The Course Report
The Royal St. George's
About The Royal St. George's Golf Club
The PGA Tour has finally returned home as Royal St. George’s Golf Club plays host to the Open Championship for the 15th time. This is a real links challenge with rolling fairways, a punishing rough, undulating greens and bunkers so daunting that the pros will do everything they can to avoid them.
This is a true links style course. Try not to be fooled by what has been seen in the U.S. as the links style courses simply don’t compare to the gravitas of what is found across the pond. The rough will be severe, strategy will need to be impecciable, and every aspect of a golfer’s game needs to be on point. The Open is a true testament of a golfer’s skill over four days.
This is the perfect moment to point out that too many touts will attempt to play the bomb and gouge route, but the truth is that plenty of short players will be simply fine. Shorter hitters will attempt to hit the semi-rough and then run the ball up onto the green. Evidence of this can be seen in the last 4 Open winners as Lowry, Molinari, Spieth and Stenson utilized the same strategies in their victories. You hit the ball low here. You run the ball to large greens complexes, and you hope to God that the wind is at your back on the 239 yard par-3.
The last time Royal St. George was on the Open rotation was back in 2011 when Darren Clarke won the tournament at -5. We will now see how modern golf equipment will attempt to dissect this course.
Off the tee golfer’s will be faced with fairway bunkers, bunkers so deep that a wrong landing might force a pro to an impossible shot. In addition, aim will be critical as swirling winds will make each hole incredibly challenging. It is one of the most incredible aspects of this course. The background is always changing and so is the wind direction. Pinpoint control off the tee is essential.
On all approach shots, any ball hit towards the sides of the putting surfaces will fall away from the putting green. This is a precise ball striker’s course. This is a course that requires distance. This course is for every type of player and that is what makes The Open so special. There is no single stat that is going to be predominantly important this weekend.
A player that does hit the green will have to manage subtle breaks, but there is still little room for error.
There are no easy birdies on this course, and every hole has the opportunity for double or worse. Just ask Dustin Johnson who botched his potential win here at Royal St. George’s back in 2011.
Architect: Laidlaw Purves
Greens: Bentgrass/Fescue
Green Size: 6,000 sq. ft.
Stimpmeter: 12+, Fast
Length: 7,204 Yards – Par 70
Water Hazards: None
Bunkers/Waste Area: 100+ Plentiful Links style course.
Weather Forecast
Past Winners
An Irishman won in Ireland as it had been almost 70 years since the tiny island was host to the Open Championship.
Lowry entered Sunday with the lead, and held on through torrential weather in route to his bogey-free round that included 8 birdies.
Molinari was not the name you thought would be holding up the Claret Jug on Sunday, but Molinari was masterful on Sunday thanks to his ability to avoid bogies.
It truly was a fantastic finish as Tiger Woods, Rory McIIroy, Kevin Kisner, Xander Schauffle and Justin Rose were all in the lead at some point during the final round.
He didn’t melt down this time, but he almost did. Speith won the Claret Jug by three shots after starting the round with 3 bogies on the first four holes.
On the back 9, Spieth figured things out as he had a birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie after hole 13. His win marked his 3rd major championship and became the youngest American to hoist the Claret Jug.
After seven career top-five finishes at major championships, Stenson broke through for his first major victory.
Stenson posted a 63 on Sunday, tying the major championship record for a low round. Stenson was spectacular on Sunday, and outlasted Phil Mickelson who just couldn’t keep up with the Sweedish pro.
It took a 3-man playoff, but Johnson beat Louis Ossthuizen and Marc Leishman by shooting a 15, 1 under in a four hole playoff.
Johnson was a surprise win as just the week before his prep came in Illinois at the John Deere Classic. This was Johnson’s second major win, and his first Claret Jug.
Entering with a six-stroke lead over the field, McIIroy went from dominant to just hanging on. Still, no golfer ever got withing two strokes the entire day, and he held his composure despite struggles off the tee and on the greens.
In winning, McIIroy became the seventh wire-to-wire winner in Open Championship history.
After winning the Scottish Open the week prior, Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes and became the Open Champion.
To this point, Phil had come close to winning, but had often doubted his abilites on links style courses.
Els began Sunday 6 shots back, but still clinched the vicotry after Adam Scott imploded.
Els’ 68 was a comeback of epic proportions when you consider the fact that Scott was still winning by 4 strokes on the 15th tee.