"So crude as to be ridiculous"

That's one architect off the record in Lewine Mair's look at the new Road hole tee and the reactions of, among others, Christy O'Connor Jr. who says:

"I don't know what they were thinking of here…The 17th doesn't need any extra length to bring a man to his knees, especially when the wind blows."

And architect Ronan Branigan shares this from a recent round:

Branican hit rather farther left than he intended. His ball finished in the rough but, as he and his companions stressed, the width of the fairway for someone taking a supposedly safe line was no more than 20 yards.

"Everything tells you to hit left--yet hit left and you are penalized," he said. "It's not the philosophy of the Old Course to catch a man in rough; it's not what it's all about."


Comments

[Smails]

i am 100% in favor of the new tee (until the ball is rolled back), but if we're going back over the fence to tee it up, the fairway needs to be wider.

[Jay Townsend]

Lets keep it on the same course. I think the new tee is most likely out of bounds, much like the 2nd tee was last time.

ROLL BACK THE BALL!!!!

Better yet, create a Professional ball, give them NUMBERED (as in serial numbers) on the first tee, they can have the brand of their choice, but they all hyave the same specs that go 30 yards shorter

[Jordan]

How about not tinkering with a hole that already plays over a half stroke over par and has the most terrifying bunker in golf?

Christy says he doesn't know what they were thinking . . . Christy, they weren't thinking.

[Old Hornet]

Chico,

Your reply to my question last month and assessment of the change was spot on ! My guess is as The Open approaches and more practice rounds are logged, we'll see the displeasure level go up. I've been blessed with fond memories of the hole, the most interesting challenge one could hope for in a 4-par, as is, different on each occasion played.

[chico]

Thanks O H.
I'm 100% with what Jay T is proposing.
He is spot on with thinking the tee is out of bounds as is the 2nd and 14th.Two other tees are on the New Course-ridiculous!

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

Jordan ... you're absolutely correct of course re the score average and one has to wonder, why change? However, didn't the R&A cite as a reason their desire to bring the road (and wall) back into play. In days of yore, we used to see players having to negotiate shots from the road and wall. We don't seem to see this happening nearly so often now.

Notwithstanding any issues regarding the width of the landing area, won't they now be playing in a bigger club to the green which will of course include the new groove technology? Of course I hear the voices saying the new groove technology doesn't seem to have made much of a difference but I think we need to wait and see how they get on with hard, fast fairways to make a final call on that one.

[jay]

on another subject altogether, i just checked the world rankings, and they say they are updated through the TAVISTOCK CUP. am i to conclude that world ranking points were awarded for that event ?

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

IMG is everywhere, jay. Everywhere. Except where Michelle Wie meets the Rules of Golf.

[OWGR Fan]

@ Jay.... world ranking points were NOT awarded for the Tavistock Cup.

[jay]

thank you owgr fan

[Pickworth]

I think seven and eleven should share an island green fifty metres off shore. You can't get more traditional than that. Come on you land lubbers, vote with your flippers.

[Dexter]

The game is in bad hands.

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

Really Dexter? Who would you entrust it to then?