The 17th at the Old Course in St Andrews — the Road Hole — is the most feared par 4 in championship golf. A blind tee shot over the corner of a hotel, a green shaped like a coffin between a stone road and the deepest bunker on the course, and a history of car-crash finishes in The Open all combine to make it golf’s most studied hole. This guide walks through how the Road Hole is built, how the best players in the world approach it, where it has decided major championships, and what an amateur visiting the Old Course should actually try to do.
A Brief History of the Road Hole
The Road Hole has been a recognised feature of the Old Course since at least the mid-18th century, when caddies first described the dogleg right around the railway sheds. The sheds eventually became the Old Course Hotel, but the line of play has not changed: from the 17th tee, the safe route is along the left half of the fairway; the aggressive route cuts across whatever building happens to stand on the corner.
Statistical scorecards from The Open Championship rank the Road Hole as the hardest hole on the course in nearly every modern edition. In 2010 the average score on the 17th was over 4.4. In 2015, in a wet, calm week, it still played roughly half a shot over par. There is no other par 4 at any current major venue with that kind of consistent toll.
The Tee Shot: Threading Over the Hotel
Choosing your line
The tee shot is blind. From the tee box you see a stretch of fairway angled away to the right, the green is invisible in the distance, and somewhere on your right shoulder is the Old Course Hotel. Painted black letters on the hotel wall — on tour, a smaller marker board — spell out the line. You aim at one of the letters depending on how aggressive you want to be.
- The safe line is over the leftmost letter of the marker. This route uses more fairway, lands well left, and leaves a long approach but with a clear sight line to the green.
- The standard professional line is the centre of the marker. The ball flies over the hotel grounds and lands on the right portion of the fairway, shortening the approach.
- The aggressive line is the right edge of the marker. This is the line of the championship driver, cutting maximum yardage off the dogleg, accepting a chance of going out of bounds over the hotel.
Why everyone bails left
The right edge of the fairway runs to gorse and out of bounds. The left side runs out only to the 2nd fairway, which is in bounds and easy to play from. Every coaching guide for the Old Course tells visitors the same thing: when in doubt, go further left than you think. The Road Hole punishes overcooked tee shots more severely than any other hole on the property.
The Approach: Why the 17th Green Is Different
If you make it past the tee shot, the approach is what makes the Road Hole legendary. The green is narrow front to back, angled diagonally from front-left to back-right, and protected by two of the most punishing features in golf: the Road Bunker in front-left, and a paved road with a stone wall behind. The fairway runs straight into the green, but trying to run a ball on is dangerous because the green slopes away from the player.
The orthodox professional play is a long iron or fairway wood landing short of the green, leaving an up-and-down from the fairway. Few players in any era have tried to fly the ball all the way to a back pin. The risk-reward looks like the approach to a championship par 5 even though it is officially a par 4.
Compare this to the very different problem of Cypress Point’s 16th — carry over the Pacific to an island green — or to Pebble Beach’s closer, where the ocean runs the entire left side. The Road Hole asks none of those questions. It asks one: do you have the discipline to play short.
The Road Bunker: Why It Won’t Let You Go
The Road Bunker sits in the front-left corner of the green. Its measurements look modest on paper — about three metres across, two metres deep — but its shape is what makes it cruel. The face is steep and turfed, the floor is small, and the sand is firm. It is one of the few bunkers in the world where a tour player can take three shots to escape.
Famous failures from the Road Bunker
Tommy Nakajima’s 1978 Open is the most famous example. Leading on Sunday, Nakajima three-putted into the bunker, took four to get out, and finished with a nine. The bunker took his name in tour folklore as the “Sands of Nakajima.” David Duval, Costantino Rocca, and Tom Watson have all dropped multiple shots there at different majors.
How professionals escape
The standard play is sideways. Trying to advance the ball toward the green often catches the steep face, drops back into the bunker, and starts the disaster sequence. Tour coaches drill the same instruction with every visiting player: if you find this bunker, do not look at the flag. Look at the safest part of the fairway and take a shot you can guarantee. Bogey is acceptable. Double is acceptable. Triple is not.
The Road and Wall: Out of Bounds Where You Least Expect
Behind the green runs a paved road and, beyond it, a stone wall belonging to the buildings that border the course. A ball that flies the green can come to rest on the road, against the wall, or in the gap between the two. Unlike most modern championship designs, there is no manicured rough or collection area behind the green — the back of the green is the road itself.
If the ball comes to rest on the road, it is in play. Players have to choose between hitting from tarmac (with the resulting damage to club and confidence) or declaring the ball unplayable and taking a penalty drop, usually back into the bunker side of the green. Both options are bad. The fact that the road is in bounds is unique enough that the Old Course is one of the few places where players carry the rule book in their head as much as their yardage book.
Open Championship Moments on the 17th
The Road Hole has decided more Open Championships than any other single hole on any rota course. A short list of the moments that shaped the modern game:
- 1978 – Tommy Nakajima. The original Sands of Nakajima incident, which made the Road Bunker famous worldwide.
- 1984 – Tom Watson. Hit a 2-iron through the green and onto the road, leading to a bogey that ended his bid to catch Seve Ballesteros.
- 1995 – Costantino Rocca. Found the Road Bunker on Sunday and bogeyed, missing the playoff with John Daly by a shot.
- 2000 – David Duval. Took four to escape the Road Bunker on Sunday while chasing Tiger Woods, finishing eight back.
- 2010 – Louis Oosthuizen. Played the 17th in level par for the week en route to a seven-shot win — a master class in disciplined par-grinding.
- 2015 – Zach Johnson. Found the green in two with a brave 4-iron approach, two-putted for par, and held on to win in the playoff.
For more on iconic championship venues that shape modern major scoring, see our guide to Shinnecock Hills wind play and our breakdown of Augusta’s Amen Corner.
How the Pros Play the Road Hole Today
Modern tour players approach the 17th with a deliberately conservative plan that has barely changed in twenty years. The thinking goes like this:
- Off the tee: long iron or 3-wood to remove the out-of-bounds. Driver only with a left wind that pushes the ball back into safety.
- Approach: a long iron landing short of the green, with the line favouring the right side to avoid the bunker.
- If short: chip from the fairway up the right side of the green, accepting a 15-foot par putt or a tap-in bogey.
- If in the bunker: sideways. Always sideways.
- If on the road: almost always declare unplayable and drop in a position where a reasonable up-and-down is available.
Par on the Road Hole is treated as a gain on the field. Bogey is acceptable. The hole is the rare championship par 4 where five is a useable score in a tournament context.
How an Amateur Should Play the Road Hole
The Old Course is a public course. Roughly 50,000 rounds are played there every year, mostly by visitors. For an amateur with a tee time, the question is not how to make par but how to avoid making a number that ruins a once-in-a-lifetime round.
Step 1: pick a tee shot you can repeat
If your normal driver shape is a fade or push, you have no business going right of the hotel sign. A hybrid or 5-wood aimed at the left edge of the markings will end up in the fairway 80% of the time. That is the win.
Step 2: forget the green on your second shot
From 200 yards out, do not try to reach the green. Aim for the right edge of the fairway about 30 yards short of the putting surface. The lie will be flat, the angle into the green opens up, and you avoid the bunker entirely.
Step 3: putt or chip up the right side
From 30 yards short, you can putt the ball up onto the green if conditions are firm, or hit a low chip with a 9-iron or pitching wedge. Aim well right of the flag. The miss is right; the disaster is left.
Step 4: lag the first putt
The green slopes are quick and crowned. From above the hole you can three-putt easily. From below the hole, the ball releases. Lag to a 3-foot circle and take whatever number you get. Five on this hole, for a visitor, is a fine score.
Common Amateur Mistakes
- Going at the right side of the hotel sign with driver. The out-of-bounds is unforgiving. A single penalty here turns the hole into a seven before you have hit your second.
- Aiming at the flag on the approach. A back-left flag is unreachable for an amateur. Even a centre flag is a trap. Play to the front-right of the green and accept a long putt.
- Trying to advance from the Road Bunker. See the Nakajima story above. Sideways is always correct.
- Putting fast greens at speed. The Old Course’s firm greens roll faster than they look. Practise lag putts on the practice green before the round.
If you have not yet played a links course, our guide to playing golf in the wind covers the swing adjustments that make a difference at St Andrews. The Old Course is exposed; the wind decides as many shots as the architecture does.
Final Thoughts
The Road Hole is the hole golf historians point to when they want to argue that strategic design has not been bettered in three centuries. It does not need water, length, or modern bunker shaping to be the hardest par 4 in major-championship golf. It needs only the geometry it has always had: a blind tee shot, a green angled into a coffin, and the original hazard — a road. Play it badly and the hole costs you a number. Play it sensibly and you walk to the 18th tee with the rare satisfaction of having beaten the most famous par 4 in the game.
