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Royal Troon will be etched in the memories of golf fans around the world as host to one of the most spectacular finishes ever seen in a Major championship. In recent years the cast of champions had hardly been stellar -Todd Hamilton, Mark Calcavecchia and Justin Leonard weren’t exactly the creme de la creme of golf. But Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson laid on one of the true spectacles of the modern age, much to the relief of the members.

This was the last course on the current Open rota I played. I first visited it in 1989 for the Open so I finally got to play there almost 30 years after having seen it for the first time! The course itself doesn’t have a reputation for being one of the real classics on the rota. Conventional wisdom says it has 6 average holes, followed by 6 strong holes, followed by another 6 average holes. I would say that may be a bit harsh, but it’s true that this course doesn’t have the beauty of Turnberry, the intrigue of Muirfield or the majesty of St Andrews.

Having waited for 30 years, it is a shame that it was a rather horrible September day when I teed it up. There was a very strong sideways wind off the water and we got absolutely poured on from the 8th tee to the 15th green. Having said that, the Galvin Green waterproofs did me proud and the course stood up really well to the battering it got.

I had expected the course to be fairly brutal but it was actually far more playable than anticipated. Our host made a good call by suggesting we play off the yellow tees. It may have shortened the course to 6,150 yards but in the conditions was the right thing to do. 

Positioning off the tee is absolutely key. By that I mean, keeping the ball in play. I left the driver at home and used my new driving iron all day. Making sure the drive was there or thereabouts around the fairway was very important. In the wind we had to contend with, anything that got in the air with spin was disappearing deep into the long stuff, often never to be seen again.

Of the early holes, the key characteristic was the strong bunkering, whether fairway or green side you really needed to pay attention to the sand and a strokesaver will definitely save you a few shots.

There is definitely a degree of building excitement as you head towards the 8th. The par 4 7th is a great hole which I was especially fond of as it yielded me a kick-in birdie after a driving iron and wedge. And so we climbed to the 8th tee. This is the hole after all which had its own twitter account in the 2016 Open! There is a good account of what awaits you here.