3 Course Management Secrets From The Open’s Most Feared Hole (Calamity Corner)

At the Open Championship, the 236-yard 16th at Royal Portrush is an intimidating par-3 with a deep chasm right of the green that punishes the slightest mistake. The key to any difficult hole is knowing how to manage it. Shot Scope shared some data with us from the 2019 Open Championship about the 16th hole and there are a few things you can learn from it for your game.

Big numbers start with the wrong miss

The worst mistake at Calamity Corner isn’t a poor swing; it’s missing in the wrong spot.

The right side of the green drops 40 to 50 feet into thick rough. According to Shot Scope, players fail to get up and down from that area nine out of 10 times. Many make double or worse.

Even if you never have the chance to play Portrush, the message is the same: not all misses are created equal.

When there’s big trouble on one side, plan to miss away from it. For some players, that could even mean missing the green entirely just to stay safe.

Par is a strategy

At the 2019 Open, only 24 birdies were made at Calamity Corner, fewer than any other hole on the course. Even top pros hit the green only one in five times from 200 yards or more.

But players who made four pars across four rounds gained strokes on the field.

You don’t have to chase birdies when the odds are stacked against you. Whether you’re facing a long par-3 or a brutal pin location, sometimes your best move is to aim safe and take par as a win.

If a hole is playing tougher than your skill level or the conditions allow, treat bogey as your par and par as a bonus. The same idea works in reverse. On a scoring hole, think of birdie as your expectation and par as a small miss. Shifting your mindset like this can help you stay more focused and make smarter decisions that lead to better scores.

Build a versatile short game for tough spots

While the chasm on the right side of Calamity Corner gets all the attention, the left side isn’t exactly friendly. Players who bail out left are often left with tight lies, awkward stances, thick patches of rough or a delicate chip up a slope. It’s not automatic and it requires a range of short-game shots to navigate cleanly.

That’s where real course management shows up. Yes, avoiding disaster is important but you also need a set of tools to pull off the next shot. The pros know how to hit low spinners, bump-and-runs and soft, lofted shots from uneven turf. They practice for variety.

Here are a few shots to add to your arsenal:

• Bump-and-run – great for firm turf with plenty of green to work with
• Flop shot – helpful for short-sided lies or elevated greens
• Low spinner – a higher-skill option for tight lies when you need bite
• Hybrid putt – ideal when you’re in the fairway fringe but want to avoid chunking a wedge
• Uphill rough pitch – a soft, controlled swing from thick lies on a slope
• Toe-down chip – useful on downhill lies to reduce digging and create a clean strike

Final thoughts

You might never tee it up at Royal Portrush but the lessons from Calamity Corner can be used anywhere. Whether it’s a long approach with water right or a tight fairway with trees left, smart course management is about playing away from danger. The par-3s are going to be a real test for the professionals for the 2025 Open Championship.