Royal Troon will have longest hole in Open history

[CharlieH]

 

Royal Troon will have the longest hole in Open history when the Ayrshire links plays host to the 152nd championship in July.

The sixth hole will measure 623 yards - 22 more than it did when Troon staged the 2016 Open - when it hosts the battle for the Claret Jug from 18-21 July.

Two holes later, the players could then play the shortest hole in the championship's long history.

The iconic par-three eighth, the ‘Postage Stamp’, will measure 123 yards on the scorecard but organisers the Royal & Ancient (R&A) is considering reducing that to 99 yards for one round, weather permitting.

The R&A can use a forward tee and a front pin position to create a hole that would play fewer than 100 yards.

Overall though, the R&A's preferred architects Mackenzie & Ebert have generally lengthened the links for the 2024 Open.

The creation of nine new tees means an overall increase of 195 yards to 7,385 - just 36 fewer than the record at Carnoustie in 2007.

There are new bunker positions - on the first and sixth fairways as well as next to the sixth green.

The 15th - which was the 16th before the addition of the new 17th - played 620 yards at Royal Liverpool last year after being stretched by 45 yards since Rory McIlroy's win at Hoylake in 2014.

This year’s championship has sold out, ensuring a record attendance for a Troon Open of 250,000 - an increase of more than 70,000 people from 2016, when Henrik Stenson prevailed in a thrilling duel with Phil Mickelson.

 

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