Royal Troon countdown: 17 days to go

2nd, Black Rock – 390 yards, par 4

Another tee set right on the very edge of the coast line and perhaps more of a chance of finding the beach, a fate which befell Darren Clarke in the last round of The Open in 1997.

There are more bunkers to demand attention from the tee than on the 1st hole. The only change to the hole since The Open in 2004 has been to enlarge the green to the rear right to provide a tighter flag position. This has been achieved by purely mowing the green larger and restores the green to the size which it used to be.

[content_block slug=”Royal-Troon-17″]

The hole name… (Black Rock)

Given this name after the reef lying offshore between the second and third tees.

Hole changes

Green extended to the rear right.

Architect Martin Ebert explains..

“Colin Cotter, Andrew’s brother, has done some wonderful research on the evolution of Troon’s links and helped us in the alterations we have made.

“He discovered that during the war years there were just three greenkeepers for 54 holes and thus they didn’t have the manpower to maintain it as they would normally, and therefore maintained a small green and mowed it in.

“To the right of the 2nd is one where we have extended it – and I think it may have been even further out originally.

“It gives so many more pinning areas, which is very useful on a short-ish 4. Yes, it is a soft-ish opening compared to some but then you compare it to the finish, which is one of the toughest back nines on the rota.”

Moment in history..

This year’s Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke all but saw his hopes of winning The Open in 1997 disappear on the 2nd tee as a shanked three-iron found the nearby beach. Not surprisingly, it knocked the steam out of Clarke and the Irishman eventually finished in a tie for second.

Read more

Tom Irwin

Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.