The history of Royal Troon
On the golf-rich south Ayrshire coast, a few hundred yards north of the birthplace of The Open sits a golf course that only the very best have conquered. As Royal Troon prepares to host its 10th Open Championship, we look at the extensive history of one of Scotland’s greatest links courses.
Humble beginnings
Off the back of a meeting at the local pub, Royal Troon was founded in 1878, initially with just six holes. Charlie Hunter, a protégé of Old Tom Morris and the greenkeeper of the first ever Open venue down the road at Prestwick, designed the initial holes, before it was extended to 18 by club professional George Strath in 1884.
Hole 8: Postage Stamp
Iconic holes
In 1910, head professional Willie Fernie ‘stamped’ his mark on the course forevermore when he laid out the 8th hole, known as the Postage Stamp, the shortest hole in the Open roster, as the 11th ‘Railway’ hole, one of the most challenging in all of major golf. As well as the shortest, Royal Troon is also home to one of the longest holes in Open golf; the par-5 6th can extend as far as 601 yards.
Hole 11: The Railway
Prisoners claimed
These two holes have claimed their fair share of scalps over the years. The 8th took its most notable victim at the 1950 Open when German amateur Herman Tissies found the left bunker, rattling up a record score of 15 despite limiting himself to just one putt. Even the best to ever swing a club have fallen foul of these holes. Tiger Woods, the joint course record holder at Royal Troon, shot a triple-bogey at the Stamp in 1997, ending his hopes of victory in dramatic fashion, while Jack Nicklaus scored 10 at the Railway hole.
Famous architects
Fernie would also lay out a second course at Troon in 1897, but in the 1920s a redesign from the hands of none other than Dr Alister MacKenzie established it as the Portland Course, the layout of which remains virtually the same today. A similarly notable architect, James Braid, would alter and lengthen the old course a year ahead of Troon’s first Open in 1923.
Ladies golf pedigree
Women’s golf has been played at Troon almost since the inception of the club in 1878. The Ladies Golf Club, formed in 1882, had access to all three golf courses, with the Ladies British Amateur Championship first hosted in 1904. Gifted golfer Helen Holm is the most famous Troon native, playing off plus four and with a graceful swing she was victorious in five Scottish Amateur Championships. The prestigious Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open Championship is now held in her memory.
Astounding amateurs
James Lawrence Christie Jenkins, or JLC, was the only Royal Troon member to claim the Amateur Championship back in 1914 at Royal St George’s; in the same year, he also claimed the Silver Medal at the Open. One of six siblings with golfing pedigree, his four brothers all played off scratch or better while his sister, Dorothea Perkins, was also a champion golfer. Given his age, his golfing career was interrupted by the First World War. He won the Military Cross in 1917 for ‘conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty’ before returning to civilian life in 1919. Resuming his career, he would take part in the 1921 match between GB&I and the USA at Hoylake, the informal forerunner to the Walker Cup. Eventually, he would captain Troon after World War Two.
The Open arrives
1923 was the first year that the Old Course would host the Open Championship. Since then, the competition has returned eight further times, meaning that 2024 will be the 10th Open at Royal Troon. In 2020, the Women’s British Open was also hosted at the club.
Dramatic victories
From its very first Open, Royal Troon would prove a course destined to produce tense finishes. When Arthur Havers lifted the Claret Jug, it required a holed bunker shot on the 72nd to win his first and only major, beating the behemoth of Walter Hagen by one stroke. Bobby Locke’s victory in 1950 was by a slim two strokes, Tom Watson taking it ever tighter with a one stroke win in 1982. Both the 1989 and 2004 Opens would be decided in playoffs.
Henrik Stenson wins in 2016
Supreme Stenson
However, the duel between Swede Henrik Stenson, shooting a record 20-under par to hold off Phil Mickelson in 2016, is easily the most enthralling to have graced Royal Troon. An Open showdown to rival that of Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson at Turnberry back in 1977, the ‘Duel of the Sons’ was a titanic battle that would eventually see Stenson claim a three-shot victory, an incredible 14-stokes clear of third place. After three second place finishes in the Open, Stenson had finally stepped up to claim the Claret Jug.
American champions
From 1962 through to 2004, Open champions at Royal Troon all came from across the pond. Arnold Palmer’s victory started the trend, Tom Weiskopf and Tom Watson victorious in the following two. Mark Calcavecchia, in the first ever three-way playoff, took home the trophy in 1989, Justin Leonard and Todd Hamilton bringing up the final two US victories. It took Henrik Stenson’s ten birdies on Sunday to break the American vice grip in 2016.
The Open returns
A hundred and one years on from its first, Royal Troon is preparing for the return of golf’s most historic major championship, its 152ndedition. Who will be the next name to be added to its illustrious list of Champion golfers?
