Golf Asia – July 2019

7

8

PAR 5

YDS 592

PAR 4

YDS 434

The first

of the two

new holes,

designed by

Martin Ebert.

A carry of at

least 290 yards

is required

to clear the

chasm on the

left from the

tee.

A drive of

nearly 300

yards is

needed to

clear the

new Big

Nellie.

The safe

line is short

of the right

fairway

bunkers.

The fairway

reduces

in size the

closer you

get to the

green.

Anything

short or left

of the green

will roll back

down a hill.

CURRAN POINT

DUNLUCE

RORY

ON THE

NEW

7TH

7

A great two- or three-shotter.

The main feature is the

cavernous bunker on the right.

How aggressive you are with the

tee shot will determine whether

you can take on the green. The

approach plays uphill to a plateau,

with lots of humps and hollows

and a big run-off on the left.

8

A sweeping dog-leg left with

two bunkers on the right.

The prevailing wind will be

helping, so there’s an opportunity

to shorten the hole with a driver

and take the traps and corner on.

The green is protected by humps

on the right and another large

run-off on the left.

It’s a fantastic par 4 and huge

improvement to what was the 8th hole

before. You’ve got two options off the tee.

You can take the bunkers out of play short or long.

To get past the second bunker is about 320. You can

lay back with a 3-wood or long iron, or take driver

and hit it past them. It’s a narrow entrance but

a good drive will leave just a wedge in.

Visually, it’s quite an intimidating tee shot.

You’ve got Big Nellie on the right; another

bunker on the left. The bigger hitters will be

able to carry the first bunker on the right, but the

second bunker on the left is going to be in play. For a

long hole with a driver in the hand, it’s actually quite a

narrow landing area. The way the hole shapes up,

you probably want to aim it up the left side and cut it

up there. If you get a good tee shot away, you are

going to have a chance to go for this green in two.

Most of the green feeds into the middle, but you have

to get it on line. If you go off line at all, it repels the ball

away from the green. The drop off on the left side is

quite severe.There are a lot of good options for hole

locations, but it should be a chance for most

of the guys to make a birdie.

RORY

ON THE

NEW

8TH

GMAC’S PLAYING NOTES

E

HOW TO... MAKE A

SPLASH FROM THE SAND

Though Portrush has the fewest bunkers on

The Open rota, they still present a challenge.

The pot on the left of the 17th green is a

magnet for balls, but you can still escape

from there – or any greenside bunker – with

your score intact. First, you need to refrain

from hanging back on the right foot to add

loft. That’s a one-way ticket to thudding the

ball into the lip! The key with any short game

shot is to remain balanced, so concentrate

on staying low in the sand with the weight

planted on the lead leg throughout the shot.

To add loft, simply lower the hands to open

the face up and position the ball in line with

the left instep. This will expose the trailing

edge and stop the clubface from digging in

at impact.

As you take the club back,

focus on hitting an inch-and-a-

half/two inches behind the ball

and swing wide, rather than

up, to get the club accelerating

through the sand.

KEY

TA K E AWAYS

Get low and

shuffle the feet

into the sand to

create a stable

base.

Let the weight

favour the lead leg

(60/40).

Don’t decelerate

into impact. Trust

the loft and make

sure the follow

through matches

the length of the

backswing.