'Blow It Up' - Robert MacIntyre Reveals Why He Dislikes The Old Course's Famous Road Hole

Robert MacIntyre has had a brilliant 2024 so far, including a maiden PGA Tour victory in the RBC Canadian Open and a win in his homeland in July’s Genesis Scottish Open.

However, his hopes of making it three victories for the year at the Alfred Dunhill Championship didn’t come to fruition, as he finished in T25 on 14-under, 10 adrift of winner Tyrrell Hatton.

That wasn’t helped by two tricky encounters on the famous 17th at the Old Course, the Road Hole, which MacIntyre played in his third and fourth rounds.

On Saturday, MacIntyre shot a double-bogey six on the Road Hole, his only blemish in an otherwise excellent 65. He followed that up with one of three bogeys in his round of 70 at the par-4 hole on Sunday.

MacIntyre is far from the only player who has come a cropper at the hole over the years, which is one of the most famous in the world and involves hitting the tee shot over the corner of the Old Course Hotel, before hoping to avoid one of the most treacherous bunkers you'll find anywhere as well as a road against a stone wall that runs along the back of the green.  

While all those aspects help ensure the Road Hole’s status as one of the most iconic in golf, MacIntyre is not a fan, as he told The Scotsman after the final round.

“Blow it up,” he said. “I don't think there are many worse holes in world golf. I think it’s a terrible hole off the back tee. It doesn’t need to be modernized, to bring excitement it needs to be a hole you are able to hit a golf shot into and not one where you just hit it onto the green and try to get up and down.

“It almost plays like a par 5. They try to do things to this golf course that don’t need to be done. Today I rifled a drive off the tee and then a 4-iron and I was the furthest up the hole.”

While MacIntyre struggled on the Road Hole during the tournament, those experiences couldn’t diminish from a special occasion for the Scot, who competed in the team element of the event alongside dad, Dougie, with the pair finishing T11.

 “It was great,” he added. “It was something I always wanted to do. When I asked them [Dunhill], they said no problem. The first pro event I got to take part in as an amateur he caddied for me. It was nice. I know he was really nervous and it wasn’t his best golf, but it was nice to be out there with him.”