Hole two
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PAR 4, 481 YARDS
From the 2nd tee golfers continue in the same southeasterly direction as they started on the 1st, with Lytham’s famous railway hemming in the right flank of the course. It is this tee shot, and also on the 3rd – both long par fours – where the railway line and out of bounds presses in on golfers. The second hole is one of the few that has been elongated signifi cantly for the 2012 Open, with a pair of new tee boxes adding 43 yards. A cluster of three bunkers await down the righthand side, requiring a carry of 265 yards, while a new dune system provides danger to the left of the likely landing area. It was here in 2001 that leader Woosie’s caddie, Miles Byrne, realised he had 15 clubs. “You’re going to go ballistic,” Byrne said. Woosie threw the club into the bushes, and had to write a four on his card for the 1st, instead of two. He finished T3.
LAWRIE: This is a very clever hole with out of bounds down the right and bunkers on the left. I remember the fairway being pretty tight and the wind blew from right to left on a couple of the days in 2001 so a lot of guys ended over in the left-hand rough. That will leave an even tougher second this year as they’ve added some low dunes in that area. Driver off the tee leaves a 6-iron or so into the green. Four is a good score.
DONALD: I can’t remember whether my memories of watching The Open growing up are from live television or from tapes as I got into golf in 1986. The ones that stand out in my mind are Seve at Lytham in 1988 and Faldo when he won at St Andrews and then with all those pars at Muirfi eld. It’s been a while since an Englishman won The Open. We have been keeping the country waiting.
Hopefully we can change that. We certainly have the talent. I’m really looking forward to getting back to Royal Lytham because it has been a really long time since I was there. I played it once or twice as an amateur, but I don’t have much recollection of my scores so I’m guessing they weren’t great. I plan to play the course before the Scottish Open.
