To be honest i think 65% of the players have to put up with un natural amount of deviation and wind that is set up to be un able to score well, while the other 35% of players get favourable wind directions, and NO DEVIATION..
On the short holes i got strong headwinds, on narrow fairways i got strong sidewinds, and on easy putts for birdies ball would swerve:Green was FLAT here . On 12, i had easy 10 foot putt for birdie, i hit it with 7 foot power, see what happened, it shouldn't go 25 FEET!!!
My irons seemed not to gain extra yardages that they usually do from callaways, and when i'd aim for some winds, ball would go straight for rough getting no effect at all from the strong sidewind.
I aimed left edge of green here, knowing the camera angles of this hole are messed up, but ball went right: see what i mean. Although i had aimed off the green to the left, shot didn't seem to start from my actual aim point but from the pin.
The best was on 18, i had headwind, aimed slightly right of pin, ball went LEFT to left side of fringe, as if shot was pre-determined. All round i was using flop shot for 13 yard approaches, but i was always 2 yards past hole with my aim point, whatever the wind. On this hole i gave a touch more than usual, but ball only travelled 8 yards hit the slope and rolled back, change of tactic, i used 16 yard chip shot for 11 feet knowing it would go up hill easily, this only went 7 feet and rolled back down. My putt was 2 feet upslope, adding the up slope to distance it came up as 35, i gave it 35 foot of power but still it rolled up and rolled back down. I was now going mad LOL, so i just tried exactly the same flop shot as the one i started with in fustration, what do you know, 1 yard other side of hole.
Where i landed originaly on approach got me scratching my head why i had landed there in first place. With actual wind position i shouldn't have been near that spot, its like it was put in my game on purpose for a bit of a laugh lol and to see how i'd cope, exactly what happened to Biorn when he was leading the real open last time it was held at R.S.G
Triple bogey on 18 RUINED my round, and my sanity LOL.....Hole 1 i got a meter skip first shot to put me in 60% bush. Bogey first hole., after getting 3 bogeys due to strange "deviation" shots, i managed to get to -2 untill 18 .....I feel i was robbed of my -5 due to very strange shots, aiming into rough to compensate wind on drives then 30 mph wind not effecting shots and ball flying straight for 60% bush, 27 tailwind on par 3, i use 205 yard iron, it goes 210 yards and left into rough. 80 yard wedge with 27 mph sidewind, travells 67 yards with full power?
With the strong wind conditions why do we have to have "deviation" shots on top of everything else (can anyone explain how the 7 foot of power i gave putt shown above in replay can travel 25 feet?) I feel next round i owe this course a good score to compensate the slap in the face i got from it (& WGT) in a tournament i've been looking forward to for weeks, and scoring -8 in my practice round on front 9 before the open LOL). This was like the REAL open. good luck everyone, you'll need it!!!!