It goes without saying that all Open Championship venues are extremely testing golf courses, which examine every facet of one's golf game and in this respect, Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club is no different. It is almost laughable now that before an Open had ever been held at Royal Lytham, doubts were being expressed as to whether the course was severe enough a test. Ten Open Championships and the best part of a century later, nobody in their right mind would ever suggest such a thing. Set out of sight of the sea, Royal Lytham & St. Annes may not be one of the most beautiful golf courses in Britain but it offers a severe test of accuracy and patience.

If Lytham has a habit of producing memorable championships, then it started with its first Open in 1926, won in dramatic style by the great Bobby Jones, who hit an impossible 175-yard bunker shot over savage rough to the 17th green. A plaque commemorates the shot today and if you get the chance, you should stand in the bunker to the left of the 17th fairway and imagine the shot in order to truly appreciate the genius of this single stroke. It took a further 70 years for Tom Lehman to become the next American to win the Open at Lytham but just a further five years for David Duval to join the likes of Locke, Charles, Jacklin, Player and Ballesteros as worthy winners over this great landlocked links.

Bounded by a railway, the links of Royal Lytham probes your game relentlessly for weaknesses. Often played with assistance from the prevailing wind, top players can often murder the front nine holes but the inward journey is a different story. The fact that most commentary on Royal Lytham centers on its homeward journey should not take anything away from the front nine holes. The test commences with a 206-yard par three, the first of three short holes on the front nine. Lined with out-of-bounds on the right, with its green protected by some seven bunkers, this is a fitting opening to a great links. Of the remaining holes on the outward half, the par four, 8th hole, with a hidden swale in front of an elevated green, is probably the most interesting.

One of the main features of Royal Lytham is its finish from the wicked 14th hole, often regarded as the toughest on the course. This accolade however, is normally given to the 463-yard par four, 15th hole, which demands a troublesome drive to a rising, angled fairway. And when questioned on its merits after the 1974 Open, Jack Nicklaus replied: "God, it's a hard hole". The short par four, 16th hole, offers a brief respite but this is just the prelude to one of the finest holes in golf. Measuring a monstrous 467 yards, you must flirt with the heavy rough on the right in order to have a sight of the green, while if you choose the "Jones Route", well...good luck!

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