Open Championship Preview: The Sands of St. Andrews Have you ever been in the Lion’s Mouth, visited The Coffins or been to Hell? If not, then you have not yet played golf at the historic Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. The Old Course will be the site of this year’s 150th edition of the Open Championship, July 14-17. While many golf courses name their holes, St. Andrews also names their bunkers. With over 100 bunkers, the players in the Open Championship will need to show their best bunker skills. The unique names include, Shell, Strath, Road Hole, The Principal’s Nose, The Spectacles, The Coffins, Lion’s Mouth, and Hell. If you successfully navigate the deep traps at St. Andrews, which appear on 16 of the holes, you also must avoid the Swilcan Burn on the 1st hole and the Valley of Sin at the 18th hole. By Mike May On all golf courses, bunkers are a hazard, but at St. Andrews, the bunkers take center-stage because the course’s biggest defense are the bunkers and the wind. The bunkers at St. Andrews range in size from the miniscule pot bunkers to the massive Hell bunker on the 14th hole. While the Hell bunker is the biggest sand trap on the course, six-and-a-half feet deep covering more than 300 square yards it takes a back seat to more famous and feared, The Road Hole bunker. This severe test of golf protects the front of the 17th green and is responsible for ruining many golfers’ dreams of hoisting the Claret Jug. In 1933, Gene Sarazen was competing in the Open Championship at the Old Course at Michigan Golf Journal
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