The world's best — sans Tiger — are descending upon Sandwich, England, for the Open Championship at Royal St. Georges, a charming, quirky layout that features several blind shots and tricky crosswinds. It's where Ben Curtis pulled a shocking win in his first major appearance in 2003, and the layout is just unpredictable enough to produce another stunning result in 2011.
Photos courtesy of Eric Hepworth, hepworthgolfphotography.com
No. 1
Par 4
442 yards
Right out of the gate, players must stay out of “The Kitchen,” a valley cutting the fairway roughly 250 yards off the tee. The approach needs to fly three cross bunkers in front of a green that falls away on the right.
Do You Remember?
Tiger Woods’ bid to win the 2003 Open was essentially derailed by his first tee shot, a miss 30 yards right that was lost, leading to a triple bogey 7.