Wednesday, July 20, 2005

British Open heading to Turnberry, back to the Old Course

The R&A, in their wisdom, have named all the courses to hold the Open Championship for the next five years.
As previously announced, Royal Liverpool will hold next year's event, followed by Carnoustie. Then back to Birkdale.
Interestingly, it now appears Turnberry, surely one of the prettiest golf courses in the world, will now hold the 2009 event, assuming they can do something about improving the roads leading to the course. I actually find it a bit surprising that this is such an issue -- especially since St. Andrews itself isn't the easiest place in the world to get to. Turnberry does have some narrow roads leading to it, but its location, 45 minutes from Glasgow, should help when it comes to accommodations.
Will Turnberry be up to the task? It isn't a long golf course, but its location typically has more wind than other British Open sites, which could provide some defense. In four years, pro golfers will probably be averaging 350 yards off the tee, so there will be a lot of flip wedges at Turnberry.
The 2010 event, according to R&A head Peter Dawson, will be played at the Old Course. No surprise there, I suppose. Despite the low winning total, the course was a fair test of golf. But in five years, I assume we'll have tees set up all over the other courses that surround TOC. Otherwise, how will they find the distance needed?

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