Royal Liverpool to radically overhaul controversial 17th hole after the Open due to complaints
Royal Liverpool is set to radically overhaul the controversial 17th hole after withering criticisms of the new par three from players, caddies and the club’s own members.
At the start of the week, caddie Billy Foster labelled the 136-yarder “a monstrosity” and predicted that pros would be humiliated by the penultimate hole “making sixes, sevens and eights all week”. The Yorkshireman was proven correct, but probably did not expect his employer, 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, to be one of the most high-profile casualties.
Fitzpatrick’s challenge was essentially wrecked when he made a triple-bogey on the 17th, having left two shots in the waste area over the back of the green, before finding another pot bunker with his fourth. Having been two-under, he fell back to one-over.
“I hit a bad shot, so that’s on me,” Fitzpatrick said, reflecting on what was perhaps the key moment in his week. “I think it is too penal down there. Yeah, that’s all I have to say really.”
Except it was not – not nearly. When asked what Fitzpatrick would do with the hole when the Open finished, he bluntly replied: “Start again… I mean, I think if you ask the majority of people out here, their opinion would be on the absolutely more negative side. But yeah, I hit a bad shot, got punished. At the same time, I think the punishment was a bit too severe.”
Backed by the R&A, Royal Liverpool enlisted acclaimed architect Martin Ebert to introduce more drama into the climax. So the 15th was obliterated and the space used to add 60 yards to the 18th and install a design that was hoped soon to be added to the list of great “short” short holes, including the Postage Stamp eighth at Royal Troon, the 17th at Sawgrass and the 12th at Augusta. Fitzpatrick is bemused at the decision.
“I don’t see what was wrong with the last hole that was there, personally,” he said. “I don’t particularly like any uphill par-3’s. I thought the hole they got rid of was a great par three.”
Fitzpatrick will be relieved that Hoylake plans action, although it will stop short of deploying the bulldozers to raise the ground entirely. Multiple sources have confirmed to Telegraph Sport that plans were in motion anyway to make the test fairer. The tee will be elevated and the green on the right will be filled in and that area flattened out, giving golfers the chance of playing a percentage shot (on in layman’s terms affording them a ‘bail-out’).
“In truth, the majority of members have not liked this hole since it was opened a few years back,” an insider said. “It has caused all manners of problems in the club’s competitions. There was one women’s tournament held when there was a host of ‘no returns’ at the 17th. It was taking 20 to 30 minutes for each group to complete and it caused a huge tail back. They are not getting rid of it but they will be blowing it up and making it much fairer and appealing to play.”
