Surviving Treacherous Royal Birkdale

By Chad Hollingsworth
Love of Sports Correspondent

All right, I’m going to confess: not only have I never been to Royal Birkdale, I’ve never even left the United States.

No spring breaks in Cancun, no 24-hour trips to Toronto with Ty Law and Terry Glenn … nothing.

However, due to the history at Birkdale and the readily available information on the Internet and television, I’ve pieced together a few holes the 156 golfers teeing off Thursday should watch out for.

First off, Royal Birkdale will play as a Par 70 course at 7,173 yards. This is a bit longer than the course yardage in 1998 (the last year the Open was at Birkdale), but players who remember the course then won’t notice any obvious distance changes. They will, though, find more bunkers in the fairways and around the greens, along with some new elevations on select tee boxes and fairway mounds.

Changes or no changes, let’s take a look at a few of the holes that’ll give the players headaches throughout the course of the weekend.

The Par 3s

4th Hole – This is the first Par 3 on the course, and it definitely seems to be the most intimidating. Winds are nearly constant off the ocean, and rain is almost a given at Birkdale no matter what time of year it is. It’s a bit over 200 yards, and the swirling wind could take any shot into one of the bunkers surrounding the green. Earning a par on this hole is definitely quite the feat.

14th Hole – This is another Par 3 to watch out for. Like the 4th, it’s a little over 200 yards and there are deep greenside bunkers waiting to swallow up any shots the wind can knock down. Any birdies on Birkdale’s Par 3s likely won’t be found on these two.

The Par 4s

6th Hole - The most challenging hole on the course in 1998 was the 500-yard 6th hole. Yes, that’s what I said. A 500-yard Par 4. If the fairway bunkers are avoided, a long second shot is made longer by an elevated green. The green’s quite large too, so anyone lucky enough to get on in two can have a nice long birdie putt. Basically, if a player walks off the green with a par, he should feel pretty fortunate.

1st Hole - Batting leadoff at Birkdale is the 450 yard 1st hole. I really like this hole, because it’s all about placing a drive perfectly. The hole’s a dogleg left and if a player is short, he basically has no available second shot. Long hitters will have to look out for the out of bounds on the right. However, birdies aren’t out of the question, so players can get some momentum with a good start.

18th Hole - Finally, this is very famous hole at Birkdale. At 472 yards, leaving your drive to the right can create a longer second shot. It’s a fair hole, though, and if a player in the final group needs a birdie on 18 to win or tie, it certainly isn’t out of the question.

The Par 5s

15th Hole - Both Par 5s fall on the back nine towards the end of the round. Combine them with the fair 18th hole, and scoring opportunities should increase, right? Well, not so fast. The 15th is long and narrow and has tons of bunkers lining the fairway. At 544 yards, it’s not much longer than the 6th hole, but the bunkers make it much more treacherous and the green slopes right to left.

17th Hole - Getting on in two shots is challenging enough, but making an eagle will be quite the feat. The 17th has a wider fairway than the 15th, and shots can run a bit off the tee. Going for the green in two shouldn’t be too challenging for most players, but there some deep greenside bunkers ready to turn an eagle chance into a score of six or seven.

Of course, anything can happen at Royal Birkdale. The unpredictable weather can lengthen or shorten nearly any hole on the course at any given time. Also, there’s a 60% chance of rain in the first and second rounds.

If that’s the case, viewers already know they should expect the unexpected. The man who can tame both the weather and the other numerous challenges the course has to offer definitely deserves the Claret Jug on Sunday.

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