Picking out five difficult holes at Carnoustie is not terribly difficult — there isn’t a hole on the course that isn’t capable of ruining your day. There are some decent birdie chances — first, third, sixth (in the unlikely event it plays downwind), 11th and 14th — and the rain in the forecast should make concealed pins more accessible, but if the rain gets heavy and grips start slipping, then expect some high numbers. The links has only two par 5s, and they run in opposite directions so while the 514-yard 14th should be nothing more than a drive and a short iron with help from the prevailing wind, the 578-yard sixth — named “Hogan’s Alley” after Ben Hogan rifled his drive between the bunkers in the middle of the fairway and the out of bounds on the left on all four days of the 1953 Open Championship — will be a genuine threeshot hole where bogies will outnumber birdies. But no matter where the wind comes from, players will be more than happy with pars at these five:

THE NINTH The most difficult hole of all in ’99, the ninth is a long, straight par-4 with trees on the left, a drainage ditch on the right and four bunkers between 280 and 340 yards off the tee. The prevailing wind will come from the left pushing drives toward the trio of traps on the right of the fairway, and the heart-shaped green, protected by more deep bunkers on both sides, will only be held with a well struck iron shot.

THE TENTH Named “South America” after a fellow destined for a new life in South America was found passed out on the hole following a night on the town, the 10th will likely play downwind meaning the four fairway bunkers on the right probably won’t see much action. Only the bunker on the left at 296 yards off the tee might come into play. The Barry Burn crosses the fairway 50 yards short of the green but won’t affect play unless the hole plays into the wind.

THE SIXTEENTH Carnoustie’s demanding finish starts at the 472-yard 15th and continues with this brute of a par 3 that could require as little as a 6-iron downwind, but a clout with a driver if the wind turns. Five bunkers protect the 48-yard deep, two-tiered green.

THE SEVENTEENTH At the 1996 Scottish Open, Tiger Woods played this hole with two drivers one day and two 5-irons the next. More often than not ‘Island’ plays into the wind, making it the hardest of Carnoustie’s brutal last four holes and making the 285-yard carry over the second crossing of the Barry Burn from the tee all but impossible. A drive to the island of fairway between the burn’s two passes followed by a hybrid or long iron will be the standard method for finding the left-to-right sloping green, to the right of which three pot bunkers await the weak approach.

THE EIGHTEENTH Downwind, the long and straight 18th will need only a good drive and a short iron to find the putting surface, but with bunkers on the right of the fairway between 306 and 346 yards the drive will demand much from the nervous contender needing a par-4 to win. The burn makes one last pass in front of the green but, as at the 10th, will only need to be considered if the hole is playing into the wind, or if you’re a crazy, and rather unlucky, Frenchman and hit the grandstand with your 2-iron approach and bounce back into the rough short of the water.