Senior Open Championship – Sunningdale Golf Club Review

The Boys Are Back in Town – Golfing greats line up for Senior Open Championship at Sunningdale

The 2009 Senior Open Championship takes place on the Old Course at Sunningdale from 23-26 July. With some of the world’s top players already confirmed, this event looks set to be one of the most popular on the Seniors circuit. Following on from Bruce Vaughan’s playoff victory at Royal Troon in 2008 we’re looking forward to a tournament which could see record crowds descend on one of Europe’s top golf courses.

The European Senior Tour has assembled the best field ever for the tournament including Major Champions Sir Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, Tom Watson, Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman, Mark O’Meara and Ian Woosnam along with former Ryder Cup captains Mark James and Sam Torrance. With more over-50 talent than a SAGA cruise this looks set to become a fiercely contested competition. The likes of Norman (1986), Faldo (1992), Langer (1985) and Woosnam (1988) are all previous victors at Sunningdale having had their names etched on the European Open trophy which was previously held at this stunning venue. Sir Nick is still the course record holder with an impressive round of 62 which he set back in 1986.

James and Torrance currently occupy the top two positions on the European Senior Tour Order of Merit having won the Son Gual Mallorca Senior Open and the DGM Barbados Masters respectively in 2009, while Englishman James finished as the top European in the recent US Senior PGA Championship. After a strong top ten performance at the BMW International Open in Germany, Bernhard Langer will also be feeling confident about his chances at Sunningdale.

Golf fans will also be able to see Faldo’s first appearance on the Senior Tour since he captained The European Ryder Cup Team at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, last September, while Watson is chasing his fourth Senior Open Championship title, to add to his five Open Championship victories. Meanwhile Lehman, the 2006 American Ryder Cup Captain, is making his debut in the Championship after turning 50 on March 7 and winning the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf with Bernhard Langer in April.

Brief review of Sunningdale Old Course –

Possibly one of the best designed heathland courses created the UK. Having had its foundations laid down by Willie Park Jnr, the course has changed little since its original blueprint in 1901. The heathland courses of Surrey and Berkshire are famed as some of the best golfing turf in the world of golf. With a combination of fast-running fairways and fantastic greens make them hard to beat whatever the weather. Having only played the course a few times in the Sunningdale Foursomes my knowledge is far from extensive but can safely say that the impression left is one that is hard to beat.

1st Hole – Par 5 – 492 yards
Fairly easy par 5 with trees and out-of-bounds down the right, two solid knocks down the middle should hopefully result in a regulation birdie (I am still yet to achieve one of these!)
2nd Hole – Par 4 – 489 yards
Quite a tricky driving hole with trees hugging the left hand side and the fairway running away to the right towards an unwelcome hedge! As the green falls away from you and a bunker short right, it’s important to get the correct club for your second shot.
3rd Hole – Par 4 – 318 yards
A short par 4 with plenty of bunkers and heather waiting to catch an offline tee-shot. Most players will layup with an iron to the left hand side of the fairway, the second shot is far from easy to a small green with lots of slopes ready to take your ball away from the hole.
4th Hole – Par 3 – 156 yards
An uphill tee-shot with a sharp fall away to the right. Club selection is key to this with any tee-shot long of the green facing a very difficult up and down.
5th Hole – Par 4 – 419 yards
One of the best driving holes in golf. The elevated tee allows a great view of the fairway (and heather!) below. Accuracy is key here as the hitting the green in two is impossible from anywhere but the perfect lie.
6th Hole – Par 4 – 433 yards
Driving from a tunnel of trees into an uphill slope, this is another superb driving hole. With a green set sideways from you and a bunker short right this is a very tough second shot, a par here is very welcome.
7th Hole – Par 4 – 406 yards
A blind tee-shot over a large hump which takes balls away to the right, the drive is one of the weaker ones on the course but the second shot into a green protected with gorse and bunkers is one of the hardest on the course. The second shot should favour the right hand side, hoping to take a bounce or two from the slope.
8th Hole – Par 3 – 193 yards
Fantastic par 3 set back in the trees which line the 9th fairway you hit across a large amount of heather and a big bunker short right, club selection is key here with the green sloping from left to right anything less than perfect will be struggling to find the green.
9th Hole – Par 4 – 273 yards
Another short par 4 with a very small two-tiered green. Most will try and drive the green, but with a bunkers left and right it’s important to keep it straight to maximize your chance of a birdie. Despite its length it is very easy to walk off with a bogey if you catch one of the bunkers.
10th Hole – Par 4 – 475 yards
Another superb elevated driving hole with bunkers lining the right hand side. Any drive slightly left can find the trees which seem to attract even a fairly straight drive. The second shot is uphill so well worth taking an extra club, the green is quite hard to read so a par here is more than good enough. After the putts are holed you are treated to one of the best half-way huts in the land, rumours are a certain Mr. Clarke is a big fan of the sausage sandwich here.
11th Hole – Par 4 – 322 yards
Apparently this is a drivable hole but given the trees about 60 yards short of the green make this very difficult. Most will play to the left of the fairway with an iron before floating in a wedge to a few feet and walking off with a birdie (…apparently).
12th Hole – Par 4 – 442 yards
A long drive with trees and bunkers greeting you to the right and left. The green is slightly elevated with shots falling away to the right. Stroke index 1 indicates its toughness, most will be hitting a fairly long iron in here but with a skip and a jump down the fairway can have you hitting something slightly shorter.
13th Hole – Par 3 – 185 yards
A downhill short hole which is generally effected by the elements. I’ve hit anything from a 3 iron to a wedge here so depending on the wind can affect how this plays.
14th Hole – Par 5 – 503 yards
A great birdie opportunity with two well hit strokes. Getting a drive away here is very important, I’ve visited the left hand side on many occasions which makes it very difficult to get up in two. With lots of bunkers dotted around the green, missing these is the key to beating old man par.
15th Hole – Par 3 – 239 yards
An intimating tee-shot with the wind often coming from the left. A par is more than satisfactory with a green sloping from back to front and bunkers left and right this is one of the toughest holes you’ll face on your Sunningdale adventure.
16th Hole – Par 4 – 434 yards
My foursomes partner hit one of the finest second shots I’ve seen on this hole, picture the scene, wind from the left hand side with the pin cut over on the left, as he drills a perfect 4-iron into 6 feet the crowd of 3 people went wild. I missed the putt but still it was a ruddy good shot. Top quality slightly uphill par 4 here, the fairway is flanked by heather and the green is set above you which can see your second shot affected greatly by the wind.
17th Hole – Par 4 – 425 yards
Fairy easy hole here but very easy to let your drive go left (the fairway takes you this way), this will result in being blocked out by the small copse of trees. The green is also well bunkered so maybe it’s not as easy as I first suggested!
18th Hole – Par 4 – 423 yards
Uphill finishing hole with fairway bunkering ready and waiting to engulf an errant tee-shot. The second shot is generally a fairly short iron but with the drama of the clubhouse and a stunning old oak tree behind the green it’s easy to mishit your approach into a less than welcoming bunker which will await you short and right.

Those wanting to attend the event can obtain tickets for the Seniors Open Championship are available here, with discounts available for season tickets and early bookings and those paying with a Mastercard. Sunningdale is very easy to get to (5 minute walk from Sunningdale Train Station – (up a hill), trains from London Waterloo and within easy reach of the M25 and M3) record crowds are expected for this great event who will no doubt be hoping to see one of the European juggernauts come out on top in late July.