As the leading expert in golf course architecture, Golf Digest’s Ron Whitten breaks down the hidden histories of some of the most famous holes in golf. In this episode, Ron dives into THE hole at The Old Course at St. Andrews – the famed 17th “Road Hole”. From its original double green design, to the history of its blind tee shot, to becoming one of the toughest par-4s in the world, Ron explores the fascinating history behind one of the game’s most cherished golf holes.
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Host: Ron Whitten
Producer & Editor: Ben Walton
Cinematography: Mason Leverington & Will Fullerton
Audio: Thomas Zaccheo
Executive Producer: Christian Iooss
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11 Comments
The greatest par 4 in golf.
This man does one of the coolest jobs on earth so so well. If this was 3 hours long I would still watch it.
I slightly respectfully disagree …imo it doesn’t hurt to try to emulate something like 17 sometimes. Mostly just out of respect for it.
Anytime I play a hole that reminds me of a great hole, it’s Kinda cool.
That being said The Road Hole is no doubt one of a kind. It has a very random, planned/organic evolution.
And it makes sense to let each golf hole have a chance to make its own organic history and be it’s own best self.
What an amazing video, please keep these up, they are highlights of my month whenever they come out. As someone who loves golf architecture these videos are rare in their quality.
I was +2 in the middle of 17 fairway in July of this year. I missed my target and ended up taking 5 strokes to get out of the green side bunker . Ouch . Great hole… just painful
Such a great par 4, especially at the point of the round that it is. It would be even better for the pros if they rolled the ball back so they’d have 5 and 6 irons into it instead of 8 and 9 irons.
Do you always play over the buildings? Or is that only the back tee for the pros? Do they close that tee to amatuers?
All it needs is a windmill over the hole or perhaps a clowns mouth to complete the circus.
Better 'miss' on approach is left of the green. Easier chip back as the pin is usually to the left of the bunker. Leaving it short on the fairway is a tricky chip up the slope. Go left!😉
Alistair MacKenzie said Bobby Jones & Walter Hagen never went for the pin but played to the right,pin high & trusted their short game to get up and down. Took both the bunker and the road out of play.
Love this video – more of these for more great holes around the world!
That history is cool but "links" golf over there is like playing a large mini golf game.