Tag: Richie Ramsay

Why Royal Liverpool’s flatter bunkers are giving players fits at British Open

The result has been an array of difficult lies for players.

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A flatter series of bunkers along with the multitude of the sandy deterrents has some players struggling to figure out where to play tee shots and approaches at Royal Liverpool with the 151st Open Championship underway.

Much had been made about how grounds crews had flattened the bunkers in advance of the tournament, a move that doesn’t allow wayward shots to settle comfortably in the middle.

The result has been an array of difficult lies for players, some in fairway bunkers and others while cozying up to the greens.

Shane Lowry, who finished his opening round with a 1-over 72, was one of those who said the prospects are daunting.

“You stand on every tee and almost every bunker is in play. You’re standing there and you’re kind of trying to figure out what to do because if you lay back, long way in, it’s quite tricky, and you’re just playing for pars,” Lowry said. “If you take it on and hit a bad shot and end up in a bunker, it’s a penalty shot basically.”

“Yeah, it does ask a lot of questions, this golf course, but it’s the most well-bunkered golf course that we play. They’re everywhere, and they’re very penal.”

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Lucas Herbert found this out the hard way as he came to the new 17th hole at 3 under par, but had a heck of a time with the par 3 as he found one of the greenside bunkers. He left the hole with a 6 and relinquished his short-lived lead.

Matthew Jordan, who finished in the thick of things with a 69 on Thursday, said the difficulty of the hazards was unfamiliar.

“I haven’t seen the bunkers like this at all. I don’t know who’s annoyed the green keeper, but yeah, to have them — they’re just so flat and they’re so penal. You just can’t hit it in any bunkers whatsoever.

“We know how penal fairway bunkers are, but even the greenside bunkers this week you can drop two shots just like that.”

Scottish star Richie Ramsay got into more detail on the bunkers, saying they will add a full stroke to each player’s total over the course of the tournament.

Connor Syme plays a shot from a bunker on the 15th hole during the first round of the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

“It’s heavily, heavily underrated how much of a difference that makes,” Ramsay said. “If the ball goes up, it’s obviously giving you loft straight off the back, but when the ball comes down it obviously will feed in more into the middle of the bunker.

“I got caught today on one sort of leg, knee up on the side. It’s just part of links golf. You’ve got to take it on the chin. But you’re very wary of hitting into a bunker knowing that you could be like a foot from the face with seven feet in front of you.

“So you’re going to see a lot of guys, like I say, maybe right up against the face trying to hit it as hard as possible. Matt had one today where he did well to get out, and it just popped out with a bit of forward spin and it got over the lip of the bunker, but he wasn’t far off playing that out sideways.

“I think over the course of a tournament, it’s worth at least an extra shot, make it harder. I would say definitely.”

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Local favorite Richie Ramsay is hoping to bounce back at the Genesis Scottish Open

At 40, Ramsay is more philosophical about golf’s fickle fortunes these days.

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A catch-up with Scottish golfer Richie Ramsay tends to lead to a fairly expansive blether. Ask him, for instance, what club he hit into the sixth and he will often respond with the kind of deep, chin-stroking analysis you would get if you had consulted Aristotle for a yardage.

Ahead of this week’s Genesis Scottish Open here at the Renaissance, Ramsay has had plenty to ponder. His ruinous double-bogey on the final hole of the Made in Himmerland event in Denmark on Sunday cost him a fifth DP World Tour title.

Disappointed? Of course, he was but, at 40, Ramsay is more philosophical about golf’s fickle fortunes these days. To say he is mellowing in his advancing years may be stretching it a bit – he still retains a burning intensity that can be as fiery as Prometheus with heartburn – but the native of Aberdeen, Scotland, is certainly more accepting of the cards dished out by those pesky golfing gods.

“Yes, it hurts to lose,” said Ramsay as he reflected on a damaging excursion into the water when leading. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve hated losing. But it’s part and parcel of the journey these days. It makes you stronger and it makes you more determined to get a win.

“I was quite fiery when I was younger. I can still be fiery. But I’ve channeled it and it’s made me better off the course, maybe more patient. Mentally with golf, it’s a roller coaster ride but that’s why we do it and that’s why we love it because you never know what’s around the corner.”

Most of us who play this mystifying, maddening and mesmerizing game will agree with that observation. Ramsay, of course, is no stranger to closing-hole issues. Last season, he dunked one in the water on the 18th at The Belfry and let the British Masters slip from his grasp.

A few weeks later, however, he found redemption at Hillside when he birdied three of his last five holes to win the Cazoo Classic. Easing his Danish disappointment by bringing home the bacon in Scotland would, in ropey football parlance, underline his bouncebackability.

“You shoot for the stars, and I’ll hit one of the stars again sooner or later,” added the former U.S. Amateur champion with confidence.

There are so many stars here in East Lothian, the tee sheet could feature in the Illustrated Guide to Constellations. Eight of the world’s top 10 have meandered through the Renaissance club’s fancy gates for a co-sanctioned event with the PGA Tour that is worth $9 million.

“It’s a tough field to get into these days because it’s so strong,” noted Ramsay of a line-up that is headlined by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 3 Rory McIlroy. “It’s nice to test yourself against the best players, to get a feel for where they are at and where you’re at. We all want to play against the best. You want to beat the best. Like I say, I’m not a good loser, so I’ll be trying to do that (win) this week.”

Like Ramsay, Robert MacIntyre was also left to reflect on what might have been last Sunday as his triple-bogey on Himmerland’s 13th when leading scuppered his title tilt.

“I shared a car with Richie going to the airport on Sunday night,” said the 26-year-old of a journey that must have been about as upbeat as a trundle in a hearse. “Richie was on the phone speaking to his family and friends. I sat in a huff in the front seat. I wasn’t speaking to anybody. I was sitting there in absolute silence thinking to myself, ‘What just went wrong? Why has it went wrong?’… But I’m here now and last week is last week.”

With that sore one out of his system, it is all systems go again for the Oban lefty. Over the past couple of eventful weeks, he has re-hired his old caddie and former coach but swiftly re-hired the coach he had fired. Still following?

“My head is in a good place,” added MacIntyre of this period of chopping and changing which now has clarity. Barring that 13th-hole calamity, the signs were good for MacIntyre in Denmark. “It was probably the best golf I’ve played in a long, long time,” he said. “I feel like you’ve got to take a couple of punches before you can hold a trophy.”

The Scottish Open would be a nice one to get their hands on.

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