EarthGolf

The Open Championship might be a couple of months away, but it’s never too early to discuss course setups. John Philip, the head greenkeeper at Carnoustie, has said that the course won’t be the course it was in 1999. Philip believes, barring high winds, that the winning score will be around 10-under - a far cry from the 6-0ver that the three leaders finished in 1999. He also deflected criticism that he shouldered in 1999.

“Nature did it all,” he said at an Open news conference at Carnoustie yesterday, referring to the warm and wet summer of eight years ago. “It was the same all over the east of Scotland. If you went to Muirfield, you would have cracked up. Members at Gullane weren’t even going into the rough to look for their balls. They just played another.”

Even if the same rainy weather occurs - the forecast is for a dry summer and hence lighter growth - then Philp assures that the rough will be much more playable.

“There is drought damage from last year and the grasses that have been oversown in these areas are a fine links type that will never produce that kind of herbage,” he assured.

And he added this:

“People will come up with things like accusing us of putting fertiliser on the rough when they aren’t doing too well, but it’s just whingeing. We didn’t need to do that in 1999 because the weather did it for us, it was the same on courses all the way up the east coast that year.

“There’s no wrong to be righted this year. If the players go away feeling it was a fairer test this time, then fair enough, we want them to feel it’s not a monster or tricked up or anything like that.

“If players choose to look at it that way because they haven’t done so well, so be it, but we’d like them to think we set up a challenging golf course but something that’s feasible and they can score on.”

I’ll be the first to admit that I hated the 1999 Open Championship - I thought the course was way over the top and the three ring circus finish was all too appropriate for that week. I’m cautiously optimistic that this year will be much different.

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