I played Royal Troon last Thursday (the winter course, with its unique tee positions). Generally there is little change other than making the fairway bunkers on the flatter holes early and late in the round rather steeper faced. Neither of my playing partners (both club members) could get out of them in a forward direction and always had to admit defeat and come out sideways or backwards.
1st. New tee back and right of medal tee adding 14 yards and calling for an angled shot to the fairway or a slight fade. Two new bunkers on the right of the fairway tighten the drive and a new green-front bunker should deter many from trying to drive this green.
2nd. An extra bunker has been added to the front left of the green (or possibly the original bunker made into two smaller ones).
3rd. No change
4th. Two bunkers added on left of fairway at 291 and 321 yards from championship tee.
5th. No change.
6th. New back tee makes this now measure 599 yards (though my companions tell me it will measure just over 600 yards for the Championship).
7th. Two further fairway bunkers added on left at 309 and 327 yards from championship tee.
8th. No change.
9th. No change, but I fancy the gap between the fairway bunkers on the left at 275 and 285 yards and the right hand edge of the fairway is even narrower than it used to be - no more than 10 yards!
10th. No change, though the championship tee may be slightly further back - not sure.
11th. No change, though now played as a 488-yard par 4.
12th. No change.
13th. No real change, just slightly longer.
14th. No change.
15th. New tee far to left of 14th green (old tee was to its right) calls for a drawn tee shot between the fairway bunkers (222, 251 and 265 yards from this tee). Length now 481 yards (par 4). Winter tee is on this side, though MUCH shorter, and it is an exciting tee shot.
16th. No change. With the wind behind (unusual) i was just able to clear the burn with my drive, leaving a 5-wood to the green and thoughts of an eagle. They were premature - 3 putts followed!
17th. I think the championship tee may be a tad further back than it used to be.
18th. I fancy this tee is slightly further back, too. These fairway bunkers seem to be straighter faced than they used to be and, with four of them in the range 262 to 326 yards from the back tee, they may well have some effect on the outcome of events.
The course was already in beautiful condition (the greens a little woolly but true) and on several (but not all) fairways we were required to lift the ball to the semi-rough to avoid taking divots. The winter course measures 6201 yards keeping par at 71 and probably played about 5 shots easier than the 6641-yard medal course. SSS for the winter course is 71 and 73 for the medal course.