British Open 2025: The 'drop zones' at Royal Portrush are as nasty as ever this week
Stuart Franklin/R&A
Take notes, PGA Tour.
One of the best British Open traditions going—punishing drop zones—is back for the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush. Dylan Dethier with Golf.com captured two photos of some of the nastier drop zones the R&A implemented this year:
That's the good stuff.
For anyone confused, these seemingly unfair drop zones/relief areas are the R&A's cheeky way of combatting what's known as "backboarding," a term for when players know they'll get a free drop near a grandstand so they purposely hit it off of one or bail out toward one. On the PGA Tour, wayward shots such as those are often rewarded with a free drop and an unencumbered shot toward the green.
During Open week, though, shots like that are punished, as they should be. It's a local rule that differs from the normal two club lengths no closer to the hole relief players would normally get on a regular tour week. This week, if you are near a grandstand and need relief, you go to the nearest drop area, even if it is closer to the hole. This was the case last year at Royal Troon, too.
In other words, there is nothing "free" or fair about them, nor should there be. And you watch, magically, the world's best who are always in full control of their golf ball suddnely won't find themselves next to or behind many grandstands this week. Because if they do, they know that may actually have to pay the price.
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Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.
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