101 years after Royal Troon first hosted The Open, the famed Scottish course again plays host to the year’s final major.
And the world’s top players are in for a typically brutish test, with the venue promising links golf at its finest – a raft of punishing bunkers and fiendish wind that can cause even the very best to unravel.
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‘Miss that green, you’re in all sorts’ | 01:17
The course, first founded back in 1878, is situated less than an hour’s drive from Glasgow on Scotland’s west coast.
Sometimes overshadowed by its famous neighbour, Prestwick, the course is nevertheless a formidable – if brutal – assault on players.
And two holes stand among the most iconic in the world: The Postage Stamp and The Railway.
Australian golfing great Geoff Ogilvy said on Fox Sports’ Aussies at The Open preview programme “It’s a fascinating course. It’s almost a tale of two courses.”
It begins with surprising ease, a chance for players to enjoy the sea views with the wind in their favour.
“The first six or seven holes (are) pretty straightforward,” Ogilvy continued. “They generally play pretty downwind, lots of birdies that you really need to make. Because once you get through the first seven holes, if you’re not under par you better hang on!”
Then everything changes.
“The tournament, the course really starts on eight,” Ogilvy added.
It’s the first hole running in the opposite direction – a hole which Fox Sports analyst and former Australian pro Paul Gow labelled “the most famous par three in the world”.
Playing between a mere 99 yards and 123 yards, it’s the shortest hole ever played at an Open.
Yet, as Gow said, “Any hole that’s got a bunker there called ‘the coffin’ must be difficult!
“The green sits up, it’s got a little protection from the hill on the other side. But if you miss the green, you’re in all sorts. But there’s been some magnificent shots there over the years.”
That includes jaw-dropping aces from Gene Sarazen and Ernie Els in 1973 and 2004 respectively.
“You stand on that tee and all you want to do is hit the middle of the green,” Gow added.
If you don’t, you get punished. Harshly. Tiger Woods discovered that in 1997, when he triple bogeyed.
That’s The Postage Stamp, which perfectly sums up the size of that all-important green.
Competitors get one more chance to hit with the wind at their back, on nine.
Then, like any good links course, players turn around and head for home – and the course really begins to bite.
“You turn back around into the wind. It’s narrow, it’s long, it’s brutal,” Ogilvy said.
“You just have tough hole after tough hole into the wind,” he added. “Lots of gorse, out of bounds on the right a few times.”
That includes on the next iconic hole – the 498-yard 11th, called The Railway after the railway line along the right hand side. That’s out of bounds, and the left-hand side isn’t much friendlier – lined with gorse that means players can easily lose a ball.
Ogilvy said: “11 is an incredibly difficult hole. A very scary tee shot too – all you see is a big wall of gorse. You’ve got to hit it over that gorse to a fairway that sits at a diagonal angle. “You’ve got to pick your line and hit a great shot. If you hit that gorse you’re back on the tee immediately.”
Just how hard is it? Ogilvy called it a “really, really scary hole. Definitely a candidate for one of the hardest holes in the world.”
If the first two shots aren’t perfect, expect players to card a big score here.
Yet things hardly get any easier as the players close in on the clubhouse – and the finish, the par-four 18th hole, is another punisher.
“This is a really good view as to what links golf is really like,” Ogilvy said. “Just keep it out of the bunkers. Just find a way to hit it anywhere but in the sand.”
“It’s a relatively simple hole if you hit the fairway. But if you hit it in the bunker you’re just going to hit it out sideways and you’re going to have your third shot from where your second should have been.
Tiger Woods makes return to Royal Troon | 00:26
“It’s a tough way to finish. You’ve got to hit great shots all the way down the stretch.”
That hole, as is customary for the Open, will be lined with grandstands on both sides and should make for a pressure-cooker finish to the weekend.
“It’s an interesting test, one that kind of scares the players I think,” Ogilvy said.
“It’s always a tough way to play golf when it just keeps getting tougher and tougher and tougher all day.”
And there’s a couple of final twists for this year’s edition – the sixth hole has been lengthened from an already-long 601 yards (The Open in 2016) to a whopping 623 yards, a record for the Open.
That’s part of an overall lengthening of the course by 195 yards compared to the 2016 edition, the last time the Open was held at Royal Troon.
It’s not just about making it longer – it’s also about making it even trickier, such as a new tee spot on the 10th making for a completely blind tee shot over large sandhills, which lend the hole its name.
So what’s the strategy to win at Royal Troon this weekend?
Geoff Ogilvy says: “You really have to be under par early and then just hang on for dear life the last nine holes.”
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Final Round
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Sunday: 8pm – 10m (par-3 17th), Fox Sports 507 & Kayo