If golfers thought they’d earn some reprieve via the drop zones at this year’s Open Championship, they’d be dead wrong.
Pictures of the relief area at Portrush, which hosts the 153rd iteration of the Open this week, went viral on social media for its overgrown grass that looks straight out of a horticulturalist’s dream.
Traditionally, players will be given a free drop if they hit their ball into a grandstand or behind a leaderboard among other inconvenient locations dotted around the course.
However, it is a concept draped in controversy, especially on the PGA Tour, because drop zones can sometimes be located in a favourable and well-manicured spot.
It has led to a cheeky tactic known as ‘backboarding’.
Backboarding is when players will intentionally hit their ball into the grandstand or fire one over if they know it will earn them a generous drop.
But organisers of The Open have done their utmost to limit any potential opportunities for backboarding by creating some of the most brutal drop zones seen.
In a statement given to Golf.com, R&A officials explained the choice behind the ruthless relief areas at Portrush.
“The dropping zones provide an additional free relief option to the standard free relief under the Local Rule for temporary immovable obstructions (TIOs),” the statement read.
“We don’t want hitting the ball towards a grandstand to be a bail out option and therefore, where possible, we ensure that the dropping zones are not overly generous.
“It is worth emphasizing that taking relief into the dropping zone is not mandatory. The player will always have an alternative relief option under the TIO Local Rule.”
This also isn’t a new development for the Open, either.
It was a similar case during last year’s edition of the tournament at Royal Troon.
Speaking to Golf Digest in 2024, former R&A chief referee David Rickman explained that the drop zones at The Open are meant to realistically reflect where a player’s ball would have landed had they not been given relief.
“We’ve certainly seen comments that the infrastructure that can be built around a golf course can provide something of a backstop, a bail out, however you want to describe that,” Rickman said.
“We’re very conscious of that. But we’re always trying to maintain the integrity of the event when we’re trying to, I suppose, make arrangement so if somebody does hit it into the grandstands where drop zones are marked we give them a fair shot that is a reasonable approximation of what they would have.”
Time will tell whether the playing field can cope with the ruthless drop zones on offer around Portrush.
But those who can will certainly stand a chance of being near the top of the leaderboard when it’s all said and done.
Xander Schauffele went into this year’s edition of The Open as the defending champion.
His triumph at Troon was his second major in 2024 having also won the PGA Championship.
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