With drawn swords we conquer Royal St Georges. Coffee is ingested in The Smoking Room. The previous master’s of The Open are all lined up on the wall. Well used Chesterfield armchairs. The course look wonderful, it is December after all. 10am and we are ready for battle. 10:08 and we have taken our first prize, birdie. An opening worthy of the final round in The Open. Destination set for Henry Cotton’s famous 65 back in 1934? Par at hole 2, third hole is a par 3 and waiting. The only par three on of the current Open courses that does not include a bunker. We make blind flop shots and record another par. 4th hole has one of the largest bunkers in England. Finishing with a green of a certain angle, in Links75 class – another par. Behind tee the nearby neighbour has built a terrace, we want to sit there! Hole 5 is a 416 yardslong par 4 in the middle of the dunes. Dustin Johnson drove the green here during The Open in 2011. We find that a second shot could be comfortable, same result, par. 6th hole – Maiden, par 3 – The only hole that originally was played in the opposite direction.
New bunker at 6th, Royal St Georges
For a moment we relax. Then the dragon caught us, we had to react, we did it by doing a par. Once again the weapons are sharpened and 7th hole (par 5) becomes reachable. Sandwedge for eagle, the dragon answers with a par. 8th is seriously beautiful Open monster – spit fire and our weapons falls to the ground – double bogey. Staggering we spray out the tee shots on the ninth hole, but recover for par. Last nine The dragon vs Links75. After the 10th we realise that the dragon is on it today. We immediately have to sacrifice a shot. 11th hole is a par 3 that we attack and the one-shotter goes to its knees. 12th is a short par 4 over the ridge. A carpet of bunkers – we defeat them and find our par. 13th is a par 4 with a blind tee shot, aim for The Lodge with a slight draw. We are forced to do venturous short pitches – par once again. From a distance we hear the dragons roar, we are 1 down with 5 holes left. 14th is a par 5, out all along the right hand side. Suez channel straight ahead. Here Dustin blew his Claret Jug – a sliced 2 iron out.
View over 14th hole, Royal St Georges
The dragon rises on its hind legs. Two sliced drives later and we are two down. 15th is a par 4 extended to 493 yards. At last we have to yield and see the dragon as the victor – dormy. Quietly we prepare for another one-shotter at the 16th. Avoiding Thomas Björn’s bunker and finding an easy par. Dragon vs Links75 3/2 17th and 18th just flew by. Masterly finish with jacket & tie and three course meal with our steward. Mr L 1/0. See you next Christmas.
English
Svenska