Nick Dougherty
Golf Expert
The Open: Nick Dougherty on the firm and fast test at Carnoustie
Last Updated: 18/07/18 10:21am
With just one day to go before The Open, Nick Dougherty examines the challenge ahead and compares the hard and fast conditions at Carnoustie to Royal Liverpool 12 years ago.
Much of the talk in the build-up to The 147th Open has been focused on the condition of the Carnoustie course, and how the players will have to adjust their gameplan.
It's not quite as firm as it was at Hoylake, but you have to remember how hot it was at The Open in 2006. It's warm up here in Carnoustie and obviously it's dry and fast, but it can't be compared to Hoylake just yet.
If the rain stays away and the sun comes out, then it'll get quicker and firmer. But at the moment, it's very tight, there's not a lot of growth on the fairways, which are all brown now, but it shouldn't be a problem for most players to adapt.
The ground was so hard at Hoylake, the fairways were like runways. Using a traditional lob-wedge was a problem, especially when you were trying a delicate flick over a bunker. That sort of shot became treacherous.
We were forced to lean the handle far further forward to take the bounce out of the club, which made the ball come off too low. The only other option was to bounce the clubhead a little behind the ball and kind of "drop-kick" it.
There still appears to be a bit of give in the ground at Carnoustie, but that wasn't the case on some holes 12 years ago.
The traditional, low chip-and-run shouldn't be a problem this week, but now and again you will need to go to your lob-wedge and flick the ball over a hazard. That's probably going to be the toughest test for the field.
The other thing the players need to get to grips with is appreciating just how far the ball will roll on the fairways. You could fly it around 220, and it will roll out and eventually come to rest almost 300 yards away.
It can be very difficult to keep the ball under control, and you just have to be patient and take what the course gives you. The undulating fairways can kick the ball several yards off its original line, so you might think you've striped one down the middle and then find you're playing your next shot from sand.
That's the challenge, particularly at Carnoustie. There is no thick rough here as we've seen on previous occasions, and that was also the case at Hoylake in '06. The only defence the course had was its firmness, but that didn't prevent Tiger from winning on 18 under par.
I expect we'll see some good scoring again this week, but it won't be easy by any means. There will be bunkers that might be deemed to be out of play, but if you don't factor in the conditions, you can find yourself in trouble.
There will be plenty of occasions where players need to land the ball short of the green and let it run on, while there are some who are, no doubt, considering the aggressive approach and may attempt to overpower the course and hit more drivers.
Their aim will be to carry the trouble on the fairways and get as close to the green as possible. Even when hitting irons off the tees, it's just so difficult to keep the ball on the short grass with the amount of run. So some will be thinking about taking the bull by the horns and really going for it.
However, even if you go off line, there's not much punishing rough out there, so you might be better off clouting a driver and getting it down there as far as you can.
Having said that, the emphasis is still hitting fairways. It doesn't matter where you are in the wispy rough, you'll have little or no spin with your next shot, so distance control becomes that much more difficult.
You can't land it on the green from the rough, because it won't stop, but with the fairways being like roads, then it's tough to gauge where to land the ball at the optimum place to find the putting surface.
It's a risky strategy, but if you're very close to the green, we'll see if it pays off. Just because you might have a shorter club in your hands for your second shot, it doesn't mean you'll have control from the rough.
I think Lee Westwood summed it up really well. He said this week will be an "Open for hindsight". In other words, those who don't win this week will be reflecting on their tactics and wishing they had opted for something different.
There are many ways to tackle Carnoustie in these conditions, and we might see the safe and sensible approach lose out to someone more aggressive, and vice-versa.
It might be an easier course from the fairway, but right now it's really tough to predict which is the best option for winning the Claret Jug.