Thursday at the Dunhill Links Championship was a dream weather scenario at The Old Course.
It’s the type of day we dream of, but rarely find this time of year in that neck of the woods.
Not a hint of a breeze, sunny and the kind of day where everyone would be out walking on the beaches of West Sands, off to the right of the second hole on The Old Course at St. Andrews.
There were more birdies on The Old Course than there are pubs in Edinburgh (and that’s a bunch). It was a heck of a day to remember for Justin Walters, an undecorated South African who ranks 444th in the world. He fashioned a nine-under par 63 on The Old Course and that’s what can happen when there’s no wind.
It even looked like slovenly Bill Murray managed to stay out of trouble there. Murray, who has not aged well, looked every bit like a 79-year-old man who managed to escape from a nursing home after stealing the clothes of an 85-year-old man.
Meanwhile, just to the north, across the water, things were a bit different at Carnoustie. It was overcast with some light rain falling from time-to-time but still marvelous scoring conditions. These courses do not have the type of rough found during the summer for an Open Championship setup. And with 168 amateurs in the field, the European Tour has a lenient setup compared to what the R&A produces for the Open Championship.
Carnoustie, without much wind, was open for scoring as well.
Tony Finau made the trip to Scotland for this neat event. He shot 67 at Carnoustie and he’s gaining links experience. With less emphasis on putting, the Open Championship could be in Finau’s future.
Tommy Fleetwood knows how to handle Carnoustie and it showed. He shot 66 there on Thursday.
Rory McIlroy wasn’t as fortunate. He pumped a drive out-of-bounds at the par five sixth and he’d end up with 70 for his opening round. Playing with his dad, Gerry, McIlroy headed over to Kingsbarns on Friday. He was making an early run — five-under after five holes — and moving up the board. He finished with 66 and got himself in the hunt at eight-under through 36. Rory and Gerry were near the top in the team competition.
J-Ro Shoots 28 At Kingsbarns:
Justin Rose might be a factor come Sunday. His 67 at Carnoustie got him in the hunt. On Friday he made a fast and furious run up the leaderboard with a 28 on the front nine at Kingsbarns. Yes, 28 — eight under through nine holes. It was the lowest nine-hole score of his career. “I was very relaxed,” he quipped. Rose shot himself in the foot at the 11th with a double that halted his momentum but he got it going again with birdie at the par five 12th.
The inward nine was a struggle compared to the opening nine. Rose managed even par 36 but his 64 got him to 12-under and he’s right there going into the final 36.
Elsewhere around the three courses, Friday was more of the same — low scores everywhere and some by little-known players.
But fact is, we won’t know who the true leader of the tournament is until late Saturday, when everyone has played all three courses.
Shot of the day Thursday came from Lee Westwood at Carnoustie’s world-famous Redan Hole — the par three eighth. Westy made an ace there with a six-iron and finished three-under for his round.
Kingsbarns may have been the most challenging on Thursday. It has some breeze coming off the North Sea with the surf crashing on it’s 1.8 miles of coastline. Although it’s a relatively new course, it has spectacular vistas along the water.
One would hope, just for the fun of it, that some wind appears over the weekend to toughen things up a bit.
Truth be known, it looked just a little to easy for most of those professionals the first day and some amateurs were producing quality shots as well.
Brings to mind the old Scottish saying:
Nay win, nay rain, nay golf. There was a third of that on Friday — light rain
Well, they’ve got golf over those three courses, a lot of it and a lot of good scoring.
And looks like more to come.
