Geography and Golf

This fantastic image of Ailsa Craig by Flickr user atomicjeep and shared under Creative Commons

The Open Golf Championship is taking place at Turnberry at the moment.

This is one of my favourite sporting events, particularly when the wind picks up and the golfers have to use their skill to play conservatively and pick their way around the course. Mind you, with the Ashes and the Tour de France on, the remote is getting a lot of use flicking between the three....

The course at Turnberry has quite a few geographical connections. There have been some good aerial shots of the course as well, showing the rugged coastal scenery.

Ailsa Craig sits in the Clyde halfway to Arran, and is the source of granite which is used to make curling stones.

If ye can see Ailsa Craig, it’s gaun tae rain. If ye canny see it, it’s already raining.

– Old Saying

There is the famour 9th tee at Turnberry which stands on a cliff top promontory. A nice description here by Thomas Bonk. The golfers have to drive over the sea and occasionally a golfer may need to play from the beach.

There is also a GEOGRAPHY AND GOLF page on GeographyPages. This suggests other golf links... (do you see what I did there...)