Ranking British Open courses

[jmck]

Here's my list:

 

1. St Andrews

2. St Georges

3. Muirfield

4. Birkdale

5. Carnoustie

6. Troon

7. Lytham

8. Turnberry

9. Liverpool

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99. Getting hit by a bus

100. Being overly pedantic about stuff on the internet that makes absolutely no difference whatsoever one way or the other in the end.

[Quasimoto]

Portrush is seriously second fiddle to Royal County Down.

 

 

I agree, but Portrush is still a very good course. Here is something that puzzles me. Northern Ireland is not part of Britain, but they will play the British Open there. It is part of the UK, so maybe we should start calling it the UK Open.

 

This is why it is named The Open Championship and not the British Open. Technically it could be played in Japan. It would still be The Open Championship.

[katbird]

Just an aside of personal serendipity....

 

I'm going to Scotland this September, planning to drive down morning fairways or late afternoon rounds between long drives through the countryside from the English border to the farthest forests and sea cliffs to the north.....so much to see, so little time.

 

By happy accident I made my southern Airbnb "basecamp" 30 minutes from Royal Troon, and plan to play the 3 Troon munis adjacent to the Royal (along with Dundonald a bit north and Girvan a bit south).

In the north I'll be in Golspie, the area of the birthplace of Donald Ross, to play Tain and Brora in the same area as Castle Stuart site of this week's Scottish Open.

 

I'm just a muni golfer and look forward to playing such courses where one even allows players to wear bluejeans! (Also plan to play Durness in the farthest north of Scotland.)

[elwhippy]

Portrush is seriously second fiddle to Royal County Down.

 

 

I agree, but Portrush is still a very good course. Here is something that puzzles me. Northern Ireland is not part of Britain, but they will play the British Open there. It is part of the UK, so maybe we should start calling it the UK Open.

Northern Ireland is part of Britain. As is Wales, Scotland, The Falkland Islands, Gibraltar.......No doubt some Bostonian of Irish descent told you Northern Ireland is not part of the UK.

 

Read my post carefully. I did not say Northern Ireland is not part of the UK. I said it's not part of Britain. And that's true.

 

Britain does not include Gibraltar or the Falkland Islands. Here is a good description.

 

Great Britain is made up of:

• England - The capital is London.
  
• Scotland - The capital is Edinburgh .
  
• Wales - The capital is Cardiff.
  

Is Great Britain the same as the UK?

No, Great Britain and the United Kingdom refer to different areas.

Great Britain is very often, but incorrectly, used as a synonym for the sovereign state properly known as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' (UK).

The UK includes Great Britain AND Northern Ireland)

 

Is Great Britain the same as Britain?

 

Great Britain and Britain do not mean the same thing.

 

Great Britain is made up of Scotland, England and Wales, where as Britain is just England and Wales. The name Britain goes back to Roman times when they called England and Wales "Britannia" (or "Britannia Major", to distinguished from "Britannia Minor", ie Brittany in France). The Roman province of Britannia only covered the areas of modern England and Wales. The area of modern Scotland was never finally conquered.

However, it is important to note here that Britain has not existed in the true sense since the Roman times. Wales became a separate country in its own right, and then became a principality of England, which it still is today. The Union in 1707 joined Scotland and England and Wales to create Great Britain.

 

http://resources.woo...ain/britain.htm

 

So Alaska and Hawaii aren't part of the USA then. America has some strangely romantic view of Ireland which is a separate country, a bit like Canada and Mexico. If you come from Belfast, Bristol, Aberdeen or Leeds you will get a BRITISH passport.

[duffer987]

 

So Alaska and Hawaii aren't part of the USA then. America has some strangely romantic view of Ireland which is a separate country, a bit like Canada and Mexico. If you come from Belfast, Bristol, Aberdeen or Leeds you will get a BRITISH passport.

 

No no, don't go dragging Canada into this or we'll need to explain the Commonwealth!

 

Probably best we don't mention where the 2012 and 2015 Irish Opens were held either.

[bscinstnct]

Master's champ has a favorite

 

"bum", that is>

 

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/07/pro-golfers-wife-hilariously-shames-husband-after-hes-caught-checking-her-out

 

[starsail85]

Just an aside of personal serendipity....

 

I'm going to Scotland this September, planning to drive down morning fairways or late afternoon rounds between long drives through the countryside from the English border to the farthest forests and sea cliffs to the north.....so much to see, so little time.

 

By happy accident I made my southern Airbnb "basecamp" 30 minutes from Royal Troon, and plan to play the 3 Troon munis adjacent to the Royal (along with Dundonald a bit north and Girvan a bit south).

In the north I'll be in Golspie, the area of the birthplace of Donald Ross, to play Tain and Brora in the same area as Castle Stuart site of this week's Scottish Open.

 

I'm just a muni golfer and look forward to playing such courses where one even allows players to wear bluejeans! (Also plan to play Durness in the farthest north of Scotland.)

 

If you are in Golspie, play Golspie , real gem of a course mix of links , heathland , woodland and parkland holes. Really liked it

 

Brora is awesome

[katbird]

Plan on playing Brora, Tain and Golspie, Tain is just 25£ on Tues/Thurs (if the website is accurate)!

Brora is the course that allows jeans, though I bought FIRE RESISTANT cotton pants (rain resistant too) for golfing.

I'm staying 15min from Boat of Garten Golf Club so that's an 8:30AM "game" then lunch and 1 1/2 hour drive to Golspie for an afternoon round before heading to my BnB.

[playa]

Portrush is seriously second fiddle to Royal County Down.

 

 

I agree, but Portrush is still a very good course. Here is something that puzzles me. Northern Ireland is not part of Britain, but they will play the British Open there. It is part of the UK, so maybe we should start calling it the UK Open.

 

It is "The Open" not "The British Open". I think us Yanks are the only ones that say British Open

 

First, I'm not a "yank".

 

Second, I don't think you are correct. Yes that's the official name, but "British Open" is used all over the world.

 

Google "British Open" site:.uk and you will get 218,000 hits. So lots of sites in the UK say "British Open".

 

Google "British Open" site:.au and you will get 42,000 hits. So lots of sites in Australia say "British Open".

I agree that the media uses British Open to distinguish it from otver Opens, but from my experience real golfers know it is 'The Open' or 'The Open championship'. I am an Aussie and none of the serious golfers I know call it the British Open.

[Ole3wiggle]

Portrush is seriously second fiddle to Royal County Down.

 

 

I agree, but Portrush is still a very good course. Here is something that puzzles me. Northern Ireland is not part of Britain, but they will play the British Open there. It is part of the UK, so maybe we should start calling it the UK Open.

Northern Ireland is part of Britain. As is Wales, Scotland, The Falkland Islands, Gibraltar.......No doubt some Bostonian of Irish descent told you Northern Ireland is not part of the UK.

 

Read my post carefully. I did not say Northern Ireland is not part of the UK. I said it's not part of Britain. And that's true.

 

Britain does not include Gibraltar or the Falkland Islands. Here is a good description.

 

Great Britain is made up of:

• England - The capital is London.
  
• Scotland - The capital is Edinburgh .
  
• Wales - The capital is Cardiff.
  

Is Great Britain the same as the UK?

No, Great Britain and the United Kingdom refer to different areas.

Great Britain is very often, but incorrectly, used as a synonym for the sovereign state properly known as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' (UK).

The UK includes Great Britain AND Northern Ireland)

 

Is Great Britain the same as Britain?

 

Great Britain and Britain do not mean the same thing.

 

Great Britain is made up of Scotland, England and Wales, where as Britain is just England and Wales. The name Britain goes back to Roman times when they called England and Wales "Britannia" (or "Britannia Major", to distinguished from "Britannia Minor", ie Brittany in France). The Roman province of Britannia only covered the areas of modern England and Wales. The area of modern Scotland was never finally conquered.

However, it is important to note here that Britain has not existed in the true sense since the Roman times. Wales became a separate country in its own right, and then became a principality of England, which it still is today. The Union in 1707 joined Scotland and England and Wales to create Great Britain.

 

http://resources.woo...ain/britain.htm

 

So Alaska and Hawaii aren't part of the USA then. America has some strangely romantic view of Ireland which is a separate country, a bit like Canada and Mexico. If you come from Belfast, Bristol, Aberdeen or Leeds you will get a BRITISH passport.

 

 

If youre from belfast, or any where else in Northern Ireland you can get an Irish passport. You may also get a UK/British Passport. Hence why since the Brexit, a lot of Protestants in NIR are getting Irish passports (which they never usually would) so that they are able to travel in the EU freely. Also to note, since England decided to leave the EU there are talks of having a vote for a United Ireland...which would be exciting and way less confusing for everyone around the world. Cheers.

[Largechris1]

Had to chip in, I've played nearly all the Open Rota courses -

 

I really politely disagree with the low ranking of St Georges by quite a few -

 

Yes it's very stuffy.

It's not always in great condition.

Looks a bit of a moonscape but improved now the local power station cooling towers have come down.

But..... It's very playable, they keep the rough manageable, half the greens are enormous, very few pot bunkers up close to the greens, and the biggest dunes and most sloping lies you will get anywhere. It's quite flattering for us average golfers. And it's held I think 14 Opens so there is tons of history to lap up, Bradshaws bottle, the sands of Bjorn, Normans footle into the burn, Dustins shank, etc. Etc.

 

By contrast, Birkdale has tiny greens, all running off into deep pot bunkers, trouble or bunkers left and right off every tee, you have to be playing very great to get much out of it.