The place Royal Troon’s ‘The Railway’ ranks amongst 50 hardest Open holes of twenty first century

So far as Open Championship venues go, Royal Troon isn’t notably stout, rating because the third best on the rota.

It’d be a lot simpler if not for “The Railway.”

The par-4 eleventh gap has traditionally been the hardest gap on property, together with in 2016, the final time the Open visited Troon, when its 4.561 scoring common ranked it as essentially the most troublesome gap on the PGA Tour that season.

What makes this gap so punishing? Let’s begin with the tee shot; at 490 yards and often taking part in instantly right into a northwest wind, it’s onerous to go away the lumber within the bag. Railroad tracks run down the whole thing of the proper facet of the outlet, and at about 300 yards from the tee, the boundary wall sits simply 20 yards from the proper fringe of the golf green. After all, there isn’t a bailout left, both; thick gorse litters the left facet of the golf green, which is barely about 30 yards broad within the touchdown space for many of those gamers.

The tracks are in play on the second shot, too, with the wall simply steps from the proper fringe of the inexperienced. There’s additionally a deep, greenside pot bunker simply off the front-left portion of the placing floor.

“11 is a good instance, simply get that one on the golf green,” Bryson DeChambeau stated. “It’s a really troublesome, troublesome gap. If the wind picks up, it could be driver. There are occasions the place it must be driver. You possibly can’t hit 3-wood or 5-wood; it’s simply too brief. I may hit a 3-wood, and if it’s 15, 20 miles an hour into the wind, it may go 250 yards, 240 yards relying on the peak. If it’s raining too, that performs an enormous issue, as nicely.

“So, there are occasions the place you might be compelled to hit driver, and also you’ve simply obtained to suck it up and hit a superb drive.”

“The Railway” has produced its fair proportion of disasters, together with in 1962 when Jack Nicklaus carded a ’10′ on the outlet. Extra just lately, Thomas Pieters delivered one of many extra memorable moments of frustration, snapping his membership over his knee and chucking each items of iron into some gorse.

However the place does Troon’s intimidating No. 11 rank amongst all holes on this championship since 2001? Here’s a checklist of the 50 hardest of the twenty first century to this point; 2016’s model of “The Railway” cracks the highest 10, although simply barely: