any golf fan not looking forward to tomorrows shootout ?

A wonderful final day - will all the haters please ask BF to ban them from the forum to save them from any future embarrassing posts.

What a finish old course is unique was in a sweat until the end if spieth had won would have been on egg and chips until christmas

Zach Johnson was my smallest green of the 3 left in play off,but well done to him he played a great final round and is a worthy champion.

1st, 10th and 18th is all too easy, I think 18th is a good short par 4 but first and 10th just bad holes.

play them well they are birdie holes incase of many didn't manage that.

the best open ever imo. cheers.

how could anyone moan about st.andrews? then compere it to the dreadful place the yanks decided to stage their open, sh1t and sugar surely

Some like the place others hate it, I am with the later, and as I have said before the main thing that St Andrews has going for it is it's history. but of course that is the very thing that stops it evolving, they are not going to change something that Old Tom Morris did to the course 150 years ago, they will put in the odd new championship tee, but that's about all, they won't even grow the ruff to stop the pro's from driving onto other fairways, heaven forbid put in a strategic bunker or two.

Basically their hands are tied, they can't do anything much too the course without losing parts of their history, that's ok but they should not expect to play the modern game on a course that was built for the game of the past, or at least not once every 5 years.

For me once every 10 years and that's really only because of the history.

So to the people who love this course, what is it that is good about it that I don't get? telling people that don't like it that they are talking through their pocket, that it always produces good winners, that Augusta and St Andrews produce similar winners and that it produced a good finish are all cop outs. To me it just does not test all aspects of a players game, except for about 3 holes. What is good about the course?

I like the course but I don't see why it gets the Open every 5 years.

What I don't get is if you don't love St Andrews, it means you have to hate it. It has some glaring weaknesses and I wished the R&A would address them, but overall it's a good venue and its history and uniqueness is a decent selling point. Nearly all the problems are with the front 9, but the back 9 is a good test and comparable with most of its rival venues. I don't love it, but I certainly don't hate it either, would be fourth or fifth on my list of Open courses and happy enough with the five-year visitations.

Trebor the last pga at whistling straights was one of the best majors.

St Andrews held up well considering it was so soft. All links courses are get able if the wind doesn't blow.

A big part of the problem is that I am not a fan of links golf, even tho I was brought up on a inland links style course, which is a course I still like but I prefer the courses with trees and water, always like it when the only hole you can see is the one you are playing.

As I typed that it reminded me of another point about being tested with the driver, I always considered myself a straight driver of the ball, at the links course I started on the ruff was brutal, venturing into it in the summer was a shot dropped at best on average. Work took me to a new area and a new course with trees! the 4th hole tho had trees all down the left side but none to worry about on the right except for one lone tree about 40 yards from the tee, big wide fairway but I could never hit it, as although I could make the ball finish in the middle of a fairway I played with a strong draw and that lone tree stopped me starting the ball off on the line I needed.

Back to my problem with links golf is that I just find it too bland, even after watching the golf this week and once every year from St Andrews there are still holes I know little about 2nd to 4th and 13th to 16th other than the 14th is a par 5 the rest are so similar to me.

Same with Hoylake, I know I have played 4 rounds of golf around that course and seen 2 Opens there in recent years, the only hole I remember is the 1st (3rd in Opens) and that is because it is a sharp dogleg around the practice ground, all the rest forgotten within days of the Open finishing.

I invited comments about what is good about St Andrews, none yet, I do have one or two but not gonna do the job for the opposition

The front nine at St Andrews is awful.  The 17th is a brilliant hole that's it.  The 18th is one of the worst finishing holes anywhere. You are not tested off the tee at all, and teeing off on the 72nd hole of a major championship should require you to hit a really good shot or be punished.  You could fcking use a putter on that tee off shot ffs.   Most of the penal bunkers are no longer in play either.

Just because somebody doesn't like the course doesn't mean the run in can't be exciting or they are talking through their pockets. In my opinion not that it means anything , it's awful , and I hate the fact that a major championship is held here.  Thankfully their is four other world class courses on the open rota but St Andrews would be bottom of any list for me

The finish at St Andrews 13 - 17 is a good test. 18 is a hole where you need to try and birdie. Plenty came down the last needing a 3 to win or tie yet only zach with a bomb and louis managed it.

The front nine is a birdie fest.

It is not the walkover people say last year at Hoylake the winning score was lower. Hoylake also hosted the Cheshire Strokeplay lots of players from scratch to plus 4 played think the cut was 3.6 for the 150 man field and over 4 days only 5 people broke 305 and 290 won.

If St Andrews had more penal rough, switched a few bunkers it would be a decent test especially if it was firmer with a 15 - 25 mph breeze.

dlarssonf • July 21, 2015 8:15 PM BST
  The 18th is one of the worst finishing holes anywhere. You are not tested off the tee at all, and teeing off on the 72nd hole of a major championship should require you to hit a really good shot or be punished. 

Its a par 3.5.  Some finishing holes are 4.5s  The point of the hole is making a 3 to win.  A routine par 4 where birdies a a rarity wouldn't give anything like the excitement.  If you can't have a very tough par 4 where pars or bogeys are the order of the day, a very easy one is the best alternative.

But with the 18th if you have a 2 shot lead you are very unlikely to lose, you would not feel so safe with a 2 shot lead if the 17th was the last hole.

next time other course will be o/b

St. Andrews gives you a dolly mixture of holes