2023 Genesis Scottish Open: The Rundown
By Derek Helm
We head overseas to Scotland for the 2023 Genesis Scottish Open.
The 2023 Scottish Open will be played at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland. It has hosted the tournament for the last four years. For the 2nd straight year, the tournament is co-sanctioned by the PGA & DP World Tour. Golfers will be preparing for the final Major of the year and the field is incredibly strong with eight of the top 10 in the World Golf Rankings listed in the field.
Last year Xander Schauffele defeated Kurt Kitayama by one stroke to win with a final score of seven under. Tom Kim, Patrick Cantlay, and Tommy Fleetwood rounded out the top five.
In 2021 Min Woo Lee, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Thomas Detry all shot 18 under. Min Woo hit a 12-foot putt to win in a playoff.
The Renaissance Club is a links-style coastal course. It’s a 7,267-yard par 71 with fescue greens. It is an interesting setup with three par fives and five par threes. Three of the par threes are over 200 yards. Scoring on the par fives is key for anyone looking to contend this week.
Obviously, being in Scotland we will see changes in conditions and especially the wind. The wind is a key indicator of what the final score will be and absolutely has to be monitored.
There are plenty of pot bunkers lurking on the links-style course so sand play will be relied on. If golfers end up close to the lips of these bunkers it could spell disaster.
Fairways are a bit more difficult to hit with firm Fairways that can run off into the rough or the pot bunkers. Missing fairways isn’t the end of the world unless golfers miss by a wide margin.
Approach shots will consist of mainly wedges on the par fours and longer irons on the longer par threes and fives. Greens in regulation percentage is slightly lower than tour average with these upside-down bowl-shaped greens that have many run-offs. An around the green game will be relied upon.
The greens themselves are fescue grass and run slower than tour average. Poor putters could perform a little better with mishits being less penal. However, three putts do come into play with the size and slowness of the greens.
There are 156 golfers in the field with the top 65 and ties making the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open.
2023 Genesis Scottish Open: The Key Stats
- Approach
- Fairways Gained
- Links Experience
- Par 3s 200+ yards
- Par 5 Scoring
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Genesis Scottish Open: Previous Winners
- 2022: Xander Schauffele -7
- 2021: Min Woo Lee -18
- 2020: Aaron Rai -11
- 2019: Bernd Wiesberger-22