Carnoustie is considered by many to be the toughest of all the Open links courses. Walter Hagen described it as ' A great big shaggy monster' going on to praise it as the greatest golf course in the British Isles and one of the top three in the world.
Historians believe the game has been played here since the early 16th century

There are many who believe that the medal course at Carnoustie is the finest test of championship golf to be found anywhere the game is played. Allan Robertson, the first player to break 80 around the Old Course at St Andrews and now recognised as the game’s first professional golfer, was the man who laid out the original course back in the middle of the 19th century but inevitably it was five-times Open Champion James Braid who was called in to revamp the course in 1926.
There can be no finer tribute to this remarkable Angus links than the role of champions who have won there. Tommy Armour, Sir Henry Cotton, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Paul Lawrie and of course the legendary Ben Hogan who won the only Open Championship he ever played in at Carnoustie in 1953