I had passed through Troon after a week or so touring the South West of Scotland in December 2021. I was then fortunate enough to be able to play Royal Troon in September 2022 with a group of guys from Winged Foot. The golf course is the classic 9 out-9 in links course, with the prevailing wind behind you on the front and very much against you coming home, and features some classic links challenges like the Postage Stamp 8th hole.
This is from the website:
Old Course
One of the great links courses in Scotland, the Old Course is a challenging test of golfing ability. With the wind to contend with, and deep rough interspersed with gorse and broom, accurate shot making is essential. Players should make their scores on the outward nine, as the prevailing north-westerly wind can make the back nine extremely difficult.
Portland Course
The Portland Course, originally designed by the Troon professional William Fernie, winner of the Open Championship in 1883, was opened in 1895 and subsequently redesigned by Dr Alister MacKenzie in the early 1920’s. Although a links course, the Portland is a little more sheltered than the Old Course and, of course, shorter. The holes meander through terrain filled with gorse and broom and has a generous helping of Par 3s, five in all. This is tempered however, with five Par 5s, four of which are on the back nine.
This is a link to the Club’s website. https://www.royaltroon.co.uk.
Troon had hosted nine Opens, and I had wanted to go see and play it after watching one of the greatest duals in Open history between Phil and Henrik Stenson in 2016. Stenson’s 63 in the final round in the 145th Open to win was just incredible. Phil played amazingly well too and but for a couple of very unlucky breaks on the greens, he would have been Champion.
The camaraderie between the two golfers was incredible, and Stenson dedicated the trophy to a close friend who had passed earlier on the year. Truly a classy thing to do. Phil seems to really like playing in Scotland and we really like him here: he’s got such a great personality and rapport with the fans here. Not some kind of mechanical player but all guile and craft which you need to beat most courses in Scotland.
The official review can be found here: https://www.theopen.com/latest/2020/05/henrik-stenson-brilliance-at-troon
There was a brilliant moment during the tv coverage - Dan Hicks of course was sensational - when Stenson made that putt on 18 in the background you could see staff and others in the Clubhouse jump for joy. Just fantastic. Everyone knew something special had occurred.
Now of course both players have a very mixed fan reaction after they signed on to LIV. Stenson in particular did it after being announced as Ryder Cup Captain.
These are pics of when Gill and I went. Nice day.
That picture of Gill is at Culzean Castle just up the Ayrshire coast and worth a visit.
As mentioned, I played in September 2022, with 7 of my US buddies. I had booked the course back in March and was told there was a wait list of 2600. I guess this is more evidence that the post-covid demand for golf was really high. It’s not cheap - around £300, but you can just feel how great a championship course it is. This a link to a flyover of each hole: https://www.royaltroon.co.uk/the-courses/old-course/
The first nine mostly have the prevailing wind behind you, and sometimes I found it a bit hard to judge how short to hit approaches. The greens are remarkably small, and heavily bunkered in classic links fashion. Almost automatic bogeys if you get in one of them. The back nine really are a challenge: you are into the wind and all the par fours feel like 4.5’s minimum. One thing all these links courses teach you is straight shooting and don’t push your luck.
Nicklaus described the 11th hole as the hardest in the UK, and Palmer had similar views. From the yellow tees its not so terrifying, but the pro tees incorporate a blind shot over gorse. And right behind the tee box, planes take off from Prestwick Airport to add to the distractions.
The Postage Stamp par 3 8th hole is truly terrifying. Any kind of errant shot could mean the end to a good beginning. I think McIlroy managed an 8 there during one Open. I just missed the coffin bunker and made bogey with 3 putts. Getting the speed on the greens was tough- this was true pretty much everywhere on this trip - uphill seemed too slow and downhill seemed too slippery. Plus it felt like I left myself with lots of right to left breaks with the wind in a similar direction which made it very tough to judge.
We were very fortunate with the weather as you can see from the pics. I really enjoyed Royal Troon and would highly recommend it to anyone planning a trip in this area. The Proshop is really good too, and the staff gave us a very warm welcome when we arrived. Nice changing rooms and showers etc as well.
This whole area has several really great golf courses: I mentioned Prestwick, and close by there are Western gables and Dundonald, plus the other Donald’s Turnberry just round the bay.