Royal Troon - Photos

[Dan Grossman]

17 is just a stupid hole with Barry Burn snaking its way through the hole ...

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't the Barry Burn essentially turn the fairway into a target which is at a 45 degree angle from the tee?  If you hit it down the left side you need to be short and if you hit it down the right, you need to hit it long?  I didn't think it was dumb, just a very difficult driving hole.  Add wind and hard ground to that equation and it becomes even more difficult.

I found 16, 17, 18 to be the toughest finishing stretch anywhere.  I think I went 3, 4, 5 and hit a 3wood on the green on 16, hit a 4 iron approach on 17 and a 6 iron approach on 18.  

[THuckaby2]

DG:

I'm looking at the yardage guide, and you have it essentially correct.  The burn actually kinda makes an inverse U shape on the right, then snakes up the left side and back across farther up, such that the effect is you are hitting on to an island for the most part, although the trouble longer and more right is heavey rough instead of the burn.  The distances from the way back tee are 189 to carry the first part of the burn and 274 to stay short of the second part.  Any sort of wind makes the shot REALLY problematic.  I think the problem Mike has with it - which I can really understand - is that from a tee block up (or if it's down wind), staying short of the 2nd part of the burn means a layup... and from the burn it's 170 still to the green... meaning that with any sensible layup, you're likely to have 190+ for the second shot.

Carrying the 2nd burn seems to me to be only for the Brian Nosers/John Dalys of this world.

It's a unique hole, that's for sure.  Not everyone has the stomach for laying up to have that far in, that's all.

TH

[Mike Benham]

17 is just a stupid hole with Barry Burn snaking its way through the hole ...

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't the Barry Burn essentially turn the fairway into a target which is at a 45 degree angle from the tee?  If you hit it down the left side you need to be short and if you hit it down the right, you need to hit it long?  I didn't think it was dumb, just a very difficult driving hole.  Add wind and hard ground to that equation and it becomes even more difficult.

I found 16, 17, 18 to be the toughest finishing stretch anywhere.  I think I went 3, 4, 5 and hit a 3wood on the green on 16, hit a 4 iron approach on 17 and a 6 iron approach on 18.  

You got it ... I agree that it is tough, it played downwind for us so stopping your tee shot on the green stuff was a challenge.



The tee box we played was right of the ones dipicted in the photo.  The hole seems to be out of character with the preceeding 16 holes, with the burn winding around and through the fairway.  

Ps:  Dan - check out the photo of the UCLA Men's Golf Team in the latest Golf Digest.  It's causing a little stir in the Athletic offices ...

[Dan Grossman]

We played the tee on the diagram, so the hole required a soft fade w/ my 3 wood.  Seems like it would be more of a guessing game from a tee right of the one on the diagram.  

I didn't think the whole was that out of place.  I thought #9 and #10 were odd (with the trees).  We also played it about a year after the British Open was there, so I kinda knew what to expect.  that may have played a part...

[Jonathan Cummings]

Soft Fade?  Sounds like a few of my pals at Troon after a few post round Tennents!  Jaycee

[Doug Siebert]

Troon has a very nice complex of muni courses (there were four when I was there in '91) that can allow for days of quality golf so long as you don't feel the need to check "names" off a list and don't want to use up your time there playing courses no one has ever heard of.  A couple of them are actually more difficult than Royal Troon, IMHO.  Despite people putting down the Portland course, I quite enjoyed it.  Makes a nice afternoon round after the beating you take on the back nine of the Championship course.  The first hole on the Portland is a 465 yard par 4, uphill, into the prevailing wind.  It does get easier from there, however!


Tom H,

When I played Troon in 1991, they had tee markers set up at the back and allowed play on them if you could show a handicap of 8 or less.  I happened to be playing off 8 at the time, so I was able to play the "real thing".  It beat me up pretty bad on the back nine playing into a 20-30 mph wind!


Mike B./Dan G.,

Dunno why you guys had so much trouble with the last three at Carnoustie, I have found them to be quite easy.  Went 1-4-4 my first time and 2-4-5 my second  I always thought that being a smartass about Carnoustie's finish would get me my comeuppance on my return visit, but that didn't happen.  I figure the course is saving me up for some truly terrible fate, like giving me an even par round through 15 and then a triple snowman finish or something similarly dramatic...

[THuckaby2]

Tom H,

When I played Troon in 1991, they had tee markers set up at the back and allowed play on them if you could show a handicap of 8 or less.  I happened to be playing off 8 at the time, so I was able to play the "real thing".  It beat me up pretty bad on the back nine playing into a 20-30 mph wind!

Doug - they were not so accomodating to me in either 1987 or 2003, my two times there.  I did ask... but no sale.  Of course I didn't really push it too hard, just did what I was told...  and it turned out the tees we played were fine enough for me.  In each case I was around 5 hdcp.

 

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