Ryder Cup Venue Must Be Appreciated Without A Scorecard

ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND | Your average American golfer, buoyed by the performance of the US team in the Ryder Cup, could well be seeing Whistling Straits as an eminently playable course. After all, Dustin Johnson, in winning five points out of five, led the scoring stats at 19-under par, with Collin Morikawa second on 18 under.

Run-of-the-mill golfers in Europe – i.e. those with handicaps around the 10 to 12 mark – seemed to be viewing the venue in a less positive light. Perhaps out of loyalty to the beaten European team in which Tyrrell Hatton finished bottom on those stats at level par and Rory McIlroy second bottom on 1 under, they could not see themselves making it round the Ryder Cup venue in less than 100. And that was on a good day from the regular tees.

Ken Brown, the former Ryder Cup man and now BBC commentator, suspected that the figure would be more like 110 if those same players were to try their luck from the back tees. As for Dave Cannon, the famous Getty photographer who has taken pictures of putting surfaces all ove...