Royal Troon
May 2022 – There are a few reasons why I decided to do golfscrapbook.com: 1) Post a scrapbook of photos I’ve been taking of all of the courses I’ve been lucky enough to travel to 2) Create a way for me to capture thoughts related to the courses I’ve played for my own memory’s sake and 3) should anyone find their way to the site, to provide a vastly different review perspective on golf courses – one that is more about the experience for the average bogey golfer versus some nuanced architectural nonsense that 99% of the golfing public can’t appreciate nor cares about. My Troon review is the perfect example of the third reason.
Though it’s still in everybody’s top 100 world golf courses, Troon gets crushed by the golf nerds. “It’s got six bad opening holes and closing holes.” Blah. Blah. Blah. I get it, the first three holes are somewhat similar; the first five and last five are on flatter land than the middle eight holes. But the first five holes are beautifully hugging the Firth of Clyde. The prevailing winds are smacking you in the face so the course is designed smartly to use the wind as the hazard on these holes. The final five feature intriguing bumps and rolls that make an even lie a difficult proposition. And yes the last may be the 17th handicap and as such undeserving of the closing hole for a major tournament, but look at St. Andrews. Kind of the same, right? In fact, isn’t it just as much drama for the pros to “have” to hit their second shots CLOSE for birdie than to survive a hole and hope to make par on the final hole and the tournament on the line?
I found Troon to be an awesome experience and I actually rank it in my top ten (tied with Carnoustie if not a hair better). Carnoustie generally gets better reviews and rankings than Troon so want to comp these two from my perspective.
The golfers I know who have been to Scotland all recommend Carnoustie as a must play. Well the thing is, only about 5% of all US golfers ever actually make the trip to Scotland. BTW I made that stat up instead of researching it but it sounds good. And most are only going once to check St. Andrews off the bucket list. OK I researched it, in fact the Scottish tourism board said that North American golfers made up 30% of the overnight visitors and nearly half of them were on a second or more visit. So I’ll change it to: “Of the golfers I speak to only 5% have been to Scotland and of those, all but one or two of my friends have only gone once and home based themselves in St. Andrews.” This is a really long way of saying that more of the golfers I know have only been around St. Andrews and will make the 45-minute trek up to Carnoustie but not across to Troon so I don’t hear the “must play Troon” as much as I hear that about Carnoustie.
However, let’s compare the two (Carnoustie versus Royal Troon):
- Open Championship Rota: Both are on the rota. The Open is coming back to Troon in 2024. Of course Carnoustie has a reputation of being tough and had the memorable Jean Van de Velde collapse so its British Open history is a little more well-known, but call this one a tie.
- Clubhouse/Experience: Actually spent more time in the Carnoustie grill than I did at Troon (no après drinks since we were staying across the street). Though this one depends on your flavor. Clubhouse and vibe at Carnoustie (as a municipal course) were a lot like Bethpage (though nicer). It had a high-end public feel. Troon’s clubhouse and vibe was much more like that of a private club, in fact Friday-Sunday is reserved for member play and access to the clubhouse only. I will say the clubhouse at Troon is what you see above and more like what you would expect from an old-timey Scottish links. Still, call this a tie but depends on whether you like more formal/exclusive or more public/accessible.
- Wow factor: You’re in Scotland on a championship golf links oozing with history so both courses should “wow” you. The first five holes (and the final five) at Troon on the Firth of Clyde versus enjoying nary a glimpse of the water on Carnoustie gives the edge to Troon here. And those are the supposed “weak” holes at Troon.
- Signature Hole: Carnoustie’s 18th versus the “Postage Stamp” at Troon? Slight edge to Carnoustie (thanks Jean Van de Velde).
- Variety and Uniqueness of Golf Holes: Edge Carnoustie. The Barry burn winding around the 10th, 17th and 18th, in particular, provide a challenge you just don’t get on the average muni. The first three holes at Troon are somewhat the same.
- Green complexes: Troon’s are underrated – you’ll see a close up of 11th (I think) below and will get a very Donald Ross-vibe. The Postage Stamp is the highlight. Carnoustie’s are great and a great variety. Call this another draw.
- Fun factor: Neither course is a pushover so you need to be on your game but neither is such a slog that you’re losing ball after ball and praying for the round (and your misery) to end. Though I give the fun factor edge to Troon.
So there you have it, Troon by a hair in my oh so humble opinion.
I’ll do the hole-by-hole description in the captions below. I shot a very uneven 90 here (48-42). I didn’t strike the ball that much better on the back but we were generally with the wind. The Postage Stamp hole? This really is a great par three. You’re above the hole, with a wedge in your hand but hitting to a tiny green (I think the smallest green that the pros play anywhere). We played the Yellows (6200/71.5/136) so it was a 114-yard hole and I hit a really nice fade that looked like it was going to stay on the left side of the green but roll, roll, rolled right into the right-hand bunker. Took a five.
Troon is only about a 1.5 to two-hour drive from St. Andrews. The town is not much and we stayed at the Piersland House. Very nice. Very formal. Had lunch here and it was blue hair, high tea time. I swear if Old Tom Morris were alive and here he would’ve been younger than most of the patrons. We ate closer to Prestwick for dinner in Ayr (The Waterside) which was pretty casual and ok. I wouldn’t camp out in the area too long if you’re doing a couples thing as there is not a lot to do.
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