Carnoustie effect
Encyclopedia
Carnoustie effect is a term arising after the 1999 Open Golf Championship
at Carnoustie
, Scotland
, when the world's greatest players failed to play to theoretical par for the distance. Even the winner
finished six strokes over par.
Complaints about the difficulty of the ancient Carnoustie course
, which is played over every day by local residents, were loudest from the most fancied professionals. Their frustration inspired the phrase 'Carnoustie effect', meaning the degree of trauma experienced when what is undertaken in confident spirit founders on unforeseen difficulties. The phrase is not confined to golf
, but can be applied to any undertaking which goes wrong when unsuspected difficulties are encountered. The term has been used of military operations which have gone awry after being started in expectation of easy victory,
as well as to money lost on stock markets when gains had been anticipated.
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
at Carnoustie
Carnoustie
Carnoustie is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, when the world's greatest players failed to play to theoretical par for the distance. Even the winner
Paul Lawrie
Paul Stewart Lawrie MBE is a Scottish professional golfer who is best known for winning The Open Championship in 1999.-Life and career:...
finished six strokes over par.
Complaints about the difficulty of the ancient Carnoustie course
Carnoustie Golf Links
The Carnoustie Golf Links are in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. Its historic championship golf course is one of the venues in the Open Championship rotation.-History:...
, which is played over every day by local residents, were loudest from the most fancied professionals. Their frustration inspired the phrase 'Carnoustie effect', meaning the degree of trauma experienced when what is undertaken in confident spirit founders on unforeseen difficulties. The phrase is not confined to golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, but can be applied to any undertaking which goes wrong when unsuspected difficulties are encountered. The term has been used of military operations which have gone awry after being started in expectation of easy victory,
as well as to money lost on stock markets when gains had been anticipated.