Royal Troon could feature longest and shortest holes in British Open history

TROON, Scotland — Royal Troon will feature the longest hole in Open history when the Ayrshire links hosts the event for the 10th time in July.

The par-5 sixth hole will be extended to 623 yards, which is 22 yards longer than in 2016 the last time Troon hosted. The 152nd Open is July 18-21.

Two holes later, players could see the shortest hole as the famous “Postage Stamp” could be shortened to 99 yards, weather permitting.

Overall, nine new tees have been created to lengthen the course to 7,385 yards — an increase of 195 yards from eight years ago when Henrik Stenson beat Phil Mickelson by three strokes to capture the claret jug.

The R&A also said Tuesday at a press briefing at Royal Troon that it expects attendance to be 250,000, an increase of more than 70,000 from 2016.