TOUR REPORT
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the 1957 U.S. Amateur, the club hatched a
plan to deliver a more challenging test
than it did for the 1913 U.S. Open. What
emerged was a composite course that in-
cluded a handful of holes from the Prim-
rose nine, a 1927 addition to the club.
The Old Course at St. Andrews, mean-
while, was golf's very first design. Nature
carved many of these breeze-fueled, sea-
side links holes as far back as the 1400s.
Today, man and nature have conspired
to craft the most unique championship
course of all, with 14 of the holes sharing
gigantic double greens, bunkers so infa-
mous they have their own names, and a
public thoroughfare ("Granny Clark's
Wynd") crossing the 18th from which you
cannot take relief.
Still, the most head-scratching test is the
par-4 Road Hole (the 17th), a scorecard-
wrecker of 495 yards that demands a drive
over the Old Course Hotel – watch out,
second-floor suites! – followed by a de-
monic approach. If played short, it runs
into a frighteningly deep bunker. Hit it
long and right and you'll find a pebbled
path, a paved road and a stone wall,
all of which are in play.
u u u
Lore Galore
For sheer American golf history, The
Country Club stands alone. It was one of
the five charter clubs that founded the
United States Golf Association in 1894.
Local amateur Francis Ouimet's shocking
playoff upset of top British professionals
Harry Vardon and Ted Ray to win the 1913
U.S. Open put golf on the map in the U.S.,
and eventually spawned the book and
movie, "The Greatest Game Ever Played."
The 1963 U.S. Open witnessed the high-
est winning score in modern history, when
three players finished 72 holes at nine-
over-par 293. Julius Boros beat Arnold
Palmer and Jacky Cupit in the playoff.
Rees Jones ignited the classic restoration
craze with his inspired reworking of The
Country Club ahead of the 1988 U.S. Open,
when Curtis Strange clipped Nick Faldo in
yet another playoff.
And unforgettable is Justin Leonard's
45-foot, 17th hole bomb that sealed the
1999 Ryder Cup for the United States.
As for the Old Course at St. Andrews,
where do you even begin? Perhaps with
Jack Nicklaus, who once stated, "If you're
going to be a player people will remember,
you have to win the Open at St. Andrews."
The Golden Bear is well remembered, as
he did it twice, most famously in 1970.
After Doug Sanders missed a three-foot
putt to win on the final hole of regulation,
the two played off the next day. Leading by
one on the 18th hole, Nicklaus dramati-
cally removed his sweater and blasted a
drive that actually ran through the green
on the par 4, almost out of bounds. He
chipped down close, drained his clinching
birdie putt and flung his putter skyward,
nearly bonking Sanders on the head.
The other golfer who garners votes as
the GOAT, Tiger Woods, calls the Old
Course at St. Andrews his favorite course
in the world. He, too, has captured two
Open Championships here, most memo-
rably in 2000, when he won by eight.
Others who have won at St. Andrews in-
clude Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Tony Lema,
Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, John Daly,
Louis Oosthuizen and Zach Johnson.
With so much more history to emerge
this June and July from The Country Club
and the Old Course at St. Andrews, it's
hardly hyperbole to say, "We can't wait!"
<< WATCH! An inside look at The Country Club, site of the 2022 U.S. Open.