14 Kevin Norby, ASGCA Few holes strike fear in the hearts of golfers like the Road, historically one of the most difficult on the Open rota. It starts with one of the strangest and most intimidating tee shots in golf, over the Old Course Hotel to a completely blind landing area. Although the tee shot is unnerving and challenging, the fairway, which is shared by the second hole, is generous at over 40 yards wide. The real challenge comes at the approach with a very small green set diagonally to the line of play. Any mishit or overly aggressive approach shots that stray over the green will end up on the road or potentially up against the adjacent stone wall. Then to add insult to injury, a small and very deep bunker is located just in front of the green and is contoured to gather any balls that come up short or spin back off the green. The result is that the margin between success and disaster on the approach is very small. To change the hole significantly to make the hole more playable or ‘fairer’ would be considered by most to be sacrilege – me included. However, golf courses and golf holes are ever-changing and constantly evolving and the Road hole is no different. In 1910, it played as a par five at 458 yards. Some 50 years later the hole was played at 464 yards as a par four. In 2005 a new back tee at 495 yards was added and in 2015, in preparation for the Open, the bunker complex was reshaped and reconstructed to gather more balls. The changes I might suggest would simply involve modifying the putting surface, enlarging the green slightly or widening and realigning the fairway. In my opinion, calls from golfers to ‘fix’ the Road hole are misguided. It may be quirky and one of the toughest holes in golf, but a complete blow-up would only serve to soften the course at a time when some might argue that the Old is no longer the best tournament course to test the best golfers in the world. One might even argue that the eighteenth should be modernized to better challenge those golfers. ROAD HOLE “ To change the hole significantly to make the hole more playable or ‘fairer’ would be considered by most to be sacrilege”
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