2012 British Open Preview
1
PLAYBOOK 50 ESPN The Magazine 07/23/2012 illustrations by BRYAN CHRISTIE DESIGN GOLF DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY The walls of Lytham’s fairway bunkers rise at an angle of 55 degrees; greenside, 65 to 75. This one, which fronts the green on No. 8? Seventy degrees. Crampons, anyone? BOTTOMLESS PIT The deepest and most penal bunker at Lytham, this eighth-hole beast boasts 34 sod layers and is 104 inches deep. TROUBLED PAST Golfers have been 61% more likely to hit into a bunker at Lytham than at any other Open venue since 1996.* BEWARE: MINEFIELD Before the 2001 British Open at Lytham, David Duval made a pact with himself: Never go at the green from one of Lytham’s deep and treacherous fairway bunkers. It’s a sucker play. But when Duval’s ball found a fairway bunker during the second round and he saw he had a mere 110 yards to the green, he gambled. It’s a sand wedge, he thought. I can get this to the green no problem. The ball didn’t even make it halfway up the bunker’s face before rolling back to his feet. Despite the ensuing double bogey, Duval went on to win his first and only major two days later by avoiding Lytham’s only true hazards. “If you drive it into a couple of fairway bunkers on Thursday and Friday, your golf tournament’s over,” says Duval, who will attempt to defend his 2001 title this year. BUILT TO THRILL At the bottom of Lytham’s bunkers lies the same indigenous sand you’ll find a mile down the road at the town beach—sand that has carpeted Lytham’s traps since the club’s founding in the late 19th century. But don’t let the au naturel filling fool you. The faces of these bunkers have been revetted, one sod layer piled on top of another to exacting, brutal specifications. So brutal, in fact, that golfers adept at shotmaking from the bunkers—such as Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Jim Furyk—might not have the advantage here. “The guys who become good bunker players are in them a lot,” says ESPN golf commentator Scott Van Pelt, who covered the Open at Lytham in 2001. Instead, look for control golfers such as Justin Rose or U.S. Open runner-up Graeme McDowell come Sunday. No matter where you turn your gaze at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, you see them: bunkers—an endless array of bunkers. They line the fairways, strangle the landing areas and vio- late the personal space of the greens. Precisely 205 traps will dot the British Open track—more than at any other venue in the Open rota—when the first group tees off July 19. Lytham, which has hosted 10 Opens, sits a mile from the Irish Sea but boasts nary a water hazard. So the bunkers provide Lytham’s main line of defense and the key to winning. As head greenskeeper Paul Smith says, “Avoid the sand at all costs.” —Scott T. Miller BUNKER MENTALITY ROYAL PAINS In the 2000 British Open, Tiger Woods famously navigated St. Andrews without landing in one of the course’s 112 bunkers. Masterful ball striking? Sure— but child’s play compared with accomplishing the same feat at Lytham. As our analysis of the past 16 British Opens shows, golfers are three times more likely to find the sand at Lytham (3.51) than at St. Andrews (1.17). SANDS OF SORROW DATA DIVE FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION Lytham rebuilt 140 bunkers for the Open and added nine new ones. The faces of these three were all rebuilt—all the better to snag approach shots swatted down by the prevailing headwind. *ALL STATS COURTESY OF BIGGA 2003 1996 Royal Lytham & St. Annes 1997 Royal Troon 1998 Royal Birkdale 1999 Carnoustie 2000 St. Andrews 2001 Royal Lytham & St. Annes 2002 Muirfield Royal St. George’s 2004 Royal Troon 2005 St. Andrews 2006 Royal Liverpool-Hoylake 2007 Carnoustie 2008 Royal Birkdale 2009 Turnberry 2010 St. Andrews 2011 Royal St. George’s 2012 Royal Lytham & St. Annes 185 3.49 1.92 2.42 3.23 0.98 3.52 2.27 2.48 2.40 1.44 2.41 2.90 2.68 2.10 1.10 2.24 117 84 115 112 196 148 106 112 96 113 123 85 112 104 205 93 AVERAGE BUNKERS HIT PER ROUND NUMBER OF BUNKERS STOP, BALL, STOP Many of Lytham’s bunkers lie in swales, so shots appear to be sucked into them by some evil force. That force is gravity. This one, 24 yards from the green, was lowered for the Open to increase its magnetic pull. TWENTY, THE HARD WAY The 17th hole features 20 bunkers, the most of any hole on the course. The 467-yard par 4 was the third hardest at Lytham in the 2001 Open, playing to a stroke average of 4.36.
-
Upload
scott-miller -
Category
Documents
-
view
218 -
download
1
description
My 2012 British Open Preview for ESPN The Magazine.
Transcript of 2012 British Open Preview
PLAYBOOK
50 ESPN The Magazine 07/23/2012 i l lustrat ions by BRYAN CHRISTIE DESIGN
GOLF
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTYThe walls of Lytham’s fairway bunkers rise at an angle of 55 degrees; greenside, 65 to 75. This one, which fronts the green on No. 8? Seventy degrees. Crampons, anyone?
BOTTOMLESS PITThe deepest and most penal bunker at Lytham, this eighth-hole beast boasts 34 sod layers and is 104 inches deep.
TROUBLED PASTGolfers have been 61% more likely to hit into a bunker at Lytham than at any other Open venue since 1996.*
BEWARE: MINEFIELDBefore the 2001 British Open at Lytham, David Duval made a pact with himself: Never go at the green from one of Lytham’s deep and treacherous fairway bunkers. It’s a sucker play. But when Duval’s ball found a fairway bunker during the second round and he saw he had a mere 110 yards to the green, he gambled. It’s a sand wedge, he thought. I can get this to the green no problem. The ball didn’t even make it halfway up the bunker’s face before rolling back to his feet. Despite the ensuing double bogey, Duval went on to win his first and only major two days later by avoiding Lytham’s only true hazards. “If you drive it into a couple of fairway bunkers on Thursday and Friday, your golf tournament’s over,” says Duval, who will attempt to defend his 2001 title this year.
BUILT TO THRILLAt the bottom of Lytham’s bunkers lies the same indigenous sand you’ll find a mile down the road at the town beach—sand that has carpeted Lytham’s traps since the club’s founding in the late 19th century. But don’t let the au naturel filling fool you. The faces of these bunkers have been revetted, one sod layer piled on top of another to exacting, brutal specifications. So brutal, in fact, that golfers adept at shotmaking from the bunkers—such as Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Jim Furyk—might not have the advantage here. “The guys who become good bunker players are in them a lot,” says ESPN golf commentator Scott Van Pelt, who covered the Open at Lytham in 2001. Instead, look for control golfers such as Justin Rose or U.S. Open runner-up Graeme McDowell come Sunday.
No matter where you turn your gaze at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, you see them: bunkers—an endless array of bunkers. They line the fairways, strangle the landing areas and vio-late the personal space of the greens. Precisely 205 traps will dot the British Open track—more than at any other venue in the Open rota—when the first group tees off July 19. Lytham, which has hosted 10 Opens, sits a mile from the Irish Sea but boasts nary a water hazard. So the bunkers provide Lytham’s main line of defense and the key to winning. As head greenskeeper Paul Smith says, “Avoid the sand at all costs.”—Scott T. Miller
BUNKER MENTALITY
ROYAL PAINSIn the 2000 British Open, Tiger Woods famously navigated St. Andrews without landing in one of the course’s 112 bunkers. Masterful ball striking? Sure— but child’s play compared with accomplishing the same feat at Lytham. As our analysis of the past 16 British Opens shows, golfers are three times more likely to find the sand at Lytham (3.51) than at St. Andrews (1.17).
SANDS OF SORROWDATA DIVE
FACIAL RECONSTRUCTIONLytham rebuilt 140 bunkers for the Open and added nine new ones. The faces of these three were all rebuilt—all the better to snag approach shots swatted down by the prevailing headwind.
*ALL STATS COURTESY OF BIGGA
20031996
Royal Lytham
& St. Annes1997
Royal Troon 1998
Royal Birkdale 1999
Carnoustie 2000
St. Andrews 2001
Royal Lytham
& St. Annes2002
MuirfieldRoyal
St. George’s2004
Royal Troon 2005
St. Andrews 2006
Royal
Liverpool-Hoylake2007
Carnoustie 2008
Royal Birkdale 2009
Turnberry 2010
St. Andrews 2011
Royal
St. George’s2012
Royal Lytham
& St. Annes
185
3.49
1.922.42
3.23
0.98
3.52
2.27 2.48 2.40
1.44
2.412.90 2.68
2.10
1.10
2.24
117
84
115 112
196
148
106 11296
113123
85
112 104
205
93
AVERAGE BUNKERS HIT PER ROUNDNUMBER OF BUNKERS
STOP, BALL, STOPMany of Lytham’s bunkers lie in swales, so shots appear to be sucked into them by some evil force. That force is gravity. This one, 24 yards from the green, was lowered for the Open to increase its magnetic pull.
TWENTY, THE HARD WAYThe 17th hole features 20 bunkers, the most of any hole on the course. The 467-yard par 4 was the third hardest at Lytham in the 2001 Open, playing to a stroke average of 4.36.
