Part of the challenge for players is encountering new venues and that is exactly what happened last year when Trump International Golf Links made its debut on the DP World Tour for the Nexo Championship.
First held as part of the Race to Dubai in 2020 at Fairmont St Andrews, the tournament returned to the schedule 12 months ago and moved its base to Aberdeenshire at a new venue for golf's global Tour.
For the second year running, the Old Course at Trump International Golf Links - opened in 2012 - takes on hosting duties as the Closing Swing reaches a climax in Scotland. The award-winning championship links lies within the dunes of Scotland’s North Sea coast, across the Menie Estate at Balmedie.
This year’s edition will include an increased prize fund of $3 million, with 3,500 Race to Dubai points on offer as Major Champion Patrick Reed bids to extend his advantage at the top of the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World.
Ranked as the 11th best course in Scotland by Top 100 Golf Courses, a leading global community of travelling golfers, the championship layout is viewed as the 77th best internationally by the same observers.
While some players, including Scottish DP World Tour winner Connor Syme, spoke of coming to visit the course in advance to the tournament, many including his countryman Ewen Ferguson were tackling the Martin Hawtree-designed links course without any prior experience.
It is often said that competing with the benefit of home comforts is influential and that proved the case as Grant Forrest won his second DP World Tour title with a four-shot victory.
Beyond that, what else did we learn from the first staging of the formerly named Scottish Championship over the modern links layout at Trump International Golf Links?
A fierce test from start to finish
There is no escaping that this is a stern examination of a player's all-round game.
The classic layout features two out-and-back loops of nine holes, with all 18 holes threading through spectacular, towering dunes that seperate the fairways. Keeping it in play off the tee is paramount.
As with many a links course, mother nature influences the challenge but data from last year's edition highlights the challenge.
Just three holes played under par, and there's no clear bias to either of the nines being harder than the other.
The 443-yard par-four second and 205-yard par-three third were the first and second hardest holes of the week, while the 17th and 18th were the sixth and fourth respectively.
The second resulted in 31 double bogeys or worse, four more than the number of birdies.
Just nine players finished under par, emphasising the difficulty.
The winning score of eight under was the third highest across the campaign last year, after the five under par winning total by Johannes Veerman at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and one under by J.J. Spaun at the U.S. Open.
The toughest par five on Tour
Something of an annual point of interest for fans at the end of a year is to learn which holes proved the toughest on the DP World Tour.
While none of the Old Course layout at Trump International Golf Links featured among the ten most challenging last season, it did boast the toughest par five on the 2025 Race to Dubai.
Measuring a mammoth 651 yards, the 18th averaged 5.27 shots across the four rounds.
Incidentally, eventual winner Forrest made a seven on the 72nd hole yet still did enough for a comfortable victory.
That being said, it only points to the potential for jeapordy to come as the final round reaches a conclusion.
Scores can be made
While nobody in the field managed to shoot four rounds under par, there were still scores to be had.
Experienced South African Richard Sterne was the early pacesetter, carding a bogey-free five-under-par in the first round.
Two days prior, he was among the players impacted by Storm Floris which battered the Aberdeenshire coastline and revealed he lost "seven or eight balls" during a practice round.
Earlier in the week, the DP World Tour announced the launch of the Course Record Presented by Nexo prize - а rolling prize for the Tour’s players.
With the DP World Tour making its first visit to Trump International Golf Links, there was a guaranteed winner and Forrest celebrated double delight on home soil as he scooped a $10,000 bonus for carding a course record six-under-par 66 in the second round on his way to winning the title.
Marc Warren, another Scotsman, showed what can be done as he carded a 67 in the final round to match the second best score of the week.
Take advantage when you can
Such is the largely unrelenting challenge players face, scoring opportunities must be capitalised upon.
Going by last year's statistics, there is no better chance to do that than the 281-yard par-four seventh.
Comfortably the easiest hole of the course, seven eagles were made across the week and 169 birdies - 53 more than the next most at the par five fourth.
It is also the third of a run of consecutive holes on the front nine alongside the fifth and sixth that were the three easiest holes last year.
By the numbers - The 2025 Nexo Championship
Lowest score: 66 (-6)
Highest score: Several players
Eagles: 19
Birdies: 1195
Pars: 4896
Bogeys: 1607
Double bogeys: 244
Worse: 67
