I’m a golf presenter for Sky Sports and I played the five toughest holes at The Open.

A BUNKER named after a coffin because that’s where the bullets die. A hole called “Postage Stamp” because the green is so small. And rough that has been so treacherous for over a decade.

These are just some of the Try and difficulties that golfers expect at the 152nd Open championship at royal Troon this year.

Players such as Rory McIlroy, world number one Scottie Scheffler and the legendary Tiger Woods will tee off at the Ayrshire golf course. coast next month in a bid to become the next winner of the Claret Jug.

Brian Harman from the USA is the defending champion after his victory at Royal Liverpool last year.

Others likely to be in the running include 2024 PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele, US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and another LIV golf star in Tyrell Hatton, who finished fifth in the last Open at this venue.

And what about Scottish golf star Robert MacIntyre after his emotional first PGA Tour? win and rising Ryder Cup hero Ludvig Aberg, who rose to fourth place in the world rankings in his debut season on the tour?

Iona Stephen is no stranger to golf fans thanks to her work as moderator for Heaven Sports.

She was honored to play part of the course with Royal Troon Head Professional Kieron Stevenson, who showed her the five most difficult holes on the course in an episode of her YouTube channel “On the Road with Iona.”

And the longest hole in the Open Rota isn’t even one of them!

This year, the 623-yard par 5 6th hole at Royal Troon, called Turnberry, will officially be the longest in the Open. Story.

But it is the shortest hole on the course – and of all the Open – that is more dangerous.

But first, Stephen – once an aspiring golf pro herself – tackled the seventh hole, Tel-el-Kebir, a 374-yard par 4.

Stevenson said of the challenge: “It is a very tough Drive Hole. In the background you can see the stamp, which gives a little taste of what is to come.

“You have to avoid six bunkers on the tee shot, it’s a very intimidating tee shot.

“The bunkers are so difficult that it is important to avoid them at all costs on this tee. leave a fairly short second shot.

“On this hole, you’re practically always in the wind, so be careful how far you hit your shot.”

Stephen hit her driver shot straight down the middle of the fairway and hit her 8-iron for a full 137-yard shot.

Stevenson’s drive was a little inaccurate and landed in the rough, which he said was the worst result in the last 12 years at Royal Troon due to the warm but wet conditions. SpringHe assumes that many professionals simply have to hit the ball sideways depending on the situation.

On her approach shot, Stephen committed the worst sin: she hit her ball into one of the deep bunkers next to the green.

Fortunately, she was able to free herself from the sand and reach what is probably Royal Troon’s most famous hole: “Postage Stamp”.

At 123 yards, it is officially the shortest hole in The Open.

However, due to the different pin positions, it could be only 99 yards on one of the four days.

The short length does not necessarily make the hole easier, however, as players must contend with the elevation change caused by the raised tee and strong winds, not to mention controlling their spin to prevent their ball from rolling off the green.

On this point, Stephen said, “Getting the spin to 99 or 100 yards sounds like nothing because these guys train for days for that number, but when you factor in the wind and all the pressure of that amphitheater watching you and a slight elevation change, it becomes a tricky shot.”

She continued: “We have seen many rounds being made or Broken on these short holes.

“We do not know which mother Nature will bring some wind during the week of the Open, but I hope and pray that it brings some decent wind because it is so much fun to watch the best players in the world make a double bogey from 99 yards.

“I’m sorry I said that out loud!”

Stevenson added: “When you hit the middle of the green, you’re never far from it, 15 feet at most.”

“Missed the green? You’re struggling to make par.”

Unfortunately for the commentator, that’s exactly what happened to her and she ended up in one of the five sand pits that surround it.

The worst of them is called “coffin”.

She joked: “Of all the places I went, of course, into the coffin.”

It would be impolite to come to Royal Troon and not visit the coffin.”

When she found her ball in the coffin, Stephen said of the daunting prospect that now lay before her: “It’s not all just a myth, it’s a brutal, brutal bunker.”

“It’s the width. It’s so narrow.

“Your heart is starting to pump now because everyone is watching you.

“As soon as you go down into the bunker, the atmosphere changes; you feel very alone in the coffin.”

Once again, her short game skills came to her aid as she pulled herself up to a height of about 1.20 m.

The next stop on their five-hole challenge was the 11th hole, called “The Railway.”

The stadium’s name, of course, comes from the railway tracks that run alongside it, the same line that will take fans to Troon during the championship.

It is a beast of a par 4 with 498 yards and characteristics a blind tee and a narrow fairway flanked by gorse bushes and often played against the prevailing wind.

“This is one of the most difficult holes in championship golf,” said Stephen.

“That will require all that porridge.”

Stevenson described the feeling of playing The Railway and having a good score as “clinging for survival”.

In fact, the championship tee shot on the 11th hole is so threatening that the couple teed off from a members’ tee 100 yards away.

The green has a false front that Stephen missed, but she recovered and made par.

There are also several trees on the side of the green that punish any missed shot to the left.

The 17th hole, called Rabbit, is another par 3 like the Postage Stamp, but that’s about the only similarity.

Rabbit is over 100 yards LONGER at 242 yards and usually plays into the prevailing wind or has it blowing at the player from the left.

Stephen said: “The name of this hole is Rabbit, but it’s not particularly cute or cuddly, that’s because the putting surface is fast and elusive.”

The green is surrounded by more bunkers and deep rough and once again Stephen’s tee ball landed in the sand.

This time, when she entered the “gigantic” bunker, she found herself standing in front of a steep embankment that was even HIGHER than she was, at about two and a half meters.

Miraculously, she managed to get the shot to a paradise distance, but her putt missed the hole, while pro Stevenson hit a bump and run from the rough and also missed his longer par putt.

Stephen said: “It’s a fight at the end of the round. energy The water in the tank drains and then you are faced with this monster of a par 3.

“You work so hard just to get a glimpse of par, and you just want that putt to land more than anything.”

They then went to the 18th and final hole, Craigend, another long par 4 at 420 meters.

“This is so much fun. So close and yet so far away. It will all come down to this on Sunday.

“The Claret Jug might glitter in the distance, but you’ve got a lot of golf to play before you reach it.”

A total of NINE bunkers are waiting to catch any shot, no matter how slightly off-target, forcing many players to play it safe and use an iron or, depending on the wind, a fairway wood or hybrid.

At the 2016 Open in Royal Troon, champion Henrik Stenson hit the hole with a 3-wood tee shot – and narrowly missed one of the winding bunkers.

After their tee shots from the fairway, club pro Stevenson miraculously holed an EAGLE – a first for him on hole 18 – while Stephen made par after an approach shot from close range.

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