Carnoustie

Situated in the town of Carnoustie in Angus in the east of Scotland and ranked as one of the most difficult of all the Open Championship courses, it has records to show that golf was first played there as far back as 1527 - even before the game reached St Andrews.

In 1890, the 14th Earl of Dalhousie, who owned land at Carnoustie, sold the links course to the people of the town with the condition that it be kept available for their recreation in perpetuity.  The towns people remain the owners to this day, but the towns Golf club and its three courses is managed on their behalf by Angus Town Council.

The original course consisted of only ten holes which crossed and re crossed the Barry Burn, but when a coastal railway from Dundee to Arbroath was opened in 1838 it brought in a large influx of enthusiastic golfers from as far afield as Edinburgh, all of them wishing to soak up a little history by tackling the ancient and storied Carnoustie links.

This led to a complete restructuring of the course in 1867 by one of the best known of the early Open champions, Old Tom Morris.  Under his guidance the course was extended to eighteen holes which had meanwhile become standard throughout Scotland.

Carnoustie hosted it's first Open Championship in 1931, after modifications to the course by James Braid in 1926.  The first winner then was legendary Scotsman Tommy Armour of Edinburgh.  Later Open winners at Carnoustie were England's Henry Cotton in 1937, American Ben Hogan in 1953, South African Gary Player in 1968, a second American, Tom Watson in 1975, and a second Scotsman, Paul Lawrie in 1999, Lawrie, and Watson before him, having to go to play-offs before they could claim 'Ye Auld Claret Jug'.

'The Beast', nicknamed "Car-nasty" by the Americans in 1999, is considered by many to be the most difficult course on the Open rota and one of the toughest courses in the world.

Apart from the pain it inflicted on the field in general, the 1999 Open Championship is best remembered for the epic collapse of French golfer Jean Van de Velde, who needed only a double-bogey six on the 72nd hole to win it.  Inexplicably he shot a triple-bogey seven after attempting to play a shot out of the water, and after tying Lawrie and 1997 champion Justin Leonard with a 6-over 290, he saw Lawrie go on to win the playoff.

It was this year also that saw Craig Parry in contention well into the final round before coming unstuck on the back nine.