Royal Troon Golf Club

Royal Troon Golf Club

Royal Troon, seen from the sand dunes which form a barrier to the Firth of Clyde.
Club information
Location	Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland
Established	1878, 146 years ago
Type	Private
Total holes	45
Tournaments hosted	The Open Championship, The Amateur, Senior British Open
Website	royaltroon.co.uk
Old Course
Par	71
Length	7,175 yards (6,561 m)
Course rating	75
Portland Course
Par	71
Length	6,289 yards (5,751 m)
Course rating	71
Craigend Course
Par	27
Length	1,191 yards (1,089 m)

Royal Troon

Location in Scotland

Troon

Location in South Ayrshire, Scotland

Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course located in Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The club was founded 146 years ago in 1878, initially with five holes. George Strath was appointed in 1881 as the club's first golf professional. The club was granted its "Royal" accolade in 1978, during its centennial.

Its Old Course is one of the host courses for The Open Championship, one of the major championships on the PGA Tour and European Tour. The Club has hosted the Open eight times, last in 2004, won by Todd Hamilton in a 4-hole playoff against Ernie Els. It is scheduled to host again in 2016.

Past Open champions at Royal Troon include Justin Leonard, Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Watson, Tom Weiskopf, Arnold Palmer, Bobby Locke, and Arthur Havers. The last six Opens at Troon have been won by Americans.

Royal Troon is home to both the longest and shortest holes in Open Championship golf. The par-3 8th hole ("Postage Stamp") measures a short 123 yards (112 m) and is regarded as one of the top holes in the world, while the par-5 6th ("Turnberry") extends to 601 yards (550 m).

The Old Course

The Old Course is the championship layout at Troon. The Club has a second course, the Portland, designed by Dr. Alister MacKenzie, which is also of very high standard. The Club is private; guests are allowed at certain times, under advance booking, with a handicap certificate establishing proficiency.

The Old Course has four tees – "Ladies", "Short", "Medal" and "Championship".

Layout

2004 Open Championship

Hole	Name	Yards	Par		Hole	Name	Yards	Par
1	Seal	370	4		10	Sandhills	438	4
2	Black Rock	391	4		11	The Railway	490	4
3	Gyaws	379	4		12	The Fox	431	4
4	Dunure	560	5		13	Burmah	472	4
5	Greenan	210	3		14	Alton	178	3
6	Turnberry	601	5		15	Crosbie	483	4
7	Tel-el-Kebir	405	4		16	Well	542	5
8	Postage Stamp	123	3		17	Rabbit	222	3
9	The Monk	423	4		18	Craigend	457	4
Out		3,462	36		In		3,713	35
					Total		7,175	71

Source:

Lengths of the course for previous Opens (since 1950):

1997: 7,079 yards (6,473 m), par 71 1989: 7,067 yards (6,462 m), par 72 1982: 7,067 yards (6,462 m), par 72

1973: 7,064 yards (6,459 m), par 72 1962: 7,045 yards (6,442 m), par 72 1950: 6,583 yards (6,019 m), par 70

The Open Championship

The Open Championship has been held at Troon on eight occasions:

Year	Winner	Score					Winner's share (£)
		R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1923	Arthur Havers	73	73	73	76	295	75
1950	Bobby Locke 2nd	69	72	70	68	279 (−1)	300
1962	Arnold Palmer 2nd	71	69	67	69	276 (−12)	1,400
1973	Tom Weiskopf	68	67	71	70	276 (−12)	5,500
1982	Tom Watson 4th	69	71	74	70	284 (−4)	32,000
1989	Mark Calcavecchia	71	68	68	68	275 (−13)PO	80,000
1997	Justin Leonard	69	66	72	65	272 (−12)	250,000
2004	Todd Hamilton	71	67	67	69	274 (−10)PO	720,000
2016	scheduled, 14–17 July

• Note: For multiple winners of The Open Championship, superscript ordinal identifies which in their respective careers.

The Old Course is divided from the beach by raised sand dunes, with views out over the Firth of Clyde.

External links

• Official website