“Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue.”
This ‘good luck’ checklist for superstitious Victorian brides on their wedding days could equally have been composed with the locations of golf’s major championships in 2010 specifically in mind.
Paul Trow explains why

Rocky outcrops, surfers’ waves and the bluest of oceans add color and spice to the 8th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links (Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com)

Something old—They don’t come any more venerable than the Old Course at St. Andrews on the east coast of Scotland where the 150th anniversary of the [British] Open will be celebrated from 15-18 July.

Something borrowed—Bobby Jones made no secret of the homage he was paying to the Old Course when he laid out Augusta National where the Masters will be played for the 74th time from 8-11 April.

Something blue—What could be bluer than the majestic expanse of Pacific Ocean that flanks the Pebble Beach Golf Links on California’s Monterey Peninsula—home of the 110th U.S. Open from 17-20 June?

The stages on which this year’s four majors will be acted out could hardly have been more distinguished, or their settings more theatrical. They represent the perfect marriage of all the possible questions that any sport could ask of the varied skills of its most proficient practitioners.

Under normal circumstances, the first name at the top of every golfing prophet’s list of potential winners would have to be Tiger Woods. The world No.1 already has four Green Jackets in his wardrobe while in 2000 he lapped the field at both Pebble Beach (15 shots) and St. Andrews (eight shots). His performance was modest when Whistling Straits made its debut as a major venue back in 2004, but he usually proves to be a fast learner whenever he returns to a course he has played before.

However, ‘but’ is very much the operative word when assessing his prospects this year. Circumstances have been far from normal for Woods of late, and at the time of writing it is unclear when he will return to tournament play, let alone the majors, or, indeed, what frame of mind (or form) he will be in following the recent upheavals in his private life.

No purpose would be served by reflecting further on this matter here, save to say that an ever-expanding group of players now have good reason to fancy their chances this time round.

The short 12th at Augusta National is the cornerstone of Amen Corner, a lethal run of holes that has thwarted many Masters contenders

Augusta National, where honorary starters Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus will tee off the forthcoming majors’ season, has made a habit in recent times of springing surprises with its course changes. It was stretched to 7,435 yards in 2009 and a further extension seems likely this year with players continuing to bomb the ball massive distances, not only from the tee but throughout the bag.

One interesting recent development at the former nursery down in the heart of Georgia was the introduction of rough at certain strategic points around the course. Whether this would have met with the approval of Jones, or his design collaborator Alister MacKenzie, is a moot point. What is certain, though, is that the rough is here to stay as long as Billy Payne remains chairman of the tournament. With the players having to contend with new rules governing the grooves in their irons, and the greens likely to be as slick and firm as ever, there will be a renewed emphasis on straight driving down amongst the azaleas and dogwood at the business end of Magnolia Drive.

The rough, for once at a U.S. Open, will not be at the forefront of the players’ problems when Pebble Beach plays host to the national championship for a fifth time. Opened in 1919 to a design by Douglas Grant and Jack Neville, America’s most iconic links layout has always relied largely on the elements for its defense against low-scoring predators. Its proximity to the cliff edges and the ocean below is a daunting enough deterrent to the over-exuberant approach, and to some extent negates the need to prepare narrow, ribbon-like fairways.

In 2000, the weather, cool and sunny in roughly equal measure, was far from inclement apart from some fog on the first couple of days. Woods was the only player to finish below par (12 under) while his nearest rivals, Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez, headed the rest of the field—for whom the fog seemed never to have lifted—despite failing to better three over.

The first Open at Pebble Beach was as recent as 1972, when Jack Nicklaus followed up his win a few months earlier in the Bing Crosby Pro-Am with a three-shot victory over Bruce Crampton. Ten years later, Nicklaus was again center stage but this time he was playing the lead supporting role to Tom Watson, who famously turned the tide by chipping in audaciously from thick greenside rough at the short 17th to cement a two-shot triumph.

The 1992 U.S. Open was the scene of Tom Kite’s only major success. The victim of many a near miss throughout his career, it looked as though this perennial bridesmaid might be confounded yet again as Colin Montgomerie unfurled an astonishing 70 in high winds on the final day to set a level-par clubhouse target of 288 which at one point looked unassailable. Nicklaus again got in on the act, this time in a broadcasting capacity, when he asked the burly Scot on air what it felt like to win his first major even though several players were still out on the course.

Miraculously, or predictably depending on your view when it comes to tempting fate, the winds dropped to a mere zephyr as Kite made his way down the back nine. He was thus able to negotiate safely holes that had been nigh-on impossible an hour earlier. His total of 285 gave him a margin of two shots over Jeff Sluman and three over the hapless Montgomerie, who has since finished second five times in majors. The expression ‘close but no cigar’ really could have been coined for the man who will captain Europe’s Ryder Cup team in Wales this fall.

Pebble Beach has undergone quite a few changes in recent years, overseen by Mr. Palmer. “We’ve put a few new tees in but mainly we’ve tightened up a lot of the bunkering around the course—taking out traps that are no longer needed and putting others in at strategic points,” he said. “We’ve also tightened up holes like the 18th by putting in some more trees at driving distance up the right as well as more traps. Nearly all the changes are designed to present players with a tighter line off the back tees, pushing their line more towards the ocean and out of a comfort zone they may have had in the past.”

The Old Course at St. Andrews has played host to the Open Championship 27 times since 1873 (Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com)

If the sun shines and the breezes are gentle, St. Andrews can provide a genuine comfort zone for most players at the highest level. The only significant change to the Old Course, from the 7,279 yards it stretched to in 2005, when Woods strolled to a five-shot victory over Montgomerie, is on the ‘Road Hole’ par-4 17th, arguably the most revered plot of land in the whole of golf.

The tee has been pushed back 35 yards, which means the hole will measure the best part of 500 yards and the players in general will be forced to hit a lower trajectory into the often elusive green that angles away from front right to back left, parallel with the infamous road and tucked behind the cavernous bunker that has wrecked many a promising card.

Assuming the organizers, The R&A, grow in the rough on both sides of a relatively narrow fairway—as they did in 2005—the extended carry across the corner of the Old Course Hotel will add a premium of extra difficulty to the tee shot, especially if the prevailing crosswind does decide to kick up.

This will be the 28th playing of golf’s oldest championship over the Old Course and rarely during the previous 27 incarnations has the cream failed to rise to the top. This year will mark the centenary of James Braid’s second victory at St. Andrews while others to lift the Claret Jug there include J.H. Taylor (twice), Jones (in 1930, his annus mirabilis), Sam Snead (1946), Peter Thomson (1954), Tony Lema (1964), Jack Nicklaus (1970 and 1978), Seve Ballesteros (1984), Nick Faldo (1990), John Daly (1995) and Woods the last two times of asking.

One of the greatest Opens to be played at St. Andrews marked its centenary in 1960 when Mr. Palmer made his debut in the championship and missed out by one solitary shot to Kel Nagle. Mr. Palmer will be back at St. Andrews for a four-hole exhibition event to be contested the evening before this year’s opening round by the former champions. It is doubtful whether Nagle, who has recently suffered from ill health, will be well enough to make the journey from his native Australia to attend, but Ballesteros, who has been battling a brain tumor for the past 18 months, has pledged to take part.

The 7th hole at Whistling Straits exemplifies Pete Dye’s innovative and adventurous style of course design (Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com)

In a neat and intriguing coincidence, two of St. Andrews’ stand-out buildings—the Old Course Hotel and Hamilton Hall, the redbrick edifice next door to the R&A clubhouse—are now owned by Herb Kohler, who also happens to be the proprietor of Whistling Straits.

In the space of less than a month, Mr. Kohler will therefore be a central figure at two majors—first as mine host to many of the richest and most famous players at St. Andrews, and then as the master of all to be surveyed back home in Wisconsin.

In 2004, when the Straits Course first hosted the PGA Championship, a mere six years after its official opening, the Wanamaker Trophy was claimed by Fiji’s Vijay Singh following a three-way playoff with Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco. At the time, Singh was providing Woods with genuine competition at the top of the official world golf rankings and finished the year as Vardon Trophy winner on the PGA Tour. But he is now in his late forties and even though he topped the money list for a third time in 2008, a combination of injuries and Anno Domini caught up with him last year as he tumbled to 68th in the order of merit.

At 7,514 yards in 2004, Whistling Straits at the time was the longest course ever to have staged a major. Hazeltine National, at 7,624 yards for last year’s PGA Championship, now holds that distinction, but the chances are that Mr. Kohler’s pride and joy will soon be reclaiming its place in the record books.

When it comes to major championships, 2010 surely represents the heavyweight version of the title. These four courses are among the ultimate cathedrals, churches, shrines, altars—call them what you will—to the game of golf. Where better for the brides, perhaps once all bridesmaids, to fulfill their destiny? Where better for the best man to prove his worth?