The par 72 European Golf Design, managed by Troon International, received the gong at the 6th annual World Golf Awards Gala Ceremony held at The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort in Abu Dhabi earlier this week.

RELATED: FIRST LOOK – Dubai Hills Golf Club is an instant icon

Nestled within the luxurious residential and lifestyle development Dubai Hills Estate, Dubai Hills G.C. led a number of UAE courses recognised. Based on a voting system for golf tourism professionals and consumers, World Golf Awards celebrates excellence in golf, world-class courses and golf destinations.

“We are honoured to have received this prestigious award, a testament to the great efforts of the entire team here who are fully committed to providing a first-class service to all of our members and guests,” said Adam Duston, Golf Operations Manager at Dubai Hills G.C. by Jumeirah.

“Dubai is a fantastic golfing destination and our goal is to offer an exceptional golfing experience that will leave every golfer with a desire to return. I wish to thank all those who have contributed towards this recognition.”

Carnoustie Golf Links was named the world’s best course, Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore the world’s best club while Royal Greens Golf & Country Club was awarded the world’s best clubhouse. European Tour legend Colin Montgomerie was named the world’s best course designer and also received a lifetime achievement award.

The other regional winners were:

Middle East
Best Golf Destination 2019: Oman
Best Golf Course 2019: Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club:
Best 9 Hole Golf Course 2019: The Track, Meydan Golf (UAE)
Best Golf Hotel 2019: The St. Regis Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
Best Golf Tour Operator 2019: Arabian Greens Tours

Abu Dhabi
Best Golf Course 2019: Saadiyat Beach Golf Club
Best Golf Hotel 2019: Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa

Bahrain
Best Golf Course 2019: The Royal Golf Club – Montgomerie Course
Best Golf Hotel 2019: The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain Hotel & Spa

Dubai
Best Golf Course 2019: Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club
Best Golf Hotel 2019: Address Montgomerie

Oman
Best Golf Course 2019: Al Mouj Golf Course
Best Golf Hotel 2019: The Chedi

Saudi Arabia
Best Golf Course 2019: Royal Greens Golf & Country Club
Best Golf Hotel 2019: Nofa Resorts

United Arab Emirates
Best Golf Course 2019: Abu Dhabi Golf Club
Best Golf Hotel 2019: The St. Regis Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi
Best Inbound Golf Tour Operator 2019: SNTTA Emir Tours
Best Outbound Golf Tour Operator 2019: Connect World Golf

Launched in 2014, the World Golf Awards strive to drive up standards within the golf tourism industry by rewarding the organisations that are leaders in their field.

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By Joel Beall
A man was discovered in Carnoustie Golf Links’ Barry Burn on Sunday afternoon. According to police, the person is believed to be Dean Morrison, a police officer in Scotland’s Tayside Division.

“Dean was a highly respected officer, who was extremely well liked and popular with his colleagues. He was thoroughly professional in his work,” said Chief Superintendent Andrew Todd, Divisional Commander for Tayside Division. “His death is a great tragedy and he will be sadly missed by all who knew him and we will do all we can to support them during this distressing time.”

While there is no suggestion at the moment that foul play was involved, police are hoping to speak to a taxi driver. Morrison was last seen leaving Broughty Ferry, about 25 minutes away from Carnoustie, at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday night. Morrison was not discovered until Sunday afternoon.

It took a three-hour operation to uncover Morrison from the Burn, police told the Telegraph.

Carnoustie was site of the 2018 Open Championship, its eighth Open in course history. The Barry Burn famously meanders throughout the links, making the closing holes one of the hardest finishes in golf.

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By Dave Shedloski
He had the lead alone on the 10th hole at Carnoustie Golf Links, and he appeared the calmest and most composed of all the contenders for the Claret Jug.

Tiger Woods appeared to truly be back. Truly and fully. Until he wasn’t. But, oh man, didn’t he shake the earth for a few fleeting moments? The “doable” of which he spoke on Saturday night – overcoming a four-stroke deficit – was getting done. He was leading the 147th Open Championship, and the world seemed to be spinning backwards.

“It was great, just to be a part of it and hear the roars, [and] Tiger being back in the mix,” Rory McIlroy volunteered, assessing a surreal Sunday along the coast of the North Sea. “For a while, I thought Tiger was going to win. My mindset was going and spoil the party here. It was cool.”

And Tiger Woods looked cool, too – in that calm, collected way he has exhibited so many times in a major championship. The little moral victories of his comeback season appeared to be the seedlings of a real one, a big one, a 15th major title more than 10 years after his last, the 2008 U.S. Open. There was not a hint of nerve in his swing nor a flinch in his putting stroke.

“Oh, yeah,” Woods said when he was asked if he felt those old vibes coming back. “It did. It did. It didn’t feel any different. It didn’t feel any different to be next to the lead and knowing what I need to do. I’ve done it so many different ways. It didn’t feel any different. It felt great to be a part of the mix and build my way into the championship. Today was a day that I had a great opportunity.”

Instead, he took away another learning experience. Which is like winning a golf shirt for a door prize; useful, but hardly something for him to savour. Playing his final eight holes in 2 over par, Woods carded an even-par 71 on the windswept links and finished at 5-under 279, three strokes behind his playing partner, champion Francesco Molinari. His tie for sixth represents his best in a major since an identical finish in the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield.

Before the hiccups on the 11th and 12th holes, where wayward swings led to a double bogey and bogey, respectively, that extinguished his bid for a nearly unparalleled comeback in history, Woods seemed in command and on his way to a historic accomplishment.

No, he would not have eclipsed the remarkable tale of Ben Hogan, who won the Open Championship here at Carnoustie in 1953 in his only appearance as part of a miraculous comeback from a near-fatal auto accident. But after missing nearly two full years of competition, Woods had the chance for which he had so desperately been pining.

It was glorious while it lasted. It gave the crusty curmudgeon of a golf course a jolt and opened the eyes of both the swollen gallery and his fellow competitors.

Jordan Spieth, the defending champion and third-round co-leader, saw Woods’ name at the top of the board and said to his caddie Michael Greller, “this is what you dream about anyway.”

“Oh, it was a blast,” said Woods, who swung so ferociously out of a fairway bunker at the 10th that you swore you were seeing a highlight reel from a decade ago and not the 42-year-old man with the surgically repaired back. “I was saying earlier that I need to try and keep it in perspective because, the beginning of the year, if they’d have said you’re playing the Open Championship, I would have said I’d be very lucky to do that.”

He mentioned his friend, tennis star Serena Williams, who finished runner-up recently at Wimbledon in her first grand slam appearance after giving birth to a daughter in September.

“I’m sure she’ll probably call me and talk to me about it because you’ve got to put things in perspective,” Woods said. “She just had a baby and lost the Wimbledon finals. Just keep it in perspective and the same thing with me. I know that it’s going to sting for a little bit here, but given where I was to where I’m at now, blessed.”

Indeed, he has come a long way to have held his first lead in the final round of a major since the 2012 Masters. But his destination still seems off in the distance. Can he build his game ever closer to the player he once was, the impenetrable and impervious champion?

As well as he played and competed and grinded on Sunday, he still was outflanked by his playing partner, Molinari, who was simply impeccable in a final-round 69 that represented the only bogey-free round of the day.

He may have recognized those familiar feelings with a major on the line, but his mind and body didn’t follow his heart. He erred. And he knew it. “A little ticked off at myself for sure,” he admitted. “I had a chance starting that back nine to do something, and I didn’t do it.”

And there is a reason for that.

McIlroy, one of four men who finished runner-up, provided a brutal assessment when quizzed about having to deal with the rejuvenated Woods.

“I mean, not Tiger that Phil and Ernie and those guys had to deal with. It’s a different version,” McIlroy said. “But he’s right there. He’s right there. He’s getting himself in the mix. He looked good in D.C. a couple weeks back. He’s looked good here. [But] with the Tiger we have to face, he does things that maybe he didn’t do 10, 15 years ago. But it’s still great to have him back. It’s still great for golf. It will be interesting to see going forward, but this was his first taste of major championship drama, I guess, for quite a while. Even though he’s won 14, you have to learn how to get back. I’m relearning. I feel like I’ve won quite a few recently, but you still have to relearn to deal with it.”

Woods conceded as much. “I’m building on it. Just like this entire week, I felt like I needed to keep building my way into this championship,” he said. “And I will do that from here.”

There was a consolation prize of immense importance for him at the end. He shook the hand of the winner and then was greeted by his son and daughter, who had been far too young to remember their father thriving in that milieu, that cauldron of pressure that he so often before stared down, seeing through it, in fact, like he would through opponents. They embraced in a lasting hug, and Tiger Woods absorbed the warmth of accomplishment through their arms.

“I told them I tried,” Woods said with just the slightest betrayal of his iron facade, “and I said, ‘Hopefully you’re proud of your pops for trying as hard as I did.’ It’s pretty emotional because they gave me some pretty significant hugs there and squeezed. I know that they know how much this championship means to me and how much it feels good to be back playing again. To me, it’s just so special to have them aware because I’ve won a lot of golf tournaments in my career, but they don’t remember any of them.”

The thing is Woods remembers, and the task for him going forward is to reconcile that with the golfer he is now. On Sunday at Carnoustie, he learned he is not the dominant force of yesteryear. But he is still a viable contender. Somehow, he has to find a way to overcome using the tools still available to him.

This performance proved a lot. And still not enough.

The post The Open 2018: Tiger Woods teases, then falters, but still takes away positives appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Shedloski
Rory McIlroy showed off more than just a big head of hair in his 2007 debut in the Open Championship. Competing as an amateur here at Carnoustie Golf Links, McIlroy opened with the day’s only bogey-free round, a 3-under 68 that augured, well, heady days to come for the talented youngster from Northern Ireland.

That uncomplicated time was much on McIlroy’s mind Wednesday on the eve of the 147th Open Championship. The green, pudgy kid has grown into a lean and muscular man who already has fulfilled much of his promise, winning four major titles – including this championship in 2014 – and reaching No. 1 in the world ranking.

That he hasn’t added to his major total since winning the Open at Hoylake and the PGA Championship at Valhalla to end that year’s campaign is a conundrum for which he has no definitive answers, no matter how many times he fields the question. Just 29 years old, he has figured out a lot about life. But even with his enormous well of talent, there are no eluding golf’s vicissitudes.

Not that it is keeping him up nights. Well, maybe it is.

“Depends which day you ask me,” McIlroy responded when he was asked if he has realized a level of harmony in his life. “I try to see the bigger picture and I try to have some perspective in my life. It isn’t all about trying to win golf tournaments and chase titles. There are other things that give me fulfilment as well.”

He is married now, and he has a charitable foundation in his name that receives proceeds, among other sources, from a European Tour event, the Dubai Irish Open, at which he presides as host. He remains committed to his home tour while making his home in the U.S., where earlier this year he won his 14th career title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It is his only worldwide victory in the last two years, though he’s endured a handful of painful near misses while battling injury.

That kid who opened with a 68 went on to capture the silver medal as low amateur, finishing T-42 overall at 5-over 289 and starting to dream of bigger things.

McIlroy definitely remembers who he was then, even with so much that has happened to him in the intervening years.

“Yeah, lots of great memories. It’s great to be back. It doesn’t seem like 11 years ago that the Open was here last,” he mused. “Hopefully, I can create some more good memories this week. I obviously remember that week very fondly for different reasons. I hadn’t even turned pro yet and didn’t know what to expect or the journey that I was about to embark on.

“So to be back and be in a different position, it feels good, and to be talked about as one of the guys that could win, and to already have a Claret Jug is very nice. But, obviously, I want to add to my collection.”

One of McIlroy’s most vivid recollections from ‘07 was the emotional quandary he navigated during the four-hole playoff between countryman Padraig Harrington, the eventual winner, and Sergio Garcia. The teen-aged McIlroy could be seen behind the 18th green with Harrington’s young son, Paddy, not quite sure who he’d like to see win.

“It’s so funny thinking back on that day,” he said. “Mixed emotions. Sergio was one of my favourite players growing up, and he hadn’t won a major at that point. Obviously, Padraig is from back home. I honestly didn’t know who I wanted to win at that point. I think I was OK with either winning. It was tough the way Sergio lost. And I remember just after turning pro I went to Padraig’s house, and he had the Claret Jug sitting on the kitchen table with the [stuffed] ladybirds coming out of it.”

He added again for effect, “yeah, good memories.”

Conjuring memories are one thing. Throwing yourself back into the past is another. Tiger Woods is finding out how difficult that can be. McIlroy isn’t old enough to have forgotten the feeling. He’s a seasoned golfer but still a young man. And there still is a boyishness in him, a tangible innocence.

It’s something that he rarely puts on display, but it was palpable during his victory in March at Bay Hill Club when he fired an inspired final-round 64 to beat back Woods, Henrik Stenson and several other legitimate challengers.

Returning to Carnoustie, to his first Open, when freedom sprung from an elixir of confidence and obliviousness, could be good medicine for a player still formidable at No. 8 in the world but expecting more of himself. He’s seen the photos from his visit here 11 years ago, frozen moments. It’s time for a thaw.

“I’ve alluded to the fact that I think sometimes I need to get back to that attitude where I play carefree and just happy to be here,” he said. “It was my first Open Championship. I mean, I was just trying to soak everything in, and I was just so grateful to be here.

“I think sometimes with, you know, the pressure that’s maybe put on the top guys to perform at such a high level every week, that starts to weigh on you a little bit. But, yeah, like I look back at those pictures, and the more I can be like that kid, the better.”

The post The Open 2018: A pensive Rory McIlroy reflects on first Open, seeks to revive the carefree attitude he had then appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Mind you, it’s more Mother Nature’s doing than anything the folks at the Home of Golf concocted. Even so, locals have spent the past few days apologizing for the unusual dry spell over the previous month and the unique wrinkle it has created heading into the championship: a links course playing not simply firm and fast but crisp and arid.

Just how baked-out is Carnoustie? Even USGA officials would be trying to slow things down if it weren’t that this was a links course and you don’t slow these things down at a links course. You embrace them. So why then isn’t there a discussion of any potential “line” being crossed with the course set-up, a la Shinnecock Hills? While everything is parched from tee-to-green, the putting surfaces remain soft and receptive. Apparently, those things can be slowed down. (And probably should be.)

All this is a preamble to the fact that for the first time since 2006 at Hoylake, where Tiger Woods famously lifted the claret jug without lifting a driver, players preparing to compete in golf’s oldest championship are facing a different kind of challenge. For the last few days, under continued sunny skies, they have been left to determine how they will colour in the rest of the scene and play what’s traditionally considered the toughest test on the Open rota.

RELATED: Carnoustie Golf Links—A course tour

Because of this, the mood ahead of Thursday’s opening round has been a bit more frenetic than in recent years, or at recent majors. Practice rounds ahead of golf’s big four events have become drab affairs. Many of the top golfers scout the course days ahead and only walk a few holes during tournament week to double-check their initial calculations. This time around, there is real work being done, golfers and caddies cramming before play officially begin in what many believe is the most unpredictable Open in years.

Ross Kinnaird/R&A

So what are they actually doing? Tiger Woods alluded to his practice rounds amounting to “trying to get a feel for the speed of this golf course.” How far does your driver go (or can it go)? For that matter, what about your 5-iron?

Justin Thomas said one of his on the 18th hole rolled 305 yards, compared to his ordinary distance of 230. “If you get it downwind and you hit kind of that flat, little flat draw and it gets running,” Thomas said, “it will go pretty much until it runs into something.”

The default reaction is that players will ratchet back their aggression off the tee, lest they see their ball barrel through the fairways into parts unknown. But that presents its own problems. Even if you use an iron rather than a metal wood, as Thomas noted, the ball will roll forever, bringing into play all the mess outside the fairways that you’re trying to avoid.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

For long hitters such as Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy, the swing key might be to let it rip regardless. If you’re feeling good about the way you’re hitting the longest club in your bag, why not go for broke so long as you’re not bringing previously “unreachable” bunkers into play?

“If I can hit driver and take the bunkers out of play, absolutely going to do that,” Johnson said. “You know, this week, the bunkers, if you hit it in, it’s a penalty shot. … If I can carry all the bunkers and keep it out of them, I’m going to hit a driver.”

Weather will certainly dictate how golfers play when things begin in earnest. The forecasts, however, call for relatively mild conditions: Occasional rain but nothing in the order of Open monsoons, and wind in the 15 mile-per-hour range. Of course, the course could take a soaking and it still wouldn’t get soft. If anything, it will slow down the greens more.

Come to the tournament proper, then, spectators outside the ropes—and those at home on their couches back in the U.S.—are likely to see anything and everything. Which is pretty cool. Variety is something sometimes lacking in modern golf. That shouldn’t be the case this week.

Warren Little/R&A

“I think that’s the beauty of [the Open],” said Justin Rose, who fancies himself among the favourites this week. “It’s going to favour a patient [player] for sure because, you know, even if you play this golf course aggressively, you’re going to have ups and downs during the week. You’re going to have bad lies. You’re going to have shots that do end up in bunkers. You’re going to have breaks and bounces that go against you. So I think accepting that is probably the biggest, wide sweeping statement that the player who wins is going to have to be patient with all of that for sure.”

Rose admitted on Tuesday that he had still not yet finalized the game plan he’ll take with him to the first tee on Thursday. It isn’t unusual, he claimed, needing this much time to figure things out during a major week, but the importance of having a Plan A and Plan B in place was even more of a premium given the magnitude of the event.

The trick will be to stick to said game plans, something that’s easy to say on Wednesday but harder to put practice when you finally are putting up scores that count.

“I think where you really can get in trouble is just pressing out here,” Thomas said. “You know, I could see, for instance, like myself, I’m probably going to hit a lot of irons out here. If I get two, three over par early, front nine, whatever it may be, potentially trying to change my game plan and start hitting drivers, and then you start hitting them into bunkers, gorse bushes, whatever it may be. And you start making more bogeys and double bogeys, and next thing you know, you turn a one- or two over into five or six over.”

Indeed, the anxiousness of playing a major championship is the variable that, no matter the course conditions, will have its traditional impact on this week’s outcome.

So who do mega-firmer and mega-faster mega-favour? A bomber? A plodder? A man with three Open victories to his credit says perhaps neither, necessarily.

“I mean, feel has a lot to do with playing the Open,” Woods said, “and I think the guys traditionally over the years who have done well have been wonderful feel players and also wonderful lag putters because a lot of times it is difficult to get the ball close and have a numerous amount of putts from about 40, 50 feet.”

Despite so much uncertainty over what’s the best way to play the course in its present state, there is likely one thing you can still count on from Carnoustie: The final hole is going to impact the championship. History makes this abundantly clear. Whether Johnny Miller in 1975 (bogey on the last), Jean van de Velde in 1999 (triple on the last) or Padraig Harrington in 2007 (double on the last, but still a playoff winner), no lead is safe at Carnoustie. No matter what colour the course they’re playing.

The post The Open 2018: A baked-out Carnoustie makes an unpredictable tournament even more unpredictable appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Stephen Hennessey
To most, Carnoustie Golf Links is known as the toughest test in the Open Championship rota. You know the Barry Burn—that snaking ribbon of water that has bitten winners and losers alike, from Paddy Harrington in 2007 and Jean Van De Velde in 1999. Do you know much about the course beyond that?

Though Allan Robertson is credited with the first layout at Carnoustie around 1842, golf in this area dates back to the sixteenth century, so it’s not farfetched to consider golf has been played on the ground of Carnoustie for 500 or so years. That’s serious history. Like most Scottish courses, Old Tom Morris is part of Carnoustie’s history. The legendary groundskeeper and course designer extended the original 10-hole layout to 18 holes in 1867. Prominent tournaments were held here in subsequent years, though it wasn’t until five-time Open winner James Braid came to Carnoustie in 1926 to make some updates. Five years later, Carnoustie hosted its first Open Championship.

You might know Ben Hogan won the 1953 Open here, in what’s considered to be one of the best years in major championship history (he won three majors, and all five tournaments he entered). But the early major history is impressive—Tommy Armour in 1931, Henry Cotton in 1937, Hogan in 1953, Gary Player in 1968 and Tom Watson in 1975.

Carnoustie measures just 7,402 yards from the tips, but when the wind blows over this Angus links, it truly becomes one of golf’s toughest tests. Here’s a look at some of the most notable features of what is often referred to as Carnasty.

David Cannon/R&A

A view from the Carnoustie Golf Hotel looking down the par-4 first hole ‘Cup’.

David Cannon/R&A

The first hole plays to a blind green that requires a shot over a high mound.

David Cannon/R&A

The par-4 second hole, nicknamed ‘Gulley,’ has a narrow landing area, demanding accuracy with your tee shot.

David Cannon/R&A

A delicate pitch is required over the stream known as “Jockie’s Burn” at the third hole. This flow of water comes into play on four of the first six holes at Carnoustie.

David Cannon/R&A

A view of the approach to the green on the par-4, third hole ‘Jockie’s Burn’.

David Cannon/R&A

The approach to the green on the par-4 fourth hole ‘Hillocks’.

David Cannon/R&A

The approach to the green on the par-4 fifth hole ‘Brae’ hole.

David Cannon/R&A

A view from behind the green on the par-4, fifth hole.

David Cannon/R&A

A more zoomed-out view from behind the green on the fifth hole.

David Cannon/R&A

A view of the approach to the green on the par-5, sixth hole ‘Hogan’s Alley’.

David Cannon/R&A

There are a number of “Hogan’s Alleys” in golf, most notably Riviera Country Club, site of Hogan winning three L.A. Opens, and the 1948 U.S. Open. And there is Colonial Country Club, where Hogan won the Colonial tournament five times in his career. But the sixth hole at Carnoustie is quite literally called “Hogan’s Alley,” an ode to his 1953 Open title. His knee so ravaged from his near-fatal car accident, Hogan didn’t even play a practice round—instead of walking the course backwards from the 18th green to the first tee, to get a look at it.

David Cannon/R&A

The tee shot at the par-4, seventh hole ‘Plantation’.

David Cannon/R&A

Behind the green at the par-3, eighth hole ‘Short’.

David Cannon/R&A

A view from behind the tee on the par-4, ninth hole ‘Railway’. As the story goes, Jack Nicklaus pointed to a large mound in the middle of the fairway as being unfair. When the Open was back seven years later, a bunker had replaced that mound.

David Cannon/R&A

A view of the approach to the green on the par-4, 10th hole ‘South America’.

According to local knowledge, ‘South America’ comes from a local caddie who was intent on making it to that faraway land. Armed with a bottle of Scotch whisky, this caddie made it only as far as the 10th hole, thus the hole’s name.

David Cannon/R&A

The tee shot at the par-4, 12th hole ‘Southward Ho’.

David Cannon/R&A

A view from the left side of the fairway at the 12th hole.

David Cannon/R&A

The par-3 13th hole ‘Whins’.

David Cannon/R&A

A view of the approach to the green on the par-5 14th hole with its ‘Spectacles Bunkers’.

David Cannon/R&A

A view of the approach to the green on the par-4 15th hole ‘Lucky Slap.’

David Cannon/R&A

A view from behind the green on the par-4 15th hole ‘Lucky Slap.’

David Cannon/R&A

A view from behind the green on the par-3 16th hole ‘Barry Burn’.

Though James Braid is credited with the current layout, the club’s greens chairman in 1931, James Wright, created the design for the final three holes—and you’d be hard-pressed to find three tougher finishing holes in golf. That starts with the demanding par-3 16th hole. It can play as far back as 248 yards.

David Cannon/R&A

A view from the tee on the par-4 17th hole ‘Island’.

David Cannon/R&A

A view of the approach to the green on the par-4 17th hole ‘Island’.

David Cannon/R&A

A view of the approach to the green on the par-4 finishing hole.

From Van de Velde and Johnny Miller—who failed to get up and down from one of the bunkers at 18 to get into a playoff with Jack Nicklaus and Jack Newton in the 1975 Open, to Paddy Harrington, who held on with a double bogey to force extra holes, the 18th hole has decided many a fate at the Open, and likely will again on Sunday.

David Cannon/R&A

A view from the Carnoustie Golf Hotel, overlooking the ‘Home’ hole (right) and the par-4, first hole (left).

The post The Open 2018: Carnoustie Golf Links: Course Tour appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers

The Open Championship returns to Carnoustie Golf Links this year for its eighth hosting of the event. While all courses in the Open Championship rota present unique challenges, arguably none are tougher than Carnoustie, which has produced over par winning totals four of the seven times it’s hosted.

It will be the first time the Open Championship has been played at Carnoustie since 2007 when Padraig Harrington defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff. Prior to that, it hosted one of the most famous Opens in major championship history, when Jean van de Velde blew a three-stroke lead on the 72nd hole by making a disastrous triple bogey. There’s little doubt the iconic course will produce another epic championship again in 2018. Here are some frequently asked questions about the Open Championship.

When is the Open Championship played?
The Open Championship is the season’s third major, played in mid-July. This year, it will be held July 19-22.

Will the Open Championship always be the third major of the year?
No, beginning next season the Open Championship will become the final major of the season, as the PGA will be played in May going forward.

Who conducts the Open Championship?
The R&A conducts the Championship.

Is the British Open the same as the Open Championship?
Yes, it is. In the United States and other parts of the world, the tournament is referred to as the British Open to help distinguish the championship from Opens in other countries. However, the official name of the tournament is The Open Championship.

When and where was the first Open Championship? And who won?
The first Open Championship was played in 1860 at Prestwick in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It was a one-day, 36-hole competition. Willie Park, Sr., won by two strokes with a total score of 174.

What is the format of the Open Championship? How many players are in the field?
The Open Championship is a four-round, 72-hole stroke play competition, with a cut after 36 holes. There are 156 players in the field.

If players are tied after 72 holes, how is the winner determined?
The Open Championship employs a four-hole aggregate playoff if players are tied at the end of four rounds. If players are still tied after four holes they play sudden death until a winner is determined. It’s not the only major to use the aggregate format – the PGA Championship uses a three-hole aggregate playoff in the event of a tie, and the U.S. Open made the switch from an 18-hole playoff to a two-hole aggregate in 2018.

Where is the Open Championship being held in 2018?
The 147th Open Championship is being held at Carnoustie Golf Links in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. This will be the eighth time Carnoustie will host the event, the last coming in 2007 when Padraig Harrington defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff to win his first of two Open Championships, his second coming the following year at Royal Birkdale.

The most famous, or infamous, Open Championship at Carnoustie was in 1999, when France’s Jean van de Velde took a three-stroke lead to the 72nd hole, only to make a disastrous triple bogey that put him in a three-man playoff with Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard. Lawrie went on to win, completing an incredible 10-stroke comeback in the final round.

Who won the 2017 Open Championship?
Jordan Spieth won the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, with a 72-hole total of 12-under 268. Spieth’s remarkable final round began with a three-over 37 on the front nine, but he came roaring back on the final nine, starting with his epic bogey at the par-4 13th that sparked his birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie rally. He finished with a one-under 69, good enough for a three-shot victory over Matt Kuchar.

Who has won the most Open Championships?
Harry Vardon holds the record for most victories at the Open Championship with six.

How can you qualify for the Open Championship?
There are several ways players can qualify for the Open Championship, including through the Open Qualifying Series and Final Qualifying, which you can learn more about here.

Will Tiger Woods be playing in this year’s Open Championship?
Yes, Tiger Woods will be in the field for the 2018 Open Championship. It’s the first time he’ll play in the event since 2015 at St. Andrews, where he failed to make the cut.

How many Open Championships has Tiger Woods won?
Tiger Woods has won three Open Championships: 2000 at St. Andrews, 2005 at St. Andrews and 2006 at Royal Liverpool.

What other sites host the Open Championship?
The Open Championship is the only major that uses a rotation or “rota” of courses in the United Kingdom. There are currently nine courses in the rota, four in England, five in Scotland. They are as follows: Carnoustie, St. Andrews, Royal Troon, Turnberry, Muirfield, Royal Birkdale, Royal Liverpool, Royal St. George’s and Royal Lytham. Additionally, Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland is scheduled to host The Open in 2019, the first time it has been held there since 1951.

Which country has hosted the most Open Championships?
Scotland has hosted the most, with 62 Open Championships, not including this year’s at Carnoustie.

How many players make the 36-hole cut?
The top 70 players and ties make the cut at the Open Championship.

Who is the oldest winner of the Open Championship?
Old Tom Morris is the oldest, winning the Open Championship in 1867 at Prestwick at the age of 46.

The youngest?
Young Tom Morris is the youngest, winning the Open Championship the following year in 1868 at Prestwick at the age of 17. He also holds the record for most consecutive victories (4), winning the next three in a row after his first.

What is the lowest round shot in the Open Championship?
Ten players held the record of 63 up until last season at Royal Birkdale, when South Africa’s Branden Grace set a new record for all major championships, carding a third-round eight-under 62.

What is the lowest round in relation to par in Open Championship history?
Paul Broadhurst and Rory McIlroy hold the record for lowest rounds in relation to par, with Broadhurst carding a nine-under 63 in the third round of the 1990 Open Championship at St. Andrews. McIlroy’s nine-under 63 also came at St. Andrews in the first round of the 2010 Open Championship.

What is the 72-hole scoring record? In relation to par?
Henrik Stenson set both scoring records in 2016 at Royal Troon, with 264 strokes and 20 under par.

What is the largest margin of victory?
The largest margin of victory in an Open Championship came in 1862 at Prestwick, when Old Tom Morris won by 13 strokes while the event was still contested over 36 holes.

The largest margin since World War II is eight strokes by Tiger Woods over Thomas Bjorn and Ernie Els during the 2000 Open at St. Andrews.

What is the highest winning score in Open Championship history?
The highest winning total came in 1894 when England’s J.H. Taylor won with 326 strokes at Royal St. George’s.

Has there ever been a wire-to-wire winner of the Open Championship?
There have been seven wire-to-wire winners in Open Championship history. They are: Ted Ray (1912, Muirfield), Bobby Jones (1927, St. Andrews), Gene Sarazen (1932, Prince’s), Henry Cotton (1934, Royal St. George’s), Tom Weiskopf (1973, Royal Troon), Tiger Woods (2005, St. Andrews) and Rory McIlroy (2014, Royal Liverpool).

Has an amateur ever won the Open Championship?
An amateur has won the Open Championship six times in history. They are: John Ball (1890, Prestwick), Harold Hilton (1892, Muirfield and 1897, Royal Liverpool) and Bobby Jones (1926, Royal Lytham and St. Annes; 1927, St. Andrews; 1930, Royal Liverpool).

What is the Silver Medal at the Open Championship?
The Silver Medal is awarded to the leading amateur of the Open Championship, provided they complete all 72 holes. Last year, England’s Alfie Plant won the award by completing all four round and finishing in a tie for 62nd.

How many times has an American won the Open Championship?
Of the 145 Open Championships that have been contested, an American has won 45 of them, the most any country has produced.

Which country has produced the next most Open Champions?
Scotland has produced the next most with 41 winners, while England has produced 20.

What type of conditions is the Open Championship played in?
The Open Championship is played at classic links golf courses that feature deep bunkers, no trees, massive, undulating greens and high fescue. It’s typically played in high winds, colder temperatures and often, rain.

What does the winner of the Open Championship receive?
The winner receives the Claret Jug, widely recognized as the greatest trophy in golf. He also carries the label of “The Champion Golfer of the Year.”

What is the Open Championship’s purse?
The total purse is $10.25 million, with the winner receiving a payout of $1,845,000.

How many world ranking points does the Open Champion receive?
The winner of the Open Championship receives 100 world ranking points.

How many FedEx Cup points does the Open Champion receive?
The winner of the Open Championship receives 600 points.

What are the confirmed future sites in the Open rota?
Future sites have been confirmed through 2020. They are as follows:
-Royal Portrush Golf Club – Portrush, Northern Ireland (2019)
-Royal St. George’s Golf Club – Sandwich, England (2020)
-The Old Course at St. Andrews – St. Andrews, Scotland (2021)

Who broadcasts the U.S. Open?
NBC signed a 12-year deal to broadcast the Open Championship, and this year will be its third.

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