Our Course Stories series on YouTube chronicles the unique holes, history, traditions, and tales from the great golf courses of Scotland, Ireland, and England.
These short, entertaining stories cover topics not usually found in the course guide.
For example, in Volume 1 of Course Stories – found at the link above – we shared the stories behind a blind par-3, a 1st hole that no longer exists, and a clubhouse built on the wrong piece of property.
Today, we bring you Volume 2 of the series from The Old Course at St. Andrews, Portstewart Golf Club, and Royal Troon.
The Old Course at St. Andrews – 1st Hole
The 1st and 18th fairway of The Old Course at St. Andrews is 129 yards wide.
Based on that stat alone, finding the fairway would seem to be a foregone conclusion.
But as anyone who has ever played The Old Course will attest, finding the first fairway is anything but guaranteed.
Between the looming R&A clubhouse, the small gallery that’s sure to be on hand, and the history of St. Andrews that you feel with every breath, the first swing is sure to be a nervous one.
But what appears to be a giant, unguarded expanse of fairway hasn’t always been this way.
Early maps of The Old Course show a fairway that was roughly 1/3rd narrower.
Making matters worse, the Halkett’s Bunker once stood in the middle of the fairway just beyond Granny Clark’s Wynd.
Thankfully, around 1840, the bunker was filled in and the fairway was eventually widened, making arguably the most daunting opening tee shot in golf just a little easier.
Portstewart Golf Club – Front 9
Portstewart Golf Club on the north coast of Ireland is the masterwork of Willie Park, Jr. and Des Giffin.
The former was an Open Champion and the son of an Open Champion, the latter was a local school teacher.
A pairing that requires further explanation…
Willie Park Jr. designed much of the original course at Portstewart and for nearly a century that followed, members looked toward the magnificent dunes in the adjacent property and dreamed of the possibilities.
When the club came to own the property known as Thistly Hollow in the late 1980s, the question was how to make the most of the extraordinary terrain.
Based on the outcome, you might assume Portstewart hired a revered and high flying architect of the era.
Instead, the club turned to the local grammar school, and a math teacher named Des Giffin.
A decision that must have raised a few eyebrows at the time but has proven to be a brilliant one.
Not only did the new front-9 make excellent use of the dramatic landscape, but it blended seamlessly with the existing holes that remained.
As you wander the towering dunes and valleys of the outward nine, you may find it hard to believe that it’s not the work of someone named Fazio, Dye, or Jones.
But there’s a case to be made that Des Giffin deserved every penny of their normal fee.
Because what he gave Portstewart is nothing short of the finest front-9 in all of Ireland.
Royal Troon Golf Club – Postage Stamp
The 8th hole at Royal Troon Golf Club – better known as The Postage Stamp – is on of the most famous par-3s in the game and the shortest hole in Championship golf.
The hole measures just 123 yards from the back tee, but that number tells just a small part of the story.
Two time open champion, Willie Park Jr., gave the hole its nickname when he wrote that the green was quote “skimmed down to the size of a Postage Stamp.”
The tiny green is protected by no less than five cavernous bunkers and the price of missing the putting surface is likely to be a heavy one.
Just ask Rory McIlroy – while practicing for the 2016 Open, Rory took 6 swings to get out of the Coffin Bunker left of the green.
In a game that’s come to be dominated by distance, the Postage Stamp reminds us that sometimes golf’s greatest challenges come in its smallest packages.
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