View Full Version : New Loch Lomond course to host a Ladies Open
Zorro
06-11-2006, 07:31 AM
It seems that the new course Carrick (http://www.pgatour.com/story/9768287) to be opened in Spring 2007 is to host the Scottish Ladies open in the September of the same year. Surely this baby (for some reason this article refers to it as a boy) just will not be mature enough to host such an event! :confusedw:
It seems that the new course [URL="http://www.pgatour.com/story/9768287"] Surely this baby (for some reason this article refers to it as a boy) just will not be mature enough to host such an event! :confusedw:
When has maturity (and quality) ever mattered? Take Hoylake for example. :wink: And if you disregard all the tourist paraphernalia you could easily throw the Old Course at St Andews into the same undeserving category. In the upper echelons of golf, patronage counts for more than anything else....
golf_bhoy
06-11-2006, 11:28 AM
Yeah, imagine the outcry if they decided to take say, the Ryder Cup, and award it to a course that didn't exist at the time the announcement was made.
Oh wait ... they already did that with Celtic Manor!
10cc summed it up perfectly, for those whose musical memories go back a few years - "Money Talks".
BigJim
06-11-2006, 03:39 PM
10cc summed it up perfectly, for those whose musical memories go back a few years - "Money Talks".
Was that 10CC? Can you hum it a bit just to remind us?
Gogs Guy
06-11-2006, 03:44 PM
Money Talks was actually ac/dc but I think he means Art for Art Sake. Although they share the same principle (or is that principal? English was never my strong point :( )
golf_bhoy
06-11-2006, 04:18 PM
That's probably the one, Gogs, but "Money Talks" is the hook I always remember. Actually I'm not even sure it's the right song anymore but it doesn't change the facts - you can "buy" a big tournament's presence to publicise your facility.
Ask Herb Kohler about Whistling Straits - the PGA that was played there, should have been played elssewhere; he not only "bought" the tournament, he paid compo to the course that lost it.
Will it have the midges???
MisterS3
06-11-2006, 04:47 PM
"come on, come on, come on....listen to the money talk"
IIRC
MisterS3
06-11-2006, 04:49 PM
Will it have the midges???
Not with a few hundred of those anti-midgie machines they have around duck bay. :D
Although not having them would give a great advatage to the home grown's :D
PowerPenguin
06-11-2006, 05:03 PM
As a 16-year-old with the musical taste of someone in their 40's, I point you in the general direction of...
10CC - Art For Art's Sake (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ-eQPj5UI0)
Dave
Stu-Pid
06-11-2006, 05:23 PM
And if you disregard all the tourist paraphernalia you could easily throw the Old Course at St Andews into the same undeserving category.
Not sure that I'd agree with you there Frank, and nor would the countless golf pros who consider it to be their favourite course! The Old Course has something special about it, and personally I don't think that it's been over marketed at all, it's prestige is based on it's tradition and the fact that it's the course that everyone wants to play, not on the fact that it's constantly being advertised or has a mega bucks owner behind it.
When Jack Nicklaus decides he wants to play his final round of competitive golf there, you know there must be something special about it.
When Jack Nicklaus decides he wants to play his final round of competitive golf there, you know there must be something special about it.
Sorry, don't buy that. Jack's last round there made a nice story that's all!
Alex_Smith
06-11-2006, 05:48 PM
Sorry, don't buy that. Jack's last round there made a nice story that's all!
Yes, but he has said it's his favourite golf course and that's why he chose to play his last round there :)
Yes, but he has said it's his favourite golf course and that's why he chose to play his last round there :)
Ah sure he's just sucking up to the world's golf press and dogooders. At this point, without a trace of irony, I admite I've not played the Old Course. However, my best mate has, I've watched it countless times on TV and it seems as dull as dishwater :smile:
Stu-Pid
06-11-2006, 06:11 PM
Ah sure he's just sucking up to the world's golf press and dogooders. At this point, without a trace of irony, I admite I've not played the Old Course. However, my best mate has, I've watched it countless times on TV and it seems as dull as dishwater :smile:
Nope, I don't buy that, Nicklaus isn't the type. If he would have played his final round at Augusta it would have created a bigger media circus than he got at The Open and probably got more attention in the US.
And as dull as that course may look there's a certain something about it that just makes it special. Even John Daly loves the course to bits, and he's not exactly a fan of all things traditional! :D
Alex_Smith
06-11-2006, 06:32 PM
Even John Daly loves the course to bits, and he's not exactly a fan of all things traditional! :D
Yep, he mentioned it in his recent autobiography, also heard Tiger Woods say it's his favourite course too, surely that means something? :)
MisterS3
06-11-2006, 06:37 PM
Having been to the Old Course many many times..Not yet played it. It is a good links golf course.
And it probably the links aspect which puts puts people off who are used to parkland and scenic courses. Although i can't see how you can't appreciate the beauty of St Andrews the town and golf course.
But each to their own. :)
Gogs Guy
06-11-2006, 06:40 PM
Even John Daly loves the course to bits, and he's not exactly a fan of all things traditional! :D
i bet that has nothing to do with his win in '95? :laugh:
Jack's favourite course is Pebble Beach - well documented.
The old course is fantastic, but you need to play / walk it more than once or twice to appreciate it.
It was Bobby Jones that said " if I only had one last round of golf before I meet my maker, then I would like it to be round the old course at St Andrews...." or words to that effect...
BigJim
06-11-2006, 09:06 PM
Don't know how anybody can enjoy the first hole at the old course, there's always a couple of hundred tourists snapping away at the golfers teeing off, and as a result, tee shots going everywhere. The first and eighteenth fairways are cut together, so there's probably 100 yards of fairway to aim for. Still not enough for some people.
MisterS3
06-11-2006, 11:24 PM
Don't know how anybody can enjoy the first hole at the old course, there's always a couple of hundred tourists snapping away at the golfers teeing off, and as a result, tee shots going everywhere. The first and eighteenth fairways are cut together, so there's probably 100 yards of fairway to aim for. Still not enough for some people.
Jim you are spot on, i've witnessed a few people duff their tee shot on the first. But i've been more than 20 times. And I guess if you've built it up to something special it can get to anyone. I tell you whats just as bad, is the people walking across the fairway with no consideration to the fact they are on a golf course!!! :)
I reckon i can call myself a golfer when i can knock a good one off the first tee on the old course with all the distractions and pressures. Until then, i look forward to my next invite to Elie, where i've yet to hit a good first drive either! :D
BigJim
07-11-2006, 07:31 AM
I tell you whats just as bad, is the people walking across the fairway with no consideration to the fact they are on a golf course!!! :)
They're on a local road really, but they do take liberties.
And all of this, with the starter usually shouting at people on the first tee about having to go. Most of them would be better just hitting an iron short of the wynd anyway. Put the next in the burn, drop out and chip in for par. Easy:p
Stu-Pid
07-11-2006, 09:22 AM
I can honestly say that the first tee shot at the Old Course was my favourite ever golf shot. The amazing buzz that you get as you tee up, step back and look down the fairway while thinking about all of the legendary golfers that have done exactly the same is really special. The fact that I then stepped up and hit a beauty 275 yards straight down the middle also helped!
Followed it with a PW to 15 feet and 4 putts... :eek:
The 1st time I played there it was a breeze across you off the sea. Now, I like to think I'm a decent player, & I wasn't nervous, excited yes, not nervous.
I pulled out my 2 iron, aimed towards the right hand side of the fairway, made what I thought was a nice swing, and nearly hit it in the swilken burn in front of the 18th tee! 100 yards isn't enough on that tee shot! (for the record, I shot 77 and was delighted, so delighted that immediately after the round myself and my partner, who played better than expected) went to The Dunvegan and got pished.
derekrolle
08-12-2006, 09:10 PM
Jack's favourite course is Pebble Beach - well documented.
The old course is fantastic, but you need to play / walk it more than once or twice to appreciate it.
It was Bobby Jones that said " if I only had one last round of golf before I meet my maker, then I would like it to be round the old course at St Andrews...." or words to that effect...
I think Jack's favorite course was Muirfield, but I could be wrong.