Royal Troon Golf Club
Encyclopedia
Links (golf)
A links is the oldest style of golf course, first developed in Scotland. The word "links" comes from the Scots language and refers to an area of coastal sand dunes and sometimes to open parkland. It also retains this more general meaning in the Scottish English dialect...
golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
located in Troon
Troon
Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services...
, South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The club was founded in 1878, initially with five holes. Its Old Course is now one of the host courses for The Open Championship
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
, one of the major championships on the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
and European Tour. The Club has hosted the Open eight times.
The 2004 Open Championship was held at Royal Troon, and was won by Todd Hamilton
Todd Hamilton
William Todd Hamilton is an American professional golfer.Hamilton was born in the small west-central Illinois city of Galesburg. He grew up in an even smaller Henderson County town on the Mississippi called Oquawka. He attended Union High School in Biggsville, Illinois and played golf regularly on...
in a 4-hole playoff against Ernie Els
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
. Past Open champions at Troon include Justin Leonard
Justin Leonard
Justin Charles Garrett Leonard is an American professional golfer.Leonard was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He attended Lake Highlands High School and graduated in 1990. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and was the individual NCAA champion in 1994. He was a two-time All-American...
, Mark Calcavecchia
Mark Calcavecchia
Mark John Calcavecchia is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he has won thirteen PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. Calcavecchia currently plays on the Champions Tour.-Early years:Calcavecchia was born in Laurel,...
, Tom Watson
Tom Watson (golfer)
Thomas Sturges Watson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour....
, Tom Weiskopf
Tom Weiskopf
Thomas Daniel Weiskopf is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. His most successful decade was the 1970s, and he won 16 PGA Tour titles between 1968 and 1982. After winding down his tournament career, Weiskopf has become a noted golf course...
, Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955...
, Bobby Locke
Bobby Locke
Arthur D'Arcy "Bobby" Locke was the first internationally successful South African professional golfer. He won four Open Championships.-Early years:...
and Arthur Havers
Arthur Havers
Arthur Gladstone Havers was an English professional golfer who won the 1923 Open Championship at Royal Troon.Havers was born in Norwich, England. He had first qualified for the Open in 1914 at the age of sixteen...
.
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") is 601 yards (550 m) long.
The Old Course
The Old Course is the championship layout at Troon. The Club has a second course, the Portland, designed by Dr. Alister MacKenzieAlister MacKenzie
Dr. Alister MacKenzie was an internationally renowned, British golf course architect whose course designs, on three different continents, are consistently ranked among the finest golf courses in the world...
, 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". The lengths given are for the Championship course.
| | Hole | | Name | | Par | | Length (yd) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seal | 4 | 361 |
| 2 | Black Rock | 4 | 391 |
| 3 | Gyaws | 4 | 379 |
| 4 | Dunure | 5 | 558 |
| 5 | Greenan | 3 | 210 |
| 6 | Turnberry | 5 | 599 |
| 7 | Tel-el-Kebir | 4 | 403 |
| 8 | Postage Stamp | 3 | 123 |
| 9 | The Monk | 4 | 423 |
| 10 | Sandhills | 4 | 438 |
| 11 | The Railway | 4 | 488 |
| 12 | The Fox | 4 | 431 |
| 13 | Burmah | 4 | 470 |
| 14 | Alton | 3 | 178 |
| 15 | Crosbie | 4 | 481 |
| 16 | Well | 5 | 542 |
| 17 | Rabbit | 3 | 222 |
| 18 | Craigend | 4 | 453 |
| Total | 71 | 7150 |
The Open Championship
The Open ChampionshipThe Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
has been held at Troon on eight occasions:
| Year | |Winner | |Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | ||
| 1923 |  Arthur HaversArthur Havers Arthur Gladstone Havers was an English professional golfer who won the 1923 Open Championship at Royal Troon.Havers was born in Norwich, England. He had first qualified for the Open in 1914 at the age of sixteen... 1st |
73 | 73 | 73 | 76 | 295 |
| 1950 |  Bobby LockeBobby Locke Arthur D'Arcy "Bobby" Locke was the first internationally successful South African professional golfer. He won four Open Championships.-Early years:... 2nd |
69 | 72 | 70 | 68 | 279 (-9) |
| 1962 |  Arnold PalmerArnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955... 2nd |
71 | 69 | 67 | 69 | 276 (-12) |
| 1973 | Tom Weiskopf Tom Weiskopf Thomas Daniel Weiskopf is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. His most successful decade was the 1970s, and he won 16 PGA Tour titles between 1968 and 1982. After winding down his tournament career, Weiskopf has become a noted golf course... 1st |
68 | 67 | 71 | 70 | 276 (-12) |
| 1982 | Tom Watson Tom Watson (golfer) Thomas Sturges Watson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour.... 4th |
69 | 71 | 74 | 70 | 284 (-4) |
| 1989 | Mark Calcavecchia Mark Calcavecchia Mark John Calcavecchia is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he has won thirteen PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. Calcavecchia currently plays on the Champions Tour.-Early years:Calcavecchia was born in Laurel,... 1st |
71 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 275 (-13)PO |
| 1997 | Justin Leonard Justin Leonard Justin Charles Garrett Leonard is an American professional golfer.Leonard was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He attended Lake Highlands High School and graduated in 1990. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and was the individual NCAA champion in 1994. He was a two-time All-American... 1st |
69 | 66 | 72 | 65 | 272 (-12) |
| 2004 | Todd Hamilton Todd Hamilton William Todd Hamilton is an American professional golfer.Hamilton was born in the small west-central Illinois city of Galesburg. He grew up in an even smaller Henderson County town on the Mississippi called Oquawka. He attended Union High School in Biggsville, Illinois and played golf regularly on... 1st |
71 | 67 | 67 | 69 | 274 (-10)PO |
- Note: Superscript number besides the player's name is the number of the Open Championship in their respective careers.