Winner: Zach Johnson in a playoff over Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen

The oldest championship in golf begins this Thursday on the Old Course St. Andrews (“Sinandrews”, to the locals).

The first Open Championship played here was in 1873, and won by Tom Kidd, who shot 91-88 to win by one. Twenty-six competitors teed up for the tournament that was done in one day.

The last time the OC was played here, Louis Oosthuizen won in a walk over Paul Casey.

This aerial photograph of the course shows the first green just beyond Swilcan Burn (lower right), with the 17th green just to to the left. The course runs between the white boundary lines that head toward the upper left of the photo.

Golfing fans have seen this course so many times, it is about as familiar as Augusta National. There are a few things you might not know about it, however.

There are seven double greens, 2/16 through 8/10. They are so large that it takes a truly awful shot to encroach the oncoming group. They can also present a golfer with the longest approach putts he will ever face.

Pay special attention to the 7/11 green, fronted by the Strath bunker, which is in play on the tee shot from #11 (below). It is easy to get into and hard to get out of.

The primary defenses of the course are its bunkers and the wind. Many of the bunkers cannot be seen until you find your ball in them.

The wind can change direction at any time. A wind in your face on the outgoing nine can easily turn around and be in your face coming home. The wind can also carry your ball onto the green, or lead it to one of the infuriating bunkers.

The place to make a score is the Loop, where the course hooks and turns back around, the 8th through the 11th holes. 8 and 11 are little par 3s, and the 9th and 10th are drivable par 4s. The short par-4 12th can be had, too.

Odd note: The course was designed to play in the reverse order from how it‘s played now, viz., 1st tee to 17th green, 18th tee to 16th green, etc. Someone said, the placement of the bunkers seems odd, but when you play the course “backward”, they all make perfect sense. Every year on the first Wednesday in September, the original routing is followed. See here for a fascinating analysis of the reverse course.

Personal note: I played this course in 1968, when you could walk right up to the starter’s shack, pay your fees, and wait for the group on the first to tee to go off and then it was your turn.

How did I do? I kind of got eaten alive, but had loads of fun.

On the first hole, I played a run-up into the green, an obvious shot just by looking at it. As I walked up the fairway, I saw this crack in the ground that gradually got wider. That didn’t give me a good feeling. Sure enough, my ball was in the Burn. “Now I know,” was small consolation.

I did, however, birdie the 17th, the Road Hole — 3-wood over the hotel, 3-iron onto the green, 20-footer. I thought at the time the hard shot was the tee shot. I didn’t know anything about the Road Hole bunker (and look how close it was to the pin that day!). I guess the Golf Gods didn’t want my ignorance to hurt me twice.

I’ve given up predicting winners or even taking about who the front-runners are. Just enjoy the broadcast and be sure to set your clocks to wake up early on Sunday.

Oh, yes. Word is in the air that this could be the final OC for legendary starter Ivor Robson.

Winner: Jordan Spieth by one stroke over Dustin Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen

In 1971, Alan Shepard hit a specially prepared 6-iron while on the moon. If you want to know what a golf course in the moon would look like, I give you Chambers Bay, site of this week’s U.S. Open.

Amidst sandy areas, dunes, and steep hills, you can actually find fairways, greens, and trees (well, just one tree).

Getting the ball around the course is not straightforward. The fairways, which instead of being shaped like elongated sausages, look more like ruptured appendixes, offer several lines of play depending how much of the fairway you want to bite into.

As for the greens, they are not the slightest bit simple. If the USGA miscalculates, a pin position could be anywhere from embarrassing to impossible.

This photo shows the 1st and 18th fairways, with Puget Sound, Fox Island, and the Olympic Peninsula in the background.

Par will be 70, but it breaks down as 35-35 or 36-34 depending on whether the 1st and 18th are par 4s or par 5s (they will swap each day). Total yardage can vary between 7,200 to 7,600 yards.

Though it might not be apparent on television, there is an overall elevation difference from the highest and lowest spots on the course of over 300 feet.

Even though it is the Pacific Northwest, and Puget Sound, along which the course lies, is essentially an inland sea, there isn’t much rain or wind in June.

Trains run by the course affecting play on the entire 16th and 17th holes, and the tee shot in 18. These are not little commuter rains, but full-sized freight trains. Do not expect golfers to be allowed to wait the three or four minutes it takes for them to go by before hitting a shot.

In case you’ve ever wondered how hard a U.S. Open course is, the course rating this week is 77.3, and the slope rating is 145. That means if you shot 90, you could turn in a handicap differential of 9.9. Par is a +5.7 differential. But actually, I think it’s much harder than that.

The course is too new to have the key holes identified, but the most picturesque one is the 15th, a par 3 that runs toward the Sound and has the course’s only tree perched behind the green.

Here’s a detailed look at the course, hole by hole, from a caddy at the course. Study his comments well to get the most out of watching the tournament.

There are some odd rule quirks that you, and especially Dustin Johnson, should pay attention to. Greens and fairways are made of the same grass, fine fescue, and cut to virtually the same height. It can be difficult to know if your ball is on the green or not.

At the 2010 U.S. Amateur, played here, the USGA put small white dots around the green to mark its limits. They haven’t decided if they will do that for the Open. When in doubt, call a rules official, though how he or she will know is a good question.

Sandy areas that are raked are hazards, while sandy areas that are not raked and contain vegetation are through the green. Sometimes both can be found in the same larger patch of sand. Again, call a rules official if in doubt.

Finally, players will be permitted to move stones that are in a bunker, according to a local rule the USGA will put in effect for the tournament.

I asked a friend of mine, Jim O’Donnell, a 9-handicapper who used to live in Seattle, if he had played the course and if so, did he have any comments I could use for this post. He had played Chambers Bay, and here are a few of his thoughts:

“Accuracy and knowledge of the greens and approach areas will be required more than power. After I played some holes, I tried to determine again where a landing area for a successful shot should be. Alas, that doesn’t mean I could later execute that shot. The difference between an excellent approach and a disappointing one will be so fine that only someone in complete control of his ball striking will prosper.”

“For some greens, the undulations, ridges, and swales were a problem that only experience could mitigate. In that sense I agree with the USGA official [Mike Davis] who has stated that a cursory knowledge of the course will not suffice. There will be complaints about the greens.”

So who do I pick to win? The player with the best control of his irons will be hard to beat. That can be anyone who gets hot for four days. I will say this: the winning score will be over par, which means a player who is content to take what the course gives him will have a big advantage.