The Open Championship continues to grow in popularity as Royal Troon in Ayrshire, Scotland prepares to host a sold-out crowd…
Royal Troon will welcome a quarter of a million spectators when The Open Championship returns to the Ayrshire links in July.
The event is already completely sold out three months in advance, with a 44% increase in attendance compared to when Troon hosted in 2016.
Among the 250,000 spectators, 22,500 are under 25 and 13,000 under-16s will attend free of charge.
The Old Course at Troon has been altered significantly, with nearly 200 yards added thanks to nine new tees that have been introduced for the first time.
This will extend Royal Troon to 7,385 yards, making it one of the longest courses in Open Championship history, coming close to Carnoustie in 2007 which stood at 7,421 yards.
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An Open Championship sell-out, but what about the golf course?
Some noteworthy changes include the extension of the 6th hole, already the longest on the Open rota, to 623 yards.
Following that is the shortest hole on the rota, the famous Postage Stamp, measuring just 123 yards. Plans are in place to create a hole playing under 100 yards one day of the championship using a forward tee and front pin position, weather permitting.
Architects Mackenzie Ebert have implemented other significant changes, including adding 44 yards to the par-5 4th hole, which will now be played as a dogleg to the right, and introducing a new tee at the short 5th hole closer to the beach, bringing the large right-hand bunker into play.
The challenging 11th hole has been made even tougher with a new back tee lengthening the par 4 to 498 yards.
The 17th hole, which would be the 3rd hole in the event of a play-off, now measures 242 yards from the back tee.
Overall, the back nine is approximately 300 yards longer than the front nine and plays to a lower par of 35 compared to 36, largely against the prevailing wind on the out-and-back links.
The 152nd Open Championship is set to take place from Thursday, July 18 to Sunday, July 21.
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