Alfred Dunhill Links Championship – Carnoustie Championship Course

27 September 2024

The DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship takes place this month at three of some of the most iconic courses in Scotland: Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, and The Old Course.

In our series of Alfred Dunhill Links Championship blogs, we compare some top level benchmark statistics in our Dunhill Links Course Comparison blog as well as taking a closer look at the individual courses, and some of their iconic holes, starting with Carnoustie.

Here are the top level stats on the course from the ever-growing Shot Scope database, we take a closer look at these in our comparison blog, check it out here.

To summarise the above before we look at some specific holes, players find it slightly more difficult to find the fairway at Carnoustie, we would expect to see FIR% closer to 50%. Greens in Regulation are pretty average, but as we will learn, certain holes are a lot lower than this.

For whatever reason, players get up and down slightly more often than we typically see, generally around the 30% mark is more common. Lastly, putts per GIR is pretty much bang on average at the 2 per green mark.

Now onto some holes, starting with the monster that is Hogan’s Alley – 6th hole.

Hole 6 – Hogan’s Alley – Par 5 – White Tees 520yds – DP World Tour 579yds

The second easiest hole on the course for Shot Scope users, this long par 5 presents players with a great opportunity to score, or at worst, make an easy par, typically playing 0.27 strokes over par.

At last year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, the hole played 0.16 strokes under par, with 47 birdies and 1 eagle – Darius Van Driel takes the bragging rights for the only eagle at the 2023 tournament.

Given that the hole is a par 5, players find the green in regulation considerably more often compared to other hole types, providing they don’t have a disaster off the tee – avoiding the bunkers down the right is crucial.

At the Dunhill, players will be looking to make birdie here, as the back nine presents some very challenging holes, especially down the stretch, which brings us to our next hole, the 17th.

Hole 17 – Island – Par 4 – White Tees 433yds – DP World Tour 460yds

For the amateur golfer, Island is the 2nd hardest hole on the course playing almost an entire shot over par, largely because of one thing, missing the green!

Although it is a tricky tee shot with an Island fairway (water hazards split the hole into three sections) players find their way safely onto the short stuff roughly every 1 in 2 attempts.

Once you find dry land, the fun begins with an approach shot that can be anything from roughly 200-250yds, to try and hit the green in regulation – players succeed roughly every 1 in 5 attempts. With a Shot Scope laser rangefinder, golfers know the exact distance to the pin to within a yard!

Finding the fairway and keeping out of the water is made easier with a Shot Scope GPS watch like the V5 which comes with distances to the front, and carry, of every hazard!

You may be wondering how the putts per GIR is lower than the course average and sixth hole but this is down to the number of people hitting the green in the first place. Players who are finding the GIR here likely hit it longer than your average player based on how long the second shot is which results in a smaller sample size – they are likely top players.

At last year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, the 17th was ranked 10th hardest at the tournament and saw players typically play the hole 0.12 strokes over par, which set them up perfectly to go down the last.

Hole 18 – Home – Par 4 – White Tees 444yds – DP World Tour 499yds

Leaving the worst to last? In terms of scoring averages, it is anyway! A superb finishing hole with water hazards to navigate both off the tee and on the approach to the green.

The 18th hole is no stranger to drama with the 1999 Open Championship result changing completely when Van de Velde found the water short of the green with his third shot. 

Depending on how long you are off the tee, players could face another long shot into the green like that of the 17th meaning that for some, the hole may play more like a par 5.

The 18th playing more like a par 5 for many players would explain the low GIR%. A tee shot of 250yds would leave a second shot close to 200yds, which would need to be predominantly carry to cover the water hazard short.

The 2023 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship saw players struggle with the hole as well, ranked 3rd hardest of the 54 holes and playing 0.39 strokes over par for the tournament – only 14 players out of 168 made a birdie!

Although it is the Home stretch at Carnoustie, it is one of the hardest runs of hole on the course for both amateurs and pros alike – anyone near the cutline will need to avoid any major disasters here.

With Shot Scope you too can have data like this!

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Note: Average handicap index for the data used is 10. DP World Tour Stats taken from europeantour.com