Perhaps one of the most beautiful things about The Open Championship, the final major championship on the golf calendar annually, is the familiarity we can gain with the courses in the rota put forth by the R&A. And we’re seeing that for the 2024 British Open at Royal Troon Golf Club, the site of one of the signature moments in this tournament’s history.

Royal Troon was the site of an epic final-round showdown between Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson. The latter eventually prevailed as both men pulled miles clear of the rest of the field and dominated the golf course in a way that truly no one else playing that week was. It’s a demanding test, especially in the customary winds and cold, potentially rainy conditions we see in that part of Europe.

But it’s been a minute since we’ve been back to Royal Troon. Moreover, some things have changed a bit since the last time The Open was played at this venue. So from where the course is, what par is, a scorecard breakdown and even how much you’d have to pay to play, we’re breaking everything down about Royal Troon Golf Club that golf fans need to know.

Royal Troon is positioned right off of the coast of Scotland in Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland, to be precise. The club was initially founded all the way back in 1878 and, on the 100th anniversary of the club’s opening, Troon became Royal Troon as the club was granted that distinction. While the property features three courses — the Old Course, Portland Course and Craigend Course — it is the Old Course that we see in major championship golf for our purposes.

It’s a Par 71 track at the Royal Troon Old Course for the British Open in 2024, which is not uncommon with many of hte links style courses we see in the rota. Just last year during Brian Harman’s triumph at Royal Liverpool, that was also a Par 71 course. While St. Andrews the year prior was a more traditional Par 72, Royal St. George’s in 2021 was actually a Par 70. So Troon is very much in line with what we see as Par is very much relative when it comes to The Open.

Here’s a look at the Royal Troon scorecard for The Open Championship, complete with the hole names. It’s important to note that these lengths will vary round-to-round based on hole locations, tee box locations and other factors that the R&A will decide upon each day.

Royal Troon has changed a bit in the near decade since The Open last stopped at this venue. Two of the course’s three Par 5 holes have been lengthened to essentially 600 or more yards and we’ve seen other holes lengthened. Another change that has been happening over the past couple of decades is expanding the greens a bit throughout the property.

The Old Course at Troon also features some diabolical holes, the most famous of which is the 123-yard Par 3 No. 8 hole, Postage Stamp. Featuring a super small green on one of the shortest holes pros will see all year, it traditionally plays as one of the hardest holes every time the British Open visits. It also stands in stark contrast to the other Par 3 holes on the course, all three of which measure over 200 yards.

The 2024 Open Championship will be the 10th time that Royal Troon has hosted the British Open and the first time since Stenson’s win in 2016. Let’s take a look back at when those tournaments were played and who won them.

In addition to The Open Championship, Royal Troon has also hosted a number of other high-profile tournaments. Most recently, the course hosted the 2020 Women’s Open Championship, which was won by German Sophia Popov in a thrilling week with a shocking underdog winner.

Beyond that, the venue has also hosted the British Amateur five times, the most recent coming in 2012 and the first back in 1956. It’s hosted the British Ladies Amateur four times but not since 1984. Finally, the club has also held the Senior Open Championship once, which was back in 2008 when Bruce Vaughan came away with the victory.

Despite the fact that Royal Troon is a private club, it stands in the tradition of many historic Scottish courses in that it is still available to play for the public, even if in a limited capacity. These are available on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at the club. It will cost $475 per round to play the Old Course, or a discounted $370 rate for PGA members in the late spring and summer of 2025, which is likely when the club’s public availability is not yet booked. However, playing one of the other courses, the Portland Course, is only $163 per round. There is also the option to purchase a $547 day pass (or $443 for the PGA discounted rate) that gives golfers a round at the Old Course and the Portland Course.

However, not every public player can just book a tee time at Royal Troon. Men must have a registered handicap of under 20 while women’s handicap must be under 30.