No sooner have the world’s best players started to arrive for the 151st Open Championship at Hoylake than the comments around the new 17th hole, ‘Little Eye’, have begun to rack up, with one caddie describing the par-3 as a “monstrosity”.
Matt Fitzpatrick’s looper, Billy Foster, is far from impressed with the hole, which, in terms of having the potential to create drama, has been likened to the 17th at TPC Sawgrass.
There’s no island, but it’s a par-3 that features plenty of danger, with severe run offs feeding into a treacherous waste area and two very steep bunkers either side of the small green.
“Unfortunately I think this Open Championship could be remembered for a calamity that happened,” experienced bagman and Motocaddy brand ambassador, Foster, told Golf Monthly.
“There was nothing wrong with the little par three they had before and they've created a monstrosity in my opinion.
“The green is very small. If you land it a foot short it rolls back into a coffin that's underground, so deep. This is challenging the best golfers in the world that will be making 6s, 7s and 8s.”
The idea for a new hole was conceived back in 2019. It’s the work of Martin Ebert, and clearly it’s a hole that splits opinion.
“It’s a very challenging hole, but that’s what you need for the very best in the world,” James Bledge, Links Manager, told Golf Monthly earlier this year.
“It will create an exciting finish, which is what you want as an armchair viewer. Golf courses should have that crescendo feeling, like Sawgrass and St Andrews.
The Open configuration means that, like the treacherous 17th at Sawgrass, 'Little Eye' will be the penultimate hole, a place where the Claret Jug could easily be won or lost. pic.twitter.com/WmO6Az6yYrJune 29, 2023
Last year’s US Open champion Fitzpatrick said in his pre tournament press conference on Monday that he loves to play when it's “pretty sh*tty”, although if the wind picks up this week things could get pretty ugly on ‘Little Eye’.
Asked for his opinion on the controversial par-3, Fitzpatrick called the 136-yarder “interesting”, and said “I’ll leave it at that” when pushed for further comment.
Foster, meanwhile, added: “God help the 15 or 20 handicapper that plays it on a weekly basis because it's near enough impossible for them.
“I just hope someone doesn't have a three-shot lead playing that hole and make a 9 – it could happen.
“This week already it has varied between an 8-iron and a 5-iron, you land it on there it's just going to bounce off into trouble everywhere.”
More players are sure to offer their verdict over the course of the week. Adrian Meronk, one of European golf’s rising stars, can understand why so many people are asking about it.
The Pole, a three-time winner on the DP World Tour, told Golf Monthly he would be more than happy to just find the putting surface four times this week regardless of the pin positions.
“It’s a tricky one, it’s going to be probably windy from the sea,” he said. “You can’t really feel the wind because the green is quite up high.
“The green’s quite small. The right bunker is so deep down. I think the miss, if you miss, is the left bunker, depending on the pin. I hit an easy eight and it was only 135 yards.”
