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There are currently 10 courses in the Open Championship rota (tour slang for rotation). That is 180 holes of pure, old-school links golf for players to try and conquer in the middle of the summer. Our quest? Figure out the best 18 holes regardless of score to par or order of merit. Here is what we came up with in no particular order.
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It's a hole that can be one of about six club selections. Padraig Harrington once said, "For such a simple hole it causes a lot of problems." That's a bit reminiscent of the Postage Stamp. Holes that are short, simple and tough all at the same time are among the favorites of most pros.
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This won't pop for many, but I remember how tough it played in 2014 at the Open that Rory McIlroy won. Right was dead, but there was always opportunity for eagle at the last (which is the most thrilling shot in golf). I'm in on Hoylake's closing hole.
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I couldn't decide between No. 17 and No. 18 at Birkdale, but I love how the dunes rise slightly around the green at No. 17 creating a mini amphitheater as golfers trying and make birdie or eagle (like Padraig Harrington did in 2008) to win the Claret Jug.
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This testy little hole has 13 (!) bunkers surrounding the landing area. If you pull off the tee shot, you can score. But it's a menacing view when you're trying to close out a major championship.
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You could honestly just put St. Andrews 1-18 here, but No. 1 is probably the most famous other than the closing stretch. It's not a difficult par 4, but Tiger Woods made it look that way at the 2015 Open when he hit an easy second shot into the burn.
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I love this hole. It runs next to a railway and has housing off to the right. Golfers struggled with it all week during the 2016 Open Championship. Another site of a Jack Nicklaus 10.
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The man who helped build Erin Hills once said, "Carnoustie has one of the most stirring finishes in all of golf." Ben Hogan won his only Open here (the only one he ever played in) so it has to be worth something. The burn that frames this hole surrounds the green and makes you weep. "It needs skill and thought," said Open champ Paul Lawrie. "A great hole."
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This tough-looking par 4 includes a next-to-impossible approach shot that can end up in one of about 200 different dead areas including bunkers, rough and a severe slope. At just over 400 yards, it's short by today's standards, but it's certainly not easy.
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Colin Montgomerie once called it, "The most famous par five on our rota. A dramatic par 5." The hole is nicknamed "Hogan's Alley," which is pretty much all you need to know about the 578-yarder. It can turn wicked if the wind howls.
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You thought I was not going to include a hole that has a trap called "hell bunker"? Come on. Jack Nicklaus once made a 10 here. Hint: Don't hit it in the place called hell.
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An insanely long par 4 that includes "a gigantic, gaping, 40-foot-tall mountain of sand that obscures the right-center portion of the crescent-shaped fairway." Sounds fun!
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This is an impossible 245-yard par 3 that is described by the Carnoustie Golf Links as "really a 3.5 ... a par is an outstanding achievement."
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Turnberry's most famous feature (other than being owned by the President of the United States) is its lighthouse. The 9th hole is as close to the lighthouse as you can get. "An iconic hole, a special place," said two-time Open winner Padraig Harrington. "You're isolated out there and it adds to the experience. I don't think there's a hole when you're closer to the water. It's not a tough tee shot for pros but it's a little intimidating. You feel like you're on a cliff."
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It has delivered some immense drama over the years. Maybe never more so than when Costantino Rocca made a 3 from the Valley of Sin after duffing a chip. An all-time moment at an all-time hole.
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Hey, we get one for this year! "I love the look of it," Justin Rose once said. "It's got these two bunkers that sit front right and front left and it's got a little hour-glass green with a couple of dunes and it looks like a beautiful links par three. I also led the Open there momentarily by myself when I was 17."
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It's straight, it looks simple and easy, but it's not -- especially not when you're trying to win an Open. "I won two Opens there and it's as good as it gets," Nick Faldo once said. "Yeah, walking up 18 at St. Andrews is special, but I walked up 18 at Muirfield and won the Open twice. I can't beat that one."
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The Postage Stamp plays all of 123 yards for The Open, and it can be the most devilish little hole pros have ever played. The highest score it has ever produced is apparently a 15, which is just wondrous for such a short, tiny hole.
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The Road Hole. It's maybe the most famous (and most difficult) hole in the Open rota. It is a final, brutal test before glory awaits just beyond on the 18th at St. Andrews.
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