DP World Tour: Scotland is steeped in history, so when you hear about the Genesis Scottish Open, your first thought may be, “At which ageless classic is it being held?” Certainly one from the 1820s? Or maybe the 1850s? But it has to be before 1900, right?
No. It’s called The Renaissance Club, and it launched in 2008. You may be perplexed, if not outright shocked, but you should not be. Take solace at the stop sign. The Renaissance is in sync with the rest of Scotland’s golf.
Ignore the date on The Renaissance Club’s birth certificate because master designer Tom Doak, aided by American Jerry Sarvadi and his family, did a masterful job blending these 300 acres into an ancient section of Scotland and making it look like it’s been there for 200 years.
Strongest field in @DPWorldTour history 🔥🔥🔥🔥 #GenesisScottishOpen | #RolexSeries | #FedExCup pic.twitter.com/2PZXfYEbee
— Genesis Scottish Open (@ScottishOpen) July 2, 2022
The Genesis Scottish Open will be held there for the fourth year in a row, and in a land where the word “links” is revered, you don’t achieve elite status around the world unless you stay true to your heritage.
Xander Schauffele, who led a healthy list of Americans who played Renaissance last summer, felt it definitely passed the test. He said: “(Maybe) it’s more an American links-style course with greens that are very dramatic in undulation and slope. But I think the course is awesome. I think it’s fun.”
Rising Australian standout Min Woo Lee (2021), England’s Aaron Rai (2020), and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger (2019) have all won the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in the last three years, despite the fact that no style of golf is designed to be played in the elements quite like links.
“Links golf is designed for the wind and some sort of weather,” said Scotsman Robert McIntyre. “If you get that, then every link will bite back and that’s what you need. When it’s flat calm and soft, you watch some of those tournaments and guys are just going to take dead aim no matter what club they have got in.”
If understanding that weather is such an important part of links golf has kept Americans away for years, this year’s 40th anniversary of the Scottish Open is significant in two ways: one, an increasing number of Americans are saying “yes” to the Scottish challenge, and two, Genesis, one of the PGA Tour’s most loyal sponsors, wants to be a part of this historic Scottish Open.
We say “historic” because, despite being founded in 1972, the Scottish Open is now part of the PGA Tour-DP World Tour alliance. It facilitates elite players from both the United States and Europe to compete in the same tournaments, and the Genesis Scottish Open is gaining significant traction.
The desire to acclimate themselves to links in preparation for The Open Championship has been building for more than 10-15 years now, and Exhibit A is the year 2013. Phil Mickelson decided to commit to the Scottish Open that year in the hopes of resolving his Open Championship woes, having finished in the top-10 only twice in his first 17 starts.
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