Carnoustie - Hole by Hole Guide

1st 450 yards, par 4: out of bounds down the right on this demanding dogleg left - second-hardest hole last time - where the flag can be hidden by a sandhill short right of the green. New bunkering tightens the entrance to the putting surface.

1998: rank 2, average 4.49

2nd, 421 yards, par 4: the drive has been toughened with the addition of 45 yards of new mounding down the left and a change to the bunkers on the right. Greens sits in a bowl with banking all around and bunkers guard the front.

1998: rank 7, average 4.28

3rd, 451 yards, par 4: a new tee 44 yards back in the dunes makes for a far more challenging tee shot. There is also new bunkering on the left at driving distance and right of the re-contoured green. No more the fairly easy birdie chance it once was.

1998: rank 17, average 4.05

4th, 201 yards, par 3: tightened bunkering into the green and new mounds on the right have turned this into a more testing short hole, especially in windy conditions. Might again prove the easiest of the four par threes, though.

1998: rank 15, average 3.14

5th, 346 yards, par 4: more out of bounds and bushes down the inside of this dogleg right. It could be driveable with the wind helping, but on the direct line there is water short of a green ringed by seven bunkers and with a distinct tier across it.

1998: rank 14, average 4.16

6th, 499 yards, par 4: one of the toughest par fours in championship golf made. A new back tee means it is more than 280 yards to carry the bunker on the right. The second shot climbs to a green set at a slight angle. There is new bunkering down the left for both the drive and approach and a ditch runs alongside the fairway that side.

1998: rank 1, average 4.62

7th, 178 yards, par 3: no change was deemed necessary for this superb par three, which has seven bunkers encircling it - one with a grass bank in the middle of it. From the exposed tee club selection can be tricky and the penalty for getting it wrong can be severe.

1998: rank 9, average 3.22

8th, 457 yards, par 4: the challenge of the drive here has been increased considerably with added fairway bunkering, left at 267 yards and right at 307 yards. There is the additional danger of a ditch down the right, while the green has been extended to provide for more pin positions.

1998: rank 13, average 4.18

9th, 414 yards, par 4: far more of a dogleg to the right than it used to be and extensive new mounding on the inside of the angle might make those tempted to cut the corner think again. The green is raised and a new bunker short left adds to the degree of difficulty.

1998: rank 10, average 4.21

10th, 408 yards, par 4: sharp dogleg left, although moving the tee to the right has cut the angle. Bunkering has been altered down the left, but the further right you go the longer the approach - and there are more traps that side.

1998: rank 8, average 4.24

11th, 436 yards, par 4: new tee adds 28 yards and as the hole plays into the prevailing wind like the second and sixth it can be a brute. The green has a ridge running down the centre and three-putts could be commonplace.

1998: rank 4, average 4.35

12th, 184 yards, par 3: rated by Tom Watson the best short hole in golf. Framed by dunes, cavernous bunkers gather anything short and with the wind normally coming from the sea to the right finding the green can be an achievement in itself.

1998: rank 11, average 3.20

13th, 499 yards, par 4: as long as the sixth, but the prevailing wind is behind and there is no climb involved, so it does not play as hard. Reshaped fairway bunkers and the ditch down the left punish the wayward.

1998: rank 6, average 4.34

14th, 201 yards, par 3: the bunkering and contouring around the green have once again been altered to increase the challenge of a hole perhaps best remembered for Hale Irwin's air shot when he went to tap in during the 1983 Open. He lost by one.

1998: rank 12, average 3.19

15th, 544 yards, par 5: it has been a long wait for a par five, but unlike the 17th it is into the customary wind. Trees have been removed down the left, but there is still some nasty rough there and new bunkers and mounding mean it is a stiff test.

1998: rank 16, average 5.06

16th, 439 yards, par 4: right of the fairway is the plaque honouring Arnold Palmer's recovery shot from a bush in 1961. Tee has moved back 23 yards since the last Open and the removal of trees behind the raised green make it a harder shot to judge.

1998: rank 4, average 4.35

17th, 572 yards, par 5: drive has to be threaded between high dunes, but the main talking point is almost certainly going to be the new green - moved back and given some devilish slopes. Played easier than the par-four sixth in 1998, but lots of three-putts might change that.

1998: rank 18, average 4.59

18th, 473 yards, par 4: fine finishing hole remembered for the shots of two teenagers - Justin Rose's pitch-in 10 years ago, his final shot as an amateur, and Seve Ballesteros' chip-and-run in 1976. Out of bounds to the right, a new bunker on the left.

1998: rank 3, average 4.37