May 9 Carnoustiein pictures
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They say every picture tells a story. But that’s not strictly accurate you know: not as far as this superb collection of images of this summer’s Open venue Carnoustie are concerned anyway.
The photos – shot by top Getty Images golf ‘snapper’ Dave Cannon – were captured over a few balmy, late summer days in 2006 when Carnoustie was at its gentlest. The course looked an absolute picture but we all know that Carnoustie is a Jekyll and Hyde character and can turn nasty, very nasty in fact.
When the wind is blowing and the rough is rough things can get pretty ugly as Tiger, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia and many other of the world’s most gifted golfers found to their cost when The Open was last staged there in 1999.
Carnoustie also boasts one of the most demanding finishing stretch of holes in golf: Frenchman Jean Van de Velde will certainly back that up – eight years ago he had the Open title in his grasp until he dramatically and spectacularly came to grief on the 18th or in Barry Burn to be precise.
The course has undergone some major changes since then and the R&A are hopeful it will prove an equally demanding but a fair test of golf. Only time will tell when Carnoustie hosts golf’s greatest event between July 19-22…
Celebrity golfer DJ Spoony has recently played the newlook layout a couple of times and reckons it will again prove a tough nut to crack, saying: “When it’s windy, it’s too hard for amateurs off the back tees. But it’s a great links course – you know what you get when you play there.
“Of the changes they’ve made I was impressed with what’s happened at the penultimate hole. The 17th used to have a bale out area on the right side but they’re growing that rough up and that forces you to either hit a shorter iron or pull out the driver which brings the burn into play.”
Fancy putting yourself to the ultimate links test? You can play Carnoustie between 9am-midday and 1.30-3.52 in midweek, 2-4pm on Saturdays and 11.30-4pm on Sundays. The experience will set you back £115 per round. The course is closed for The Open between July 2-23.
