What Is Calamity Corner?

You will hear this phrase several times during the week so we explain what it means in this piece.

What Is Calamity Corner?

The Open Championship returns to Royal Portrush in 2019 for the first time since 1951. The Dunluce links has gone through a slight transformation since then including changes to the 7th and 8th. Additionally many of the holes have also been lengthened to provide a stiffer defence for the worlds best golfers and this includes the par-3 16th known as 'Calamity Corner' which is a phrase you are sure to hear a lot during commentary throughout the week.

But what is it and why is the golf hole called as such? We explain all below.

'Calamity Corner' is the name of the 236-yard 16th hole that is already causing quite a stir because of its beauty and its difficulty.

On the Royal Portrush website it says of the hole;

"Calamity Corner, the 236 yard par 3 16th Hole is a must play for any follower of the game. Between the tee and the green is a yawning chasm, which must be cleared to stand any chance of making your three. It is hard to describe the feeling as you stand on this tee, looking out across the Valley links below, knowing it will take a fantastic shot to hit the small target across the void."

Graphic via: www.golfbidder.co.uk

So why exactly is it called Calamity? Well we can assume it is called as such because it has wrecked many a card in calamitous fashion.

This hole will undoubtedly play a huge role in who lifts the Claret Jug on Sunday because of its difficulty and it seems as if many of the players know this from their practice round experience.

Several players spoke to the Belfast Telegraph about the hole. Tiger Woods simply said "That's hard."

Jason Day joked; "Anything up and to the left - don't miss it short right - you're doing ok."

Big hitting American Tony Finau said; "It's a great hole. 230 yards with that forced carry on the right hand side but the green's big enough to hit. If you bail out right or left then you've got a tough up and down."

Patrick Reed, who played alongside Tiger said; "It's definitely set for drama. You've got to be hitting the ball well because 16 is a brutal par three depending on where the wind is coming from."

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