Interesting stuff, thanks Garrett. This particularly piqued my curiosity as a UA alum. Seems to be an interesting halfway house (scuse the pun) between starting from scratch having bought up a huge parcel of land somewhere very remote and having to blow up an existing course near an urban centre. Would be great to hear the rationale behind the primary elements of Gil's 'classical restoration'. It sounds like little has been changed of the original layout, so might be interesting to understand how these updates reflect the way in which his design philosophy has changed in the interim. Accepting that the answer might be our favourite punching bag: technology. As a side note, how great it must be to have been in the business so long and yet remain so respected that you are being paid to revisit your own work!

Yes, it's probably a slightly different question depending on whether you are viewing through an amateur/pro lens. Agreed that creating one's own routing can be a real joy - I think you could make a routing around PGC for any number of holes from 3 - 27! Might just be an interesting one to hear how much consideration an architect gives to this (within the confines of the land available). A good example might be Portrush, where you have some of the most dramatic/scenic holes near the start and end, but arguably the more challenging holes in the middle of the round. Or would the seventeenth at Sawgrass be quite so iconic if it were the fifth? Again, maybe that is a reflection of tournament golf and being a little at the mercy of TV which is always going to focus on the closing stretch.

If we start seeing Mackenzie and Ebert get jobs in Australis over OCM and MDP, then we can predict where the open is headed. However, we're all missing here that if say they make the Open be playable in any region in the commonwealth, that creates the opportunity for a DLF Open Championship

I laughed as I watched Johnson Wagner go round the Open Clubhouse on 'Golf Channel', wondering what Max Faulkner would make of it all. I'm just curious how big the Open Championship would be if it had none of all the fancy stuff and just relied on the history, Claret Jug and prize money. Would players still come? As for venues, I'd like to see Royal Cinque Ports back. If RSG is well-positioned then RCP is, too, and RCP is as good. And though it was always considered too remote, Saunton is only four hours from London and two from Bristol these days. It has loads of space, and the East Course is definitely Open-worthy. I wouldn't like to see the Open Championship go anywhere other than Britain or Northern Ireland. Portmarnock is superb, but it's in the Republic. If it happens, so be it. But it wouldn't feel right. It should host the Irish Open every few years, though.

Wow, I had not realized we haven't seen The Open at Lytham in 13 (!!!) years. That's a shame. 2012 was a great championship. I understand what the R&A is trying to do, I really do, but if we're not going to get Carnoustie for future Opens because of a hotel... what are we even doing. And without getting political it is truly a shame we haven't seen Turnberry host this event for more than a decade and a half now. Such great history there with equally great holes. (Fwiw, Garrett, Donny T's term ends in January 2029, so I guess we'll have to tack on another year of waiting.)

I've played many of the ROTA courses. And, I've played Turnberry. Turnberry belongs with the other ROTA courses. It is a gem. I hope that the R&A can put politics aside and give this course its due.

I understand the sentiment on the PGA going global, but it's the PGA of AMERICA's championship. Therefore, it will be in America. It would be nice but it's not a realistic thing to ever expect. The R&A leaving GB&I for The Open would make me physically ill. With all due respect to Le Golf National in Paris, the thought of seeing this championship contested there rather than one of the links courses you mentioned is repulsive.

Not to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm but, trust me, you can go wrong over here! That’s not to say that there aren’t hundreds of courses worth playing - including many that may never have seen an international visitor - but we have our fair share of absolute dog tracks as well (mainly built on unsuitable agricultural land in the 80s and 90s).

Is Royal Dornoch just a non starter due to lodging? While I’d sort of hate for it to be even harder to get a tee time there I’d love it to be shown off for the glorious course that it is. Other options like Kingsbarns have shown they can host major tournaments like the Dunhill. Would those ever come into rota consideration?

I just stopped in and played KP on drive from Boston back to NYC. I got there at 6p so only had time to play the front 9 (Emmet). Such a cool course! The greens were super interesting - a lot of great contours. Really enjoyed it. Not super long. Fun, easy walk with some awesome greens. Definitely check it out. I think I paid $20 for twilight.