Royal Troon Golf Club

Troon Golf Club was formed in 1878 as a six hole golf course, extended to eighteen holes in 1888 and measuring 3 miles, 1 furlong and 156yards.

The championship course was built around Blackrock Cottage, as it was then, which explains the presence of the current Blackrock House in the centre of the Championship course.  The ground was made available by His Grace, the Duke of Portland, one of whose requirements was that a course be made available for the “artisans” of Troon.  This led to the formation of the adjoining Portland Course which has been used, in its own right, as a qualifying course for the European Open. Portland Course is the home of the Portland Golf Club and the Troon Ladies Golf Club.  The Portland Course is utilised for players' practice during the Open and also to accommodate the Tented Village.

Given the current discussions about the fairer sex and golf, it is probably worth saying that Lady Members have playing rights on the Royal Troon championship course, as also have Lady Guests and Visitors. 

The Clubhouse was erected in 1886 in a substantial contemporary style. In the Centenary Year of 1978 the Club was accorded the Royal Accolade

The course itself was designed by the great Willie Fernie, who went on to be Club Professional for many years, and became an Open Champion in the days of Vardon, Braid and Taylor.

click on image to enlarge  

The Open Championship

The Open has been played at Troon frequently, and the course lives up to the Club motto – “Tam Arte Quam Marte”, meaning “as much by skill as by strength”

The most recent Open Championship at Troon was in 1997 when Justin Leonard triumphed, and the list of previous champions contains such illustrious names as Bobby Locke, Arnold Palmer, Tom Weiskopf, Tom Watson and Mark Calcavecchia.

Troon has also hosted the British Amateur Championship several times - with June 2003 being the most recent.

Troon is a challenging test of golf, with narrow fairways and strategically placed bunkers to intimidate the bold hitters.  With the increasing driving distance of modern professionals, a number of additional bunkers have been cleverly situated, to find out the unwary and overly-ambitious!  While the first nine are demanding,  the back nine vie for the title “toughest back nine in any Open course”.

There are many superb holes, including the longest hole in Open Championship golf – the 6th at 599 yards.  However, the par 3 eighth “Postage Stamp”,  at 126 yards may be  the shortest hole in Championship golf, but its small, undulating green is surrounded by  a host of tough bunkers which have brought grief to some of the world’s top golfers, including Tiger Wood’s triple bogey in 1997 and an incredible 15 by the German amateur, Herman Tissies , 1950.  By contrast, the legendary Gene Sarazen had a hole in one in 1973, the 50th anniversary of his first appearance in the Open.