'I Always Think If You Can Navigate The Loop You’ve Got A Good Chance Of A Score'

Arnold Palmer's win at Royal Troon in 1962 kicked off an era of American dominance on the Ayrshire links as the first of six consecutive winners hailing from USA.

But that all changed in 2016 when Swede Henrik Stenson won and this year's field looks very open with a raft of nationalities competing.

As the pros are familiarising themselves with Troon this week and the links test ahead, Golf Monthly spoke to a local member to get the lowdown on the course. 

The wet summer means the rough is up and players will be advised to plot their way round the course - where the club's motto 'Tam Arte Quam Marte' , means as much by skill as by strength.

The member felt the key test is successfully navigating the loop from the seventh to 12th to retain a good chance of a decent score as they turn for home. This run of holes includes the infamous tricky short eighth called 'The Postage Stamp', which is the most celebrated short hole on the Open rota.  

A Royal Troon member told Golf Monthly: "The Postage Stamp is obviously the big and main one but aside from that, the rough is set to be far more penal this year, it’s juicy as hell.

"The bunker bases have also been flattened and they’re deeper than they’ve ever been. A couple of bunkers have been added but the main course changes are just the new tees that have been added. 

"The course is six out, then a loop of six filled with gorse and straight back in for six and I always think if you can navigate the loop you’ve got a good chance of a score."

The course was founded in 1878 as a result of a gathering of some golf enthusiasts with the original design being created by George Strath, the local pro. It was later expanded to 18 holes in 1888 and re-designed by five-time Champion Golfer James Braid ahead of its first Open in 1923 as the venue now prepares to host the tournament for its tenth time. 

Legendary golf coach David Leadbetter worked with Sir Nick Faldo when the Englishman won three Open championships under his tutelage. Faldo triumphed by plotting his way around courses using detailed strategies.

Leadbetter believes today's pros should adopt similar approaches.

He said: “You just have to go back to Sir Nick. It is a chess player who wins around there. It is not necessarily a bomb and gouge player. Sir Nick was an expert at that.

“Sir Nick was very much a planner and would plan there would be certain shots. He relied on his ball striking and was what I call a spot player. He would be like: ‘this is the area of the green I want to hit it to and this is the area I don’t want to hit it to’.

“Golf today is a bit different with the equipment changes and powerful athletes nowadays but you can’t overpower a links course. The rough is going to be pretty lush so hitting fairways and hitting to the right spots is going to be really important.”