GOLF AWAY TOURS
  • About
  • Destinations
    • Scotland >
      • St Andrews and Fife
      • Ayrshire
      • Highlands
      • East Lothian
    • Ireland >
      • South-West
      • Northern Ireland
      • North-West
      • Dublin
    • England >
      • Southport
      • Kent
      • London
      • South West
    • Wales
    • Continental Europe >
      • France
      • Spain
      • Italy
      • Portugal
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
    • South Africa
    • Canada >
      • British Columbia
      • Nova Scotia
      • Prince Edward Island
    • USA
    • Argentina
    • Mexico & Caribbean >
      • Mayakoba
      • Casa de Campo
      • Curaçao
      • St Kitts
      • La Paz
  • Get a Quote
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Blog

Golf Away Tours Blog

Hogan's Alley - One of Carnoustie's Toughest Tests

7/13/2018

1 Comment

 
​​​This week at the 2018 Open Championship, the best
​golfers in the world will have to make an important decision on the 6th tee at Carnoustie; play it safe up the right side, or aim for the narrow part of the fairway known as Hogan's Alley. 


​
​For over one hundred years, golfers have stared down the 6th at Carnoustie and fought nerves and uncertainty. Consider a 578 yard par 5 that plays predominantly into the wind, several bunkers protecting the middle of a fairway and out of bounds up the entire left side. Yikes! Formally known as "Long", number six at Carnoustie was renamed Hogan's Alley in 2003 to honour Hogan's victory at the Open in 1953. Arguably the greatest ball striker the game has ever seen, Hogan attacked the par 5 every round of the 1953 Open Championship with relentless aggression. He drove his ball to the tight stretch of fairway between the out of bounds left and the bunkers in the middle of the landing area, giving him the best possible angle into the green.
​Most players typically hit a safer tee shot up the right side that finds more fairway and lessens the out of bounds danger, but this almost always turns the hole into a three-shot par 5, as your second shot from the right side is a long, blind carry over fescue and green side bunkers. By trusting his swing and his expertise in course management, he was able to split the narrow fairway each day, and went on to his first victory at The Open Championship. Throughout his career, Hogan had previously won golf's other three majors and only needed the British to capture the career Grand Slam. With his victory, he became the only golfer in history to hold the Masters, the U.S. Open, and the British Open titles in the same calendar year. He unfortunately missed out on holding all four in the same year as the 1953 PGA Championship overlapped with The Open that year.  
​The last time the open was held at Carnoustie was in 2007 when Padraig Harrington won in a playoff against Sergio Garcia. When looking at course stats from Hogan's Alley in 2007, it was the hole that produced the highest number of scores more than double bogey. Luckily, Harrington played the 6th -2 par for the week. The scoring average for the hole was 4.8 and only gave up 4 eagles throughout the tournament. Carnoustie's only other par 5, the 514 yard hole known as "Spectacles", had a scoring average of 4.4 and gave up 16 eagles. 
Looking at Hogan's 1953 total score to par versus Harrington's 2007 score to par and you'll find something pretty amazing. Hogan won with a four day total of 282 (-6) and Harrington won with 277 (-7). Fifty four years apart and the winning scores differ by a single stroke to par. 
Check out this great video put together by The Open Championship and Rick Shiels and for a better idea as to what makes Hogan's Alley so difficult and why it has adopted the name of one of golf's greats Ben Hogan!
1 Comment
Len Lindenmeyer
4/24/2022 12:48:29 pm

Ben Hogan won the Open Championship by 4 shots in 1953. The margin of victory was the 4 birdies Hogan recorded on the 6th hole at Carnoustie. It turned out just the way Hogan planned it because Hogan always planned his round to shoot a particular score. What is also notable about the Open in 1953 is that each of Hogan's rounds were better than the one before it. It is rare that a player shoots each round with a lower score than the previous one. Hogan is one of a few to ever do that.

To me, Ben Hogan is the greatest to have ever played Professional Golf because he lost almost 4 years during his prime because of service in the Army Air Corp during World War II and the time he lost due to the accident. Six of his 9 majors were won after the accident, and he rarely played the PGA because it required 36 holes on some days, and Hogan could only manage to walk 18.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Caribbean
    England
    Ireland
    Other
    Portugal
    Scotland
    South Africa
    Spain
    Wales

    RSS Feed

Terms & Conditions

Privacy Policy

Travel Advice

FAQ

Insurance​

Contact US

Picture
Picture
Registration #4632808
Copyright © 2015
  • About
  • Destinations
    • Scotland >
      • St Andrews and Fife
      • Ayrshire
      • Highlands
      • East Lothian
    • Ireland >
      • South-West
      • Northern Ireland
      • North-West
      • Dublin
    • England >
      • Southport
      • Kent
      • London
      • South West
    • Wales
    • Continental Europe >
      • France
      • Spain
      • Italy
      • Portugal
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
    • South Africa
    • Canada >
      • British Columbia
      • Nova Scotia
      • Prince Edward Island
    • USA
    • Argentina
    • Mexico & Caribbean >
      • Mayakoba
      • Casa de Campo
      • Curaçao
      • St Kitts
      • La Paz
  • Get a Quote
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Blog