The 12th hole


otherwise known as the Championship 14th. It’s not that I play this difficult dogleg particularly well but, when I do, it’s a great feeling. It also helped conjure up a defining moment in the 2006 Open. From the outset Tiger Woods’ game


58


plan was to avoid the bunkers at all costs, so with the fairways running incredibly fast due to the heat wave that week his driver stayed firmly in his bag apart from on the 16th. At the 14th on all four days Tiger drilled one of his trademark low long irons from


Signed 2006 Open picture


The Open competitors signed prints of the links which now hang proudly in the clubhouse. The 06 picture has a special significance because it records all the names of players who battled for a trophy which hadn’t been seen at Hoylake for just shy of four decades. This Open was a triumph not only for Tiger Woods, but also for golf and the area. When it was over many wondered why Hoylake had been off The Open rota for so long, ever since a certain much liked Argentine was presented with the Claret Jug…


59 In 2006 and 2014 all


My favourite hole at Hoylake is probably the 12th,


the Championship tee set way back in the sand dunes, each time ensuring the ball ended up in the middle of the fairway well short of the punitive bunkers. The problem with this strategy was that it left him with a second shot to the green that was not only blind, but also had to go over the large dune that towers directly in front of it. To hit the ball from such distance, over the dune and get to get it to stop on the hard


Roberto in Patagonia


is pretty much a global game, but that didn’t stop me being surprised by this poster on the wall of a bar in Patagonia. Whilst on holiday with Liz


60


we stopped for refreshment in the small town of El Calafate only to be confronted by a fading memory of Royal Liverpool. To have travelled so far from Hoylake it was a lovely surprise to see this record of the 1967 Open. It may not be the most


accurate drawing of gentle giant Roberto De


Vicenzo, but the small poster was a reminder that nations take massive pride in their sporting heroes and have great affection for the places where they achieve their most notable victories.


42 We know that golf


green would be no mean feat, particularly when he could not even see the flagstick. On the first day he bogeyed the hole,


so maybe not such a good plan after all. It certainly didn’t put him off as on the next day he produced the shot of the tournament by holing his approach for an eagle. A birdie on the Saturday ensured Tiger had


tamed arguably Hoyalke’s most difficult Open hole, a sign of a true Champion.


ROYAL LIVERPOOL GOLF CLUB MAGAZINE 2 017


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