Royal St George's Hole by Hole

A hole by hole guide to Royal St George's which hosts the 140th British Open here from Thursday

1 - 444 yards, par four: Tiger Woods lost his opening drive in 2003 and Jerry Kelly took an 11, but the fairway has been widened since then. Out of bounds right and three bunkers front the green.

2 - 417 yards, par four: Out of bounds continues down the right on this dogleg left. Two bunkers are cut into the hill on the inside of the angle and the green falls away on all sides.

3 - 240 yards, par three: First of the four short holes is now 30 yards longer and with a narrow two-tier green cut into the hill can be a real brute.

4 - 495 yards, par four: Changed from a par five to a par four with a huge bunker staring you in the face on the tee and a really demanding tilted green with out of bounds immediately behind.

5 - 419 yards, par four: John Daly has driven the green over the dunes, but new mounding short right makes it less enticing. Bunkers down the left, but none round the green.

6 - 178 yards, par three: The Maiden hill to the left of the green is a popular spot for spectators. Four bunkers lie around the two-tier green.

7 - 564 yards, par five: Has played the easiest hole on the course in the past - with not a single double bogey in 1993 and 25 of the 27 eagles that week - but a new tee has added 32 yards.

8 - 453 yards, par four: Used to be a par three, but changed to an uphill dogleg right, the approach played over an area of rough to a long and slender green.

9 - 412 yards, par four: A bunker known as The Corset pinches in from the right and the humps and hollows are pronounced. A new tee adds 24 yards, while the green drops away steeply to the right.

10 - 415 yards, par four: Tom Kite was leading in 1985 when he went from bunker to bunker and took six. The green is perched up high and with slopes front and back, great accuracy is needed.

11 - 243 yards, par three: The one back-nine hole to be played directly towards the sea and demanding in the extreme when there is any wind. Three bunkers left and two right with a two-tier green.

12 - 381 yards, par four: A dogleg right where there is a temptation to bite too much off the corner over the bunkers. Five more traps are short of a green which Tiger Woods four-putted last time.

13 - 459 yards, par four: The drive has to be threaded between bunkers and the approach is played to the longest green on the course with a ridge running down its spine and out of bounds at the back.

14 - 547 yards, par five: Out of bounds all the way down the right and the 'Suez Canal' across the fairway at 330 yards. To add to the dangers the green was moved back and closer to the fence.

15 - 496 yards, par four: Twenty-one yards longer, but still a par four with five bunkers to be negotiated off the tee and three more in front of a green which falls away to the right.

16 - 163 yards, par three: Thomas Bjorn, two ahead at the time, took three to get out of the bunker on the right. In 1967 Tony Jacklin made the first televised hole-in-one here.

17 - 426 yards, par four: The fairway was one of the hardest to hit with all its swales, but it has now been widened. Greg Norman's closing 64 in 1993 included a missed 18-inch putt here.

18 - 459 yards, par four: Two well-struck shots are needed to a green which falls away to the left into Duncan's Hollow. Sandy Lyle was there in 1985 and his ball then came back, but a five was enough.