The HARDEST Hole In Golf | 17th At St Andrews - Road | Open Moments

It is arguably the most challenging hole at St Andrews. Road - the 17th hole on the Old Course is known worldwide as one of golf's toughest tests.
For generations, players have battled against the complexities that the hole brings. The wall of the hotel blocks the view down the fairway. The menacing bunker guarding the green and the tarmac off the back is there to catch players who are too aggressive in their approach.
There are many ways in which a player can approach this hole in the pursuit of the Claret Jug, but one thing is for sure, you cannot win the Open Championship on the 17th, but you can certainly lose it.
We invite you to remember and learn about the hardest hole in golf as the Open returns to St Andrews in 2022.
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[@sirgalahad1470]

I went to St. Andrews on a college trip from the US as a 19 year old in 1982 and played the Old Course. On 17, I hit driver - 4 iron onto the green and 2-putted for par. That was 40 years ago, and still is the fondest memory of my golfing life.

[@AB-nv7bz]

Driver 4i 2 putt is always an accomplishment. What a hole to do it on!

[@anthonymclaughlin608]

No one gives a shit

[@holtonf-w8350]

I live in St. Andrews and I don’t even know how to golf, I want to learn though

[@hmu05366]

@@holtonf-w8350 never too late to learn

[@bigbensarrowheadchannel2739]

Well done. Awesome memory.

[@jonathan711]

I played this hole back in 1994. I was 23. I sculled a driver and barely cleared the walls but landed in a grassy area. Hit driver off the semi rough and drew it to within 20 yards of the green. Then punched a 7 iron to 3 feet and made the putt for par. Then my playing partner pinched my arm and I woke up from falling asleep in my golf cart sitting at the #12 tee box at my local country club in Kentucky as we waited for the group in front of us to move along. It is one of my greatest accomplishments, I mean memories of my life.

[@jc238]

Apart from the 461yds, the side of the hotel, deep rough, narrow undulating green, pit of a green side bunker, the road and the wall it’s a pretty easy par 4. Unless the wind is blowing off the sea then it’s tricky!

[@buffaloben15golf88]

That is no easy par four

[@charlieu1922]

@@buffaloben15golf88 I think he was being sarcastic

[@MrMuttley420]

The voice of Peter Allis…golf poetry at its finest. Legend.

[@ngc-fo5te]

And for the last two decades complete uninformed and tendency to waffle. Heck not just a tendency - it was terrible.

[@blumousey]

@@ngc-fo5te he was lovable, had a great character.

[@ngc-fo5te]

@@blumousey Well I know people who think he was a blowhard bigot - but my problem was he was completely out of touch and uninformed on the modern game.

[@topmech71]

@@ngc-fo5te It was more of just who he was...he would get off into telling short stories and so forth. I kind of liked him and he had a very recognizable voice

[@ngc-fo5te]

@@topmech71 The same stories every damn decade. But then the British have never been particularly able to do golf coverage. The BBC were dreadful at it - Sky are a little better but have more ad breaks than the US coverage and go overboard on little features tucked in the coverage and come back to the coverage often out of sequence. But if you have never known better I guess it's all good.

[@matthewdudley6278]

In March 1995 on a post-college European sojourn I found myself in St. Andrews. The course had been shut down from play in advance of The Open that summer, but you could walk it as long as you stayed off the greens. I walked out 1-2-3 and back 16-17-18. I stood on the tee box at 17 and thought there's "no effing way" I could ever hit that tee shot. Somewhere I have a picture of me on the bridge on 18 that Arnold Palmer would take that summer. It always amazes me that no one ever mentions the winds coming off the North Sea there though. It's a constant 15-20 mph and definitely a factor!

[@golfcoursephotography7065]

I remember raking the pot bunker at the 17th for my St Andrews Course Photos You Tube video and thinking this is the most beautifully placed bunker I have ever seen. Shows how quality can outdo quantity

[@nickjlyons]

I’ve been lucky to have played their many times. 4 was my very best score on 17. Felt like a birdie…formidable hole.

[@mran7042]

I absolutely love this golf course and particularly the road hole. My niece was attending the university there for a year and I just had to visit her several times!

[@arch3088]

I dream of playing there someday. Number one on my bucket list.

[@SadMarinersFan]

Everyone smashing Driver off the tee and Tiger is there vibin with what looks like a 2 Iron. Prime Tiger will always be the best golfer I've ever gotten the chance to see.

[@GamerGuyProductions]

Any hole I play near a road turns into a road hole

[@MrJeffrey316]

LOL! Well said, sir. Great line.

[@airflowwww5581]

Lipped out for a 3 on my birthday 2 weeks ago with the grand stands out , did exactly the same on 18 with a crowd of 100 , best 30 mins of my life 😁

[@midnightmoses580]

You need to try harder.

[@tysonthelunatic1572]

Yeah alright Pinocchio. You got a triple bogey at best

[@airflowwww5581]

@@tysonthelunatic1572 got it all on video 🤡🖕🏽

[@Whoopdido777]

@@tysonthelunatic1572 Dude, it’s not as if it’s an impossible hole. I played it back in 2016 from the tips as a 2 handicap. I just hit a good drive down the left side barely into the rough, then hit a 6 iron onto the front part of the green and 2 putted for par. It was cold, rainy and windy at the time too.

[@Whoopdido777]

@Frank Swimbladder With all due respect to Bernhard Langer, I do disagree. Tell me what’s so hard about it? Especially for the pros. From the championship tees I believe it’s 495 yards. There’s no water and no fairway bunkers. There’s also the only one green side bunker. Obviously you don’t want to go in there but you can run the ball onto the green if you desire. But given how far the pros hit the ball a 495 yard hole is nothing. Depending on weather conditions it could be a big drive and a wedge, or maybe a 3 wood and an 8 iron. Now I’ll admit that everything I just said flies completely out the window if the weather is bad. The only defense St. Andrews really has is the weather and the pot bunkers in the fairways, which sometimes you have to get lucky to avoid, but like I already said, the 17th doesn’t have any fairway bunkers. Just make sure you don’t hit it OB right.

[@martinberry1540]

played it once the week after Tiger won there, had an 8 but did not go in the hotel which was a positive.

[@jamiecapes2644]

7 years away from the Old Course is too long and the 17th has always been the quintessential par 4 in the game.

[@morgan4212]

When you have the power slice that has plagued my game forever just happens to be the perfect shot for this hole.

[@petegalindez9961]

Easy day…three 7 irons, 3 putts, and take your 6 and go to 18…take the stress out.

[@logansmith9696]

Great video! Can we acknowledge that the narrator called the green side bunker the “hole’s only bunker” just 5 seconds after flying over the other two bunkers on the whole

[@Calzonii09]

hole*

[@Makybhoy1967]

Played it once, got up and down from the path for par. 😎 highlight of my round 👌🏼

[@MrPhilysis1]

Lovely touch Mastercard

[@ondrejpravda]

I have spare accommodation & tickets look forward to see all of the golfers at the home of golf.

[@petterisutinen9299]

I played the course for my 30th birthday this year, exactly 3 months after the 150th Open. Even today I can't believe I did it and watching this video gives me such chills. It brings me enormous joy to be able to play this wonderful game ❤

[@EE-ie9gm]

Is the course overrated or underrated or about right?

[@DaveLaMont1]

Managed a 10 footer for par there. Greatest moment in golf

[@thomashumphrey7395]

Man, a golf course and golf, in general, can humble you fast.

[@chrisworthington1027]

I was at St Andrews in 2010 and watched Jimenez hit that magic shot off the wall at 17. 👍

[@vanhalo]

Got to play this in October this year. Played a shorter yardage from the blue tees but came out with a par. Teed off with a 3 wood that gave me a 205 yard shot with a hybrid on the left side of the fairway. Nailed the front of the green and avoided that bunker. Missed the birdie putt by 3 feet. What a hole!

[@tandfloyd]

Between the O and the T. I’ll never forget my caddies advice.

[@krusher74]

Peter Alliss's commentary is sorely missed.

[@TheTraditionalGolfer]

The voice of golf.....

[@jamiecapes2644]

For decades, he WAS The Open.

[@propjoe1060]

Every time you hear his wonderful commentary, it brings you back to better times in golf!

[@danmyers9372]

That approach shot to the green is just scary.

[@user-bu6du9xg7h]

I visited St Andrews with 3 golfing friends. We played the Old Course on our final day, for I think £25 maybe £30. And towards the end of a half decent round I managed to par the 17 th, I will never forget it, I used an old Confidence wooden driver followed by the same 5 wood onto the Green and made a par. It was unbelievable, I have played the course several times since never repeating the feat. 5:30

[@ianthomas739]

now played the road hole three times and the same way each time - second to the front of the green, then long put and hole out. I know it sounds weird but it's my favourite hole, probably because i made par first time. Still to break 80 though on a round !

[@tailhookmd2546]

I played St Andrews in 94. I remember rounding the hotel and there’s a bit of a hill and then you realize you’re about to play 18 up to the R&A and cross the Swilken Bridge. That’s when I finally got emotional. I could barely hold back the tears.

[@TjBruce817]

Fowler's putt though,,,,wow

[@aarongoldstein8472]

Played this hole a few weeks ago as a make a wish kid. Went DOD twice and tap-in for birdie.

[@stuartpurvis8127]

Peter Alliss is such a miss.

[@richardlusk8024]

The British open is one of my favorites

[@topmech71]

Love the British Open too.....

[@mungoarmstrong4306]

No such thing as the British Open. There’s no golf competition of that name

[@richardlusk8024]

Oh dude you gotta check it out, its like the us open but in the united kingdom @@mungoarmstrong4306

[@BenEmberley]

4:28 - Ronan Rafferty FTW ^_^

[@davidsherburne8429]

Cow pasture golf. Hitting over buildings how wonderful.

[@Blueser1957]

I know a guy who had an eagle plying the Roadhole His name is Craig Sandyman. He’s from Dundee. Beat that folks.

[@CB-rv2lj]

as an american, this is nothing greater than an english chap announcer saying "OOhh itS WundERFUL" haha. love it.

[@christate2348]

Made eagle after dunking a 5 iron, then made 6 on the 18th after slicing into the hotel.....covered last 2 holes in 8 still so not all bad!!!

[@ElGatoLoco698]

I'm curious to know what the average score would be for four rounds of golf with no wind for the average pro. I tend to think it would be one of the easier courses with no wind.

[@BP-kx2ig]

Remember the Hotel used to be the railway sheds

[@davidr5961]

I remember watching the Open there, about fifty years ago, in the final round when Doug Sanders made the most incredible 4, coming out of the bunker with a downhill lie, to within a few inches, for a par. A great par, but unfortunately for him, he had to play the last hole

[@Stu-SB]

He spent way too long over that Putt on the 18th, well every shot lol.., the play off was an inevitable outcome..

[@bengray423]

Par 3 surrounded by water with strong wind is just as scarry or worse! 😉

[@refefeahgeha]

im hitting the fuckin building if i ever play this

[@jamiecapes2644]

Tell them you thought it was the Mayor's office.

[@alexjohn5086]

Tiger tees off with iron ,hope Ricky finds his game again.

[@Simeon-the-Magnificent]

Played it twice, birdie 1st then tap in par.

[@jamiecapes2644]

You should have made the cut.

[@Falquiboy]

easy

[@neilmcmahon]

Was the sound out of sync with the video. Westwood's miss was on 18, surely ?

[@a47mlb]

I pared 17 and 18 at St Andrews. Just don’t ask about the rest of the round. ;)

[@briankleinschmidt3664]

The 17th at sawgrass is harder, but it's a 3 par.

[@pdub7562]

You cant measure the severity of a short putt by showing Westwood trying to hole out from three feet.

[@Teddy-kv5ns]

on the 18th hole not even the 17th

[@ngc-fo5te]

Stop the hyperbole - it is not the hardest hole in golf.

[@jordanbryant5260]

I’m lucky enough to have played this hole 7-8 times and birdie and eagle only

[@jordanbryant5260]

Couple hole in 1 also

[@wullieman]

Maybe 20 years ago.not nowadays with length the players hit it

[@GreenDistantStar]

"...the hole's only bunker." Uh, there's two on the left about 75 yards behind it.

[@billybobthortenn4157]

Seriously creepy if you watch Rickie’s putt at 0.25x speed

[@johnstreet1812]

I would have NOOOOOOO problem with the road hole, because no way in Hell I could take that angle and would be playing around the corner and taking a double bogey.

[@AB-nv7bz]

This hole seems impossible. I mean u could hit hybrid or wood off the tee to the fat part of the fairway, but then it’s 250 to a green that’s dead right and crater bunker on the left. It’s ruined many hopefuls

[@scootscootriot1020]

That bunker is NOT a crater. It’s a mineshaft.

[@tesserat2]

Do miss Peter Alliss

[@paulbates9622]

Not anymore they altered it because it was to difficult.

[@Jiff321]

" the only hard hole"

[@blackhawkswincup2010]

Unh-uh. Hardest hole in golf is #12 at Augusta National.

[@stellajohnson3030]

The hotel extension across the fairway is an abomination Paul Johnson

[@MrPiha]

no no no

[@dpelpal]

As an American and avid golf fan, I will say loudly..... The Open > US Open.

[@beefchops1400]

Roccas shot was a total fluke…..the ball just about hit him in the face as he hit it, he had no idea where it was going! Lol

[@eddy4688]

Jiminez.

[@idunno3302]

i eagled that shit with a putter in 92.

[@RobertG-uu3xm]

Great hole but sayings it the hardest hole in golf is embellishing for the sake of the course and the history around it. I can name a number of holes that are more difficult

[@CamoDrako]

Back in the 2010 Open when I was 13, I was right next to the tee and Colin Montgomery was lining up - as soon as he made contact, I loudly exclaimed "niiiicceeee!" It smacked into the hotel and he glared straight at me for about 5 seconds, my dad was pissing himself and I was terrified

[@golfrep2584]

One of the greatest holes in the world and you have to hit your tee ball over a hotel? 🤔

[@haroldfarquad6886]

It's a cool hole, but to say it's anywhere the most difficult hole in golf is absurd. The drive isn't that intimidating, and the approach doesn't require some Herculean effort. I played it once and made bogey because I couldn't putt that day with the rentals I had. Had a mediocre drive in the left rough, then had a simple 7 iron I put on the back of the green. Maybe if the wind is 25+ it's hard, but you could say that about loads of links holes.

[@Cahigginbotham]

Re-name this.....how pro golfers respond to greeeeeed. St. Andrews edition. 'driving over hotels.'

[@mikecrosby6804]

Terrible video “ the holes only bunker “ there are three. Lee Westwood putting on 18 not 17

[@Carola35321]

Tiger Woods will win the British Open. He already knows what he's going to say about Erin Hills. On Friday at Erin Hills Golf Course, in Wisconsin, Woods has qualified for the first major of the year as a member of the tournament's massive 148-man, pre-tournament field. (The field will be narrowed to the low 70 who make the cut-and Woods and Phil Mickelson are entered in the past four years.) This is one of those juuuuust-enough wins.

[@patron40silver]

This hole sucks even on Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game.

[@hanniballecterbelvedere6749]

It isnt that hard. Did it in 3 trys

[@mattbritzius570]

So it’s a famous hole because it’s a terrible place to put a golf course? Lol

[@jacobhundt4748]

Awful video. didn’t explain anything about the hole

[@davidmacholl3110]

I don't like golf. Bros and social justice warriors like golf. I'm not a bro or a social justice warrior. There are laws so we don't have social justice warriors.

[@edwardstroko8936]

Back in the earlier 2000s I played this hole and birdied it!!! I think I shot in the high 40s that day for 18 holes!!! It was the best score I ever had in a Tiger Woods video game!!!!🤣🥵😎💪🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸