Cover the children’s ears. The eerie quiet of the 11th tee at Royal Troon – a place far removed from the regular confines of the 2016 Open – was being punctured by the profanity-laden cries of golfers in pain.
It was torture bordering on the sadistic. The task: find what looked like a speck of fairway amid a mountain of gorse. Push it fractionally right and death on the tracks awaited. Specifically, the Ayrshire Coast Railway Line.
You could forgive the frustrations of the likes of Matt Jones, who had cruised round the front nine in -5 on the opening day eight years ago.
Four of those shots disappeared with double bogeys on 11 and 12. His Open dreams were badly wounded in the space of 912 yards.
Jones could consider himself somewhat fortunate. Steven Bowditch wrote 9 on his scorecard after flailing away at this par 4.
Some 44 contestants made double on Railway over the first two days. Star after star looked like mid-handicappers on this brutal stretch.
How many victims will a hole Arnold Palmer once called the “most dangerous in golf” claim this summer?
A new back tee awaits to surely hand out even more punishment. But diabolical as the 11th may be, it is not a solitary evil.
Gary Player said Troon’s back nine was “the most difficult in the world when the wind is blowing”.
Even though he’s a man somewhat prone to hyperbole, on this occasion he’s not exaggerating.
This year’s Open might have the longest hole in championship history – the 623-yard 6th.
The destiny of the Claret Jug, though, will be decided on the sensational stretch of linksland that forms the run home.
Royal Troon back 9: This is why it is so difficult
What makes it so tough? You’ve got to be arrow straight, often facing a tough seaside wind and a layout that moves across those breezes.
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The shortest – yes the shortest – of the six par fours is 450 yards. The 17th has been lengthened to 242 yards, which puts it in the same ballpark as the infamous 16th at Carnoustie.
Heading north from the 13th back to the clubhouse can mean battling a wind which drives into the face and makes clubbing up a multi-numbered affair.
Gorse abounds throughout. Greens are tough to hit and even harder to hold. The run-offs feel like hills rather than slopes.
And those putting surfaces can also be in plateaus – check the 10th, 17th – or raised elusively like the two-tiered affair that waits on 12.
Yes, there are bunkers – there to terrify and trap. But unlike so many courses of its ilk, Troon’s back nine doesn’t rely on sand alone to do the damage.
The fairway monstrosity on 18 might be famous. It essentially cost Greg Norman victory in 1989, but the 10th and 13th don’t feature any at all. The former was ranked the third-hardest hole on the course 20 years ago.
There is no respite when the length shortens, either. Try the 14th, the shortest hole on the course after the Postage Stamp back in 2016, when the flag is pinned behind the bunkers.
In total, it is over 300 yards longer than the front nine, despite the par being a shot less and the fact that almost every hole is played into the prevailing wind.
It’s a back nine that gives no time to catch the breath. And for those even a smidge off their games, it is simply uncompassionate in its severity.
It needs to be negotiated. Endured but not enjoyed. The perfect strategy? Just hang on and hope.
Now have your say
Is there a more difficult closing run at major championships than the back 9 at Royal Troon? Why not let me know your thoughts by leaving me a comment on X.
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