The ‘incredibly difficult’ hole that awaits players at The Open 2024 deemed one of the ‘scariest in the world’

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Royal Troon has been known to cause problems for many of golf’s top talents over the many times it has hosted The Open Championship.

Royal Troon is a stunning golf course nestled in South Ayrshire, Scotland. The links course will host the 152nd edition of The Open, and it’s the tenth time the course has welcomed golf’s oldest competition.

Though it may be a thing of beauty – it also can be very challenging. The course is relatively flat and featureless, with hard-bouncing fairways and well-positioned bunkers. Each hole poses a new problem for players.

However, there is one hole from the eighteen that is more feared than the rest, with a former major champion even going as far as to say it’s ‘one of the scariest holes in the world’.

Hole 11: Royal Troon’s troubled trap

The scariest hole by far at Royal Troon has to be the infamous hole 11, which has foiled many players in the past.

The par-four is a whopping 498 yards long, and former Open champion Henrik Stenson three-putted on this hole on the way to victory in 2016 against Phil Mickelson.

The hole is feared by many, including former US Open winner, Geoff Ogilvy. Speaking to FOX SPORTS Australia, he said: “Eleven is an incredibly difficult hole. Very scary tee shot. All you see is a big wall of gorse bush.

“You have to hit it over that to a fairway that sits on a diagonal angle, so you have to pick your line and hit a great shot. You hit it in that gorse and you are back on the tee instantly.

“It’s a 500-yard hole this, so it’s a driver and a long iron, with out-of-bounds on the right. So it’s a really scary hole and definitely a candidate for one of the scariest holes in the world.”

The Railway Hole at The Open 2016

Back in 2016 when The Open was last hosted at Troon, the Railway Hole scored at more than half a stroke over par, proving to be the toughest hole across the week.

The shootout between Stenson and Mickelson in the final round of this Open is remembered as one of the greatest head-to-heads in major championship history.

When it came to the eleventh hole, Stenson carded a bogey and dropped back to 16-under.

Mickelson held firm for par, but Stenson would eventually get the edge over Mickelson to win the Claret Jug.

Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa may thrive

The players who can drive the ball the furthest are at a clear advantage on this hole, as they can clear the ‘big wall of gorse bush’ mentioned by Ogilvy.

Bryson DeChambeau is most known for how far he can strike the ball, and as for Max Homa, he set the record for the longest drive in PGA Tour history earlier this year in Hawaii with a whopping 477 yards.

Precision comes into play too, so the PGA’s best ball strikers Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Aberg should be fine, but it will be interesting to see what unfolds at this dangerous hole.