CARNOUSTIE
DG SCOTLAND 2024 Editor, Kevin Markham
Widely regarded as the toughest course on the Open rota, Carnoustie is also one of the toughest courses anywhere. Certainly the closing three holes have delivered the most dramatic finishes in Open history (Paul Lawrie, 1999, and Padraig Harrington,
2007), but the entire links presents the sort of challenge to strike fear and awe into a golfer’s heart. Bunkering is deep and positioned to be penal – just look at the par five 6th (Hogan’s Alley) – but underneath that cruel veil lies an utterly brilliant and
fair golf course. Intriguingly, the only blind shot is your approach to the short 1st, where the green is tucked low in a ring of dunes.
Other than that you know what is required as you play over low, tangled dunes to greens constantly on show. It certainly helps but you have to be patient for 18 holes as one misstep will prove costly especially on the revered and feared final four. James Braid
updated Old Tom Morris’s design in the 1920s, and the course has been mostly untouched since then. Beware holes 17 and 18, where you must cross the famous Barry’s Burn five times. (There are two sister courses here, too: The Carnoustie Burnside and The
Carnoustie Buddon)
Did You Know?
The course’s new irrigation system is a world-class
wonder and enables the club to present golfers with
the most perfect conditioning