Two-time British Open winner Ernie Els once likened his trips around the links at Royal St. George’s to playing on another planet.
“At times it feels like you’re playing on the moon here,” the Big Easy said in 2003. “There’s nothing flat on this golf course.”
Mark Calcavecchia, the Champion Golfer of the Year in 1989, once said the course in Sandwich, England, has a bunch of fairways you can’t hit. Tiger Woods, who has three Claret Jugs among his 15 majors, couldn’t find his first tee shot in the 2003 Open at Royal St. George’s and made a triple bogey; he finished two behind winner Ben Curtis.
And there is one word – hint, it starts with a “Q” – that rolls off the tongues among those who describe the layout by the sea some 100 miles southeast of London and is home to the 149th playing of the British Open.
“I believe St. George’s to be the most quirky of all the layouts,” 2009 Open winner Stewart Cink said. The two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season finished in a tie for 34th in 2003 and in a tie for 30th in 2011 at Royal St. George’s. In those two contests, only five players combined finished the tournament under par.
“And they’re all great courses, all fabulous,” Cink continued. “But St. George’s has the most unexpected bounces, the potential for the weirdest bounces. Especially on the back nine, some holes where the ridges run not quite at a 45-degree angle, but they’re just angled off to one side or the other. You can hit great shots off the tee that end up getting kicked one way or the other.
“You just got to be ready for some of that.”
Royal St. George’s – which will play to a par of 70 and can be stretched out to 7,189 yards this year – made its debut as an Open venue in 1894 and is hosting the oldest championship in golf for the 15th time; it was the first course outside of Scotland to host the British Open. With full exposure to the sea, Royal St. George’s, as is the case with all true links, is at the mercy of the winds blowing in from the nearby waters, and, let’s not forget, the elements that can fall from above.
From the day it opened 134 years ago, the links on the rugged landscape has been known for its blind shots; severely sloped greens; an assortment of pot bunkers that can ruin any round; and huge sand hills, including a two-story tall bunker to the right of the fairway on the fourth hole called the “Himalayas.”
There’s also a canal – named “Suez” – that crosses the par-5 14th fairway. The hole also has out of bounds running down the entire right side. This is where current world No. 1 Dustin Johnson’s hopes for a Claret Jug vanished in 2011 when he hit his second shot out of bounds in the final round of the Open when he was two shots behind eventual winner Darren Clarke.
Dustin Johnson plays his shot from the eighth tee during a practice round ahead of The 149th Open at Royal St George’s Golf Club on July 14, 2021 in Sandwich, England. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)
But it’s the fairways that stand out, the ones full of humps and bumps and crowns that send otherwise brilliant tee shots in multiple directions toward rough, fescue and pot bunkers. However, a wet summer has softened the links and given way to thick, heightened grassland that borders the holes. Bryson DeChambeau referred to some of the areas as hay.
“The course was quite lush, quite green. We maybe weren’t getting the bounces that we’re accustomed to getting here at St. George’s with the bumpy fairways,” 2014 Open champion Rory McIlroy said earlier this week. “Honestly, I think the course plays a little better that way. I think the biggest thing this week is if you do hit it offline, you’ve got some really thick, juicy rough on either side of the fairway, which you just have to avoid.”
The soft conditions make for an interesting predicament. As it stands now, there is little to no chance of precipitation in the forecast the rest of the week. Thus, if the skies are bright and the winds kick up, the course will firm up – and the chances of bizarre bounces in the fairway will increase.
Which means tournament officials might put water on the fairways to keep them on the soft side to try and limit the intensity of the bounces from the fairway.
“I spoke to (R&A chief executive) Martin Slumbers on Monday evening, and he said they’re probably going to water some of the fairways to stop that happening,” Lee Westwood said. “You can’t have really bouncy fairways carrying (the ball) off into rough that’s this high that you’re hacking out of. This course was laid down with the fairways like that and undulating, designed to go into the rough where you’d have a shot, but it would be a flying lie and you’d have to judge that.
“It wasn’t designed to land in the fairways and go into rough where you’re hacking out with lob wedge.”
Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson make their way towards the sixth hole during a practice round ahead of The 149th Open at Royal St George’s Golf Club on July 14, 2021 in Sandwich, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Soft or firm, Johnson said Royal St. George’s will provide an exacting test.
“I do like this golf course. I feel like it’s a tough golf course,” he said. “It’s going to play difficult, especially with the wind direction that it’s supposed to blow for the week. It’s a typical links course; you’ve got to hit golf shots, and you’ve got to hit them where you’re looking or you’re going to have a tough time.”