“It’s 123 yards tee to green but it’s probably only playing about 90 with the wind,” advised my caddie, Brian, as we approached the 8th tee at Troon on a blustery day in April. Ninety yards?

This week at the Open Championship, toward the end of a long outward march along the coast at Royal Troon, players will be greeted by Hole No. 8: The Postage Stamp, perhaps the greatest short hole ...