Royal Porthcawl is hosting The Senior Open Presented by Rolex for a third time this week and several iconic figures of the game have been having their say on the challenge the historic Welsh links course poses.
Europe’s only Senior Major Championship is this week making its third visit to the venue following memorable events in 2014 and 2017 in which Germany’s Bernhard Langer triumphed on both occasions.
When Royal Porthcawl hosted its first Senior Open in 2014, two-time Masters Champion Langer stormed to a wire-to-wire victory as he finished 13 shots ahead of runner-up Colin Montgomerie - a record margin that still stands.
The venue, which offers stunning views across Swansea Bay to the Gower Peninsula and offers a true test of golf, has previously hosted numerous prestigious Championships such as The Amateur Championship and the Walker Cup.
Once again the members' 18th hole will be used as the first this week, but what are players making of the test presented in front of him?
Of all the players in the field, Bernhard Langer has the best record at the course having won on both occasions it has staged the Senior Open.
The two-time Masters Champion won by a championship record 13 strokes in 2014 before reclaiming the title three years later in a tighter contest.
Reflecting on those two triumphs, Langer admitted both were achieved in vastly different conditions and the German believes mentality will again be vital if he is to win his 13th senior Major title and fifth at this event.
“It is a typical links course and a very demanding one," he said.
"The last two times we have played here were totally opposite. One time it was bone dry, the ball was running 100 yards – that was a challenge in itself because you couldn’t stop it.
"The second time we played it the rain came sideways, the wind was howling, and it was wet and miserable. But I am used to making the best of it. It seems to bring the best out of me.”
'It starts from the tee shot and that is the sign of a good golf course'
Colin Montgomerie, one of many European greats of the game in the field, believes Royal Porthcawl ranks highly among the best UK links courses.
The Scot revealed how new fairway bunkering since it last played host in 2017 will provide an even greater complexity.
"The greens have got a lot of undulation to them," he said. "Most links greens don’t, the trouble is really off the tee with most links courses but here it is actually everything.
"They have put in a number of new fairway bunkers in the last five or six years since we were last year and it has made it much tighter off the tee.
"You will see a lot of people having to think more on their tee shots rather than just hit a driver aimlessly and try to find it.
"Now there are bunkers in the way and you know with links golf – Brian Harman proved it at The Open – if you stay out of the bunkers, drive the ball well you can score.
"You can always move it forward from the rough but you can’t move it forward from the bunkers, you have to come out sideways.
"It starts from the tee shot and that is the sign of a good hole and golf course overall.
Royal Porthcawl boasts a stunning setting sloping down to the seashore, with impressive views of the coastline from every hole.
The second to fourth holes can play particularly difficult when played into a freshening wind, something Ian Woosnam attests to as he highlighted the challenge of approach shots onto undulating greens.
"If the wind is off the left playing those first few holes, trying to get it on the green is a challenge," he said.
"You have got to try and hug the right hand side to get a better shot into the green.
"Once you get on the green it is hard to get it close and you have got to try and two putt."
But it isn't just the greens that Pádraig Harrington is focusing on as he targets a strong performance off the tee in his bid to complete The Open-Senior Open double.
"The course is well designed," the 15-time DP World Tour winner said. "There is a staggering of bunkers. You can take some trouble out but you can’t take it all out. Avoiding trouble off the tee will be my goal for the week.
"Sometimes I will play cautious, sometimes I will play a little more aggressive. If I can avoid those bunkers and any of the major trouble I think that will set me up enough.
"The greens are difficult, there are slopes, but if I hit it straight you will create so many opportunities that you will overcome the odd lack of knowledge or the odd mistake around the greens."
Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke is this week's defending champion having won his first Senior Major at Gleneagles last summer.
On his first return to Royal Porthcawl since the 1988 European Team Amateur Championships, the 2011 Open Champion is excited and alert in equal measure of its challenges.
"Conditions-wise, holes, everything, it's pristine," he said.
"But no, there are some very strategic bunkers positioned out there.
"Sometime you've got to play in between bunkers, carry one and not reach the next one.
"And then obviously with the contours on the greens, there are a few you've got to miss in the right place.
"The wind is going to get up a little stronger and that's fine."
