Getty Images
Thursday morning was tense, no wonder. Early events of the major. Time to see his work put to the test.
On his way through the grounds of Royal Liverpool, architect Martin Ebert grabbed a seat in the stands alongside the par-3 17th, eager to watch the world’s best play a hole he had designed.
“There was an enormous amount of excitement among the spectators, and a long queue just to get into the stands,” Ebert told GOLF.com. “I was getting a little excited myself.”
In the lead-up to the 2023 Open, no bit of the host’s place has inspired more headlines — or drawn more scrutiny — than the penultimate 136-yard hole (give or take, depending on the pin). Previously the No. 15 at the Royal Liverpool Open Road, the hole has been reversed and shortened so that it now faces estuary views and plays on a small, endless green with run-off and putts all around. Although the change was meant to inject pint-sized drama down the stretch (a club soaring under pressure in a world of danger), it was also part of a larger championship plan that made room for two shutouts to stretch.
During last week’s training rides, 17, as expected, polarized opinions. Brooks Koepka said he loved it. John Rahm declared it fair, with an asterisk, “for if it is unfair, it is unfair to all.”
As the competition got underway on Thursday, in relatively mild conditions, Ebert said he was starting to worry. In the first two sets, each player hit the green. they are. No drama.
“I’m starting to think maybe all this noise is going to get nowhere,” Ebert said.
Then Lucas Herbert, the co-leader at the time, came in with a left-to-right pin foul, resulting in a chip double, bunker troubles and a triple bogey. Soon after, Ryan Fox also got into trouble. Ebert felt the Open Championship had achieved what everyone wanted. He watched 14 groups that morning, and saw what he described as a healthy mix of punishments and rewards.
“There was a lot of excitement,” said Ebert. “I thought (the hole) provided an adequate test.”
For the next three days, Ebert followed the action as most fans did: on television. He thought the 17th — played as the eighth hardest hole of the week with a par of 3.121 — held up well, pulling off a bunch of hits. A perfect example of this is the play on Friday, when Australian Travis Smith led by a slam and defending Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick by three after taking four strokes in the sand. In the aftermath of that ordeal, Fitzpatrick suggested that the pit should be cancelled. His caddy, Billy Foster, shared this view. This was the same Fitzpatrick who was flying the 17th twice before the Open Championship ended. It was also the same Foster who, before the tournament, called the 17th a “monster” and warned that this year’s Open could be remembered “for a disaster that happened”.
melodramatic? maybe. But understandable. In 2003, Foster was in the bag of then-leader Thomas Bjorn when Bjorn took three shots from a bunker on the par 3 16th hole at Royal St George, making him a triple bogey that cost him the claret jug. Assholes, like golfers, aren’t immune to PTSD.
As for Ebert, he took the feedback, good and bad, with equanimity, from elsewhere in England. That’s just how it goes. You can’t please all the people all of the time, especially when you’re building a hole in a historic tournament venue that aims to draw attention to itself.
“I know there has been some criticism of the idea of deliberately adding drama,” Ebert said. “But the hole was also part of a comprehensive set of proposals aimed at benefiting the tournament.”
It serves this purpose, Ebert said, even “rewarding good hits and punishing poor ones”.
From his point of view, it’s not as if the seventeenth game has been played out.
The stats seem to back it up. For the week, the 17th yielded the same number of birdies (65) and gigs (72).
Those numbers were as of Sunday evening.
But Ebert woke up Monday morning This address is in The telegraph: “Royal Liverpool drastically changes controversial 17th hole after The Open due to complaints.”
This was news to Ebert. He was not aware of any changes in the works. Liverpool FC said that was not the case.
“There are no plans to amend No. 17,” a club representative told GOLF.com by phone.
This does not mean that there is not more to the story. According to a source familiar with the inner workings of the Royal Liverpool FC, the 17th X has drawn complaints from club members since its opening, some of whom feel the hole is too intense for year-round play. The source told GOLF.com that club members now joke that when highly skilled players play the course, they walk straight from the 16th green to the 18th putt, scoring the “6” on their scorecards on the 17th without bothering to play the hole.
Playing members is different from playing the major leagues, of course. And changes in key places are not easy. According to the Royal Liverpool insider, it wouldn’t be surprising if the club decided to dilute the 17th by, say, raising the tee or toning down some of its features or risks. But such adjustments will not be a response to what happened at the World Open.
“brutality”? never. Not by numbers. Not in the eyes of the man who designed it.
“From what I can tell, it was a huge hit with the spectators,” said Ebert. “It generated a lot of excitement in the stands, and the views were amazing. From the point of view of golf as an entertainment industry, I think it has fulfilled its obligations.”