Old Course at St. Andrews Archives - Golf Digest Middle East https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/tag/old-course-at-st-andrews/ Golf Instruction, Equipment, Courses, Travel, News Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:48:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/gd-favicon.ico Old Course at St. Andrews Archives - Golf Digest Middle East https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/tag/old-course-at-st-andrews/ 32 32 Do you have to quit golf forever if you hit a shank this bad on the first hole at the Old Course? https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/do-you-have-to-quit-golf-forever-if-you-hit-a-shank-this-bad-on-the-first-hole-at-the-old-course/ https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/do-you-have-to-quit-golf-forever-if-you-hit-a-shank-this-bad-on-the-first-hole-at-the-old-course/#respond Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:48:28 +0000 https://golfdigestme.com/?p=33417 If you've ever had the chance to play an iconic, bucket-list course, you know that first-tee feeling. "Just put it in play," you tell yourself. "Nice easy swing," you plead.

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]]> By Christopher Powers
If you’ve ever had the chance to play an iconic, bucket-list course, you know that first-tee feeling. “Just put it in play,” you tell yourself. “Nice easy swing,” you plead. In reality, the nerves make a “nice easy swing” highly unlikely, and as you’re telling yourself to “put it in play” you’re simultaneously thinking about the out-of-bounds down the left side and the parking lot full of expensive cars in shank territory down the right side. The pit-in-your-stomach feeling makes just taking the club back difficult.

But at the Old Course, it’s literally impossible to NOT put it in play. The massive fairway is every hacker’s dream, one that invites shot shapes of all sizes. Duck hooks, banana slices, chunks, thin-to-wins, pop-ups and tops are all welcome.

But one shot that’s never welcome at any course on earth is the cold, hard shank. One poor soul found this out the hard way at St Andrews, and to make matters worse his buddy shared a video of the shank on social media. It was posted in response to tour pro Zac Blair’s question “what’s the most memorable golf shot you’ve ever seen (your own or someone else … in person or on TV)”. Replies began to flow in – “Tiger on 16 at Augusta!” “Phil from the pine straw!” “Christopher Powers’ sand wedge to five feet in sub-40 degree temps on the third hole at the 2019 Seitz Cup!” All the usual suspects.

Tom, also known as @culley999 , had a much better shot in mind from his brother’s friend. Have a watch:

Serious question: do you have to quit golf forever if you hit a shank this bad on the first tee at the Old Course? That thing almost went backwards. He could have putted it out there and been just as satisfied with the result. Incredibly, it was still in play!

Those two guys didn’t realize it at the time, but they were standing firmly in the danger zone. Good on this kid for being able to laugh it off, though we’d love to know how the rest of the round went. We sincerely hope he finished strong and didn’t actually quit golf forever.

 

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]]> https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/do-you-have-to-quit-golf-forever-if-you-hit-a-shank-this-bad-on-the-first-hole-at-the-old-course/feed/ 0 Former Ryder Cup player incurs embarrassing two-stroke penalty at St. Andrews — thanks to his caddy https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/former-ryder-cup-player-incurs-embarrassing-two-stroke-penalty-st-andrews-thanks-caddy/ https://mot-backup.golfdigestme.com/former-ryder-cup-player-incurs-embarrassing-two-stroke-penalty-st-andrews-thanks-caddy/#respond Sat, 07 Oct 2017 06:11:41 +0000 http://golfdigestme.com/?p=10559 Every golfer has teed up in front of the proper tee marker at some point -- and without fail, has taken a ribbing for it from friends. But usually those friends point out the mistake before the person hits his shot. One former Ryder Cup player wasn't as fortunate on Thursday.

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]]> By Alex Myers
Every golfer has teed up in front of the proper tee marker at some point — and without fail, has taken a ribbing for it from friends. But usually those friends point out the mistake before the person hits his shot. One former Ryder Cup player wasn’t as fortunate on Thursday.

David Howell was having a nice round at the Old Course at St. Andrews — especially since it was his first competitive round after sitting out two months with a back injury — during the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. But after hitting his tee shot on No. 18, he realized he’d broken one of golf’s simplest rules. Or rather, his caddy noticed. After his round, the two-time Ryder Cup player and five-time European Tour winner explained the rarely seen — and embarrassing — penalty he incurred:

https://twitter.com/PinMapping_golf/status/915976709819613185

Instead of making par on the famed, short par 4, Howell signed for a double bogey that dropped him back to even par. Not his finest moment, but he’ll still have plenty of fond memories of St. Andrews. Howell’s last win on the European Tour came at this event four years ago when he beat Peter Uihlein in a playoff. Here’s the section of golf’s rules that addresses this situation:

Anyway, good for Howell’s caddy for standing up to his new boss. And good for Howell for handling the silly mistake so well. You don’t see the term “plonker” enough these days.

 

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