Playing Troon like the Pro's
From the 15th to the 18th of July the worlds best will be giving it a knock around Royal Troon in the 133rd Open Championship. Our hole by hole guide might just might just be the edge the eventual winner will need. Though probably not.
1-Par 4 370 yards
Downwind and straightforward, Tiger and Co were trying to knock it on the green back in '97. A new pot bunker in front of the green and two on the right side of the fairway at around 280 yards will stop this.
2-Par 4 391 yards
Many of the pros will take a long iron from the tee and lay up short of the new bunker in the centre of the fairway at 275 yards. Then a short iron is left into the green.
3-Par 4 379 yards
A ditch at 285 yards spoils the fun preventing even the longest hitters attacking this green off the tee. A well-placed drive will leave a wedge to the pin. All the pro needs to do then is make the putt.
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4-Par 5 560 yards
The hole is played downwind,so if the pros find the fairway they will have a good chance of getting on in two. Unfortunately for them two bunkers have been added on the left side of the fairway in time for this year?s Open at 290-320 yards
5-Par 3 210 yards
This is the first short hole. There is trouble on the right of the green, where a deep gully awaits any mishit shots.
6-Par 5 601 yards
They have to birdie here for a good score. 601 yards isn't to far when you consider the latest big sticks help Joe Average tour pro it it 300 yards when they needs to.
7-Par 4 405 yards
The best looking hole on the course. Two new bunkers have been added to the left of the fairway to catch any hooks or pulls.
8-Par 3 123 yards
This is a simple hole- if you hit the dance floor. There are five bunkers surrounding the putting surface and a steep bank if you go through the back. The wind is usually coming at you from the left.
9.-Par 4 423 yards
Aim for the left side of the fairway, avoiding the two pot bunkers there, to give themselves a view of the green. The approach shot is blind from the right side of the fairway.
10-Par 4 438 yards
Really, it?s your first shot into the wind after being out there for the best part of three hours. Oh did we forget to say it's blind as well. It?s a tough par 4.
11-Par 4 490 yards
It was an easy par 5. Now it's a rock hard par 4 and it?s the toughest on the course. You can?t see the fairway through the gorse in front of the Championship tee and there is gorse up the right. The second shot here is a long iron, with the railway line out of bounds to the right of the green.
12-Par 4 431 yards
This is the last downwind hole on the course with room on the left here for the drive ? there is rough and gorse on the right. The approach to the two-tier green is a straightforward one.
13-Par 4 472 yards
There are no bunkers on this hole, but it is one of the toughest on the course. Cut too much of the dogleg and you'll miss the fairway right.
14-Par 3 178 yards
This will be one of the easier par 3s at the Open, but there is a tight entrance to the green so there will be no prizes for being too cute here and coming up short.
15-Par 4 483 yards
This is a tough drive playing into the wind from the new Championship tee ? if the pros let their ball slide right here they will be out of bounds.
16-Par 5 542 yards
When the wind is blows, it?s maybe the only birdie hole on the back nine, so it?s an important opportunity to pick up a stroke.
17-Par 3 222 yards
This is the toughest short hole on the course. It?s a big green, but the ball runs left and right if you hit a less than perfect shot. If the pin is on the right the pros mustn?t miss the green that side or they will be in trouble.
18-Par 4 457 yards
Tight off the tee, players will have to thread the needle here with their drives. The green is bigger than it looks from the fairway, and as usual the trouble is at the front, so the approach shot needs to be a full one.