgreen and a stand sited by the 1st green.

The grandstand behind the famous Road Hole will have a capacity of more than 4,000 and offer spectators a panoramic view of the 17th, 18th, 1st and 2nd holes.

L-shaped and located behind the 17th green?  I do hope that Mark is correct, but I fear the worst...