Jack Nicklaus once said of Royal St George's: 'The greats have lined up to criticise over the years,' and American Brooks Koepka has now added his name to the list.
Clearly, even a 10-year absence from hosting the Open has not made the heart grow any fonder when it comes to comfortably the least loved course on the rota.
Koepka is the man who proclaims he comes alive for the majors. When asked his thoughts about Sandwich, he sounded like he was about to play the John Deere Classic. He did not even afford it the luxury of playing all 18 holes before issuing his airily dismissive verdict.
Brooks Koepka is the latest golfer to voice his displeasure at Royal St George's in Sandwich
The 149th Open will be played at the venue which is not one of the favourites with golfers
'I've only played the front nine,' he said, with a bored expression. 'I don't know, it's not my favourite venue. There's quite a few blind shots and quite a few where you're hitting to nothing. I'm not too big a fan of that. It's not like St Andrews or Portrush last time. They are my two favourites.'
This was the Open where the R&A had hoped for the rehabilitation of St George's, having addressed some of the controversies of the past. Now they must fear yet another bashing.
There are certainly plenty of unfavourable reviews to live down. Bernhard Langer finished in the top three in three successive Opens at Sandwich - and even he doesn't like it.
'It is, to me, the most unfair of all the courses on the rota,' he told Sportsmail on Tuesday. You will enjoy his typically forthright Open guide in the Daily Mail on Thursday.
Why is it unfair?
'It's not just the blind shots, it's the all-round quirkiness and the fact that all the nuances are so pronounced,' said Greg Norman, the 1993 champion - and no, it is not his favourite course either.
'It's not like the other venues where if you catch one of the humps in the middle of the fairway it will either throw the ball forward or back. At Sandwich the ball always seem to get propelled either left or right and it really is in the lap of the gods where it will end up after that.
'Take the first hole. If you get a right to left wind and catch the camber in the middle of the fairway, you can end up in the thick rough. That's just the first.'
Brooks Koepka plays a shot from a bunker during a practice round ahead of the event
That will not happen at the start of the 149th edition owing to the fairways being softer than in the past.
The R&A
