It might well be the shortest hole in Open Championship history, but the infamous ‘Postage Stamp’ at Royal Troon is not playing easy!
On Thursday, the hole was among the hardest on the Old Course at Troon, with the short par 3 having a scoring average of 3.28 on the opening day.
Conditions were tricky, with winds of up to 30 miles per hour blowing across the hole from left to right, bringing the deep and shallow greenside bunker on the right of the putting surface into play
Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa, two men to have lifted the Claret Jug in their careers, were among those to struggle on Thursday.
The Northern Irishman, who is still trying to end a ten-year major drought, played his second on to the green, only to see it roll all the way back to his feet in the trap.
Later on in the day, the 2021 Open Champion suffered the same fate. Both would make double bogey, and for McIlroy, it would be the catalyst of a poor back nine as well.
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It was even worse for the last man to win the Open Championship at this venue. Henrik Stenson carded a triple-bogey 6 after needing three shots to get out of the same bunker.
It also has to be said that there were some that played the 8th hole brilliantly.
Adam Scott, Justin Thomas, Matt Wallace, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood and Darren Clarke were just some of the names to birdie the famous 8th.
Will it get more difficult, or will it get easier as the week goes on.. Who knows? All I can say is that the Postage Stamp proves that a par 3 doesn’t need to be 250 yards long.
It may only be a wee hole, but my god is it the perfect cure for those fans looking to see golfers struggle.
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“Surely it can’t be that difficult”: The sights and sounds of Royal Troon’s infamous 8th
The ‘Postage Stamp’ is, without doubt, one of the most iconic holes in golf, and when you compare it to some of the other challenges that the pros are facing at Royal Troon this week, it seems somewhat insignificant.
It is the 8th hole on the Old Course, and it is on the scorecard at 123 yards. Compare that to the 6th, which is 500 yards longer.
That also seemed to be the feeling among those watching on in the grandstand by the 8th tee. To start with, it is an amazing vantage point, and if you sit at the far end, you can also see the entirety of the 7th hole as well.
I spent a couple of hours in the grandstand with the punters on Thursday afternoon, and below are just some of the phrases I heard during that time.
- “Get down”
- “Get up there”
- “Ooh no, not there!”
- “Don’t go down there!”
- “There’s loads of room behind the flag, you know?”
- “It’s only a wedge, how are they missing the green?”
- “You just need to aim left of it”
- “You don’t get two clubs out unless you’re not sure…”
Add in a lot of moans and groans at shots that didn’t find the putting surface, which was the majority, and a generous ripple of applause when the ball stayed on the dance floor, and you have a lovely afternoon of watching golf.
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However, my personal favourite was a rather confident young gentleman who stated: “Surely it can’t be that difficult!”
Well, if that man stayed as long as I did, he was definitely proven wrong…
- NOW READ: The weird rule in play at the 8th at Royal Troon this week
- NOW READ: What are the hardest holes at Royal Troon?
Have you ever been lucky enough to play at Royal Troon? How did you get on at the infamous Postage Stamp? Let us know with a post on X, formerly Twitter!
