Open fever might not have taken grip just yet, but it won’t be long until we start picturing long sunny afternoons on the links. As a Formby Golf Club member, I’m already doing so, as is much of the golfing community in the north west of England, where the 151st Open gets underway at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake) on 20th July. And my anticipation for golf’s oldest Major Championship has only gone up a notch after playing the famed course this week. It’s going to be special – that’s for sure.
So, how did a 7-handicapper (more like 10, which is how many shots I got) get on around the same layout that the world’s best players will face this summer? More importantly, what can we expect from an Open course that will look a little different in places to how it did back in 2014, when Rory McIlroy got his hands on the Claret Jug?
The par-3 13th offers some of the best views on the course
(Image credit: Future)
What follows is not a tiresome blow-by-blow account of the round – no one likes those – but a summary of the highs and lows, a taster of the rollercoaster ride that an Open course can take you on. We are, after all, very fortunate to be able to walk the same fairways as the pros.
I’ve also been fortunate enough to play Hoylake on a few occasions, and the par-4 opener, with out of bounds all the way down the right, always petrifies me. Mercifully, for The Open, that tee shot right in front of the beautiful old clubhouse is being played as the 3rd, which gives everyone on the media day a couple of holes to iron out their slice.
Off we went to the 17th, then, for what will be the 1st hole in The Open. We will be playing The Open route, but not off the Championship tees, which is very important to point out given that many of these are in a different postcode to the yellow tees – pristine green rectangles almost hidden away from the amateurs amongst the long grass for health and safety reasons.
Rather predictably, I pull my opener onto the fairway that now belongs to the Championship’s 18th hole. Up on the green, however, I manage to two-putt for a bogey, a respectable start.
I’ve played a third of the tracks on Golf Monthly’s Top 100 Golf Courses UK & Ireland 2023/24 Rankings, but I’ll never stop feeling nervous when I tee it up at such venues, like I don’t belong (many will say I don’t). The nerves and adrenaline have a habit of making my already quick swing even faster – and shorter – which is the reason why I connect with the…
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