To win the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club on the West Coast of Scotland, golfers must excel in driving accuracy, greens in regulation, and with their short game (assuming greens are missed), while avoiding the pot bunkers at all cost.

They'll also have to maneuver around one of the hardest holes in Europe.

Royal Troon starts in one downhill direction, offering a relatively friendly opening stretch through the famed 123-yard Postage Stamp. The 101-year-old course literally turns around at no. 9, morphing into a gusty grind as it heads back toward the clubhouse.

“It's like any other links, right? Keep it on the fairway, avoid bunkers,” said Jon Rahm. ” … I haven't seen anybody have a low score here. It's tricky golf course, especially the stretch of 9, 10, 11, even 12, 13, 14 now with the other tee, and I guess 15 can get quite difficult. All of them play almost in off the left. That's a difficult part of the golf course.”

The going gets toughest at no. 11, The Railway — named for the train tracks running alongside. The 493-yard par-4 has played as the seventh-most challenging hole in the Open Championship rota in the 21st century.

Why Royal Troon's hardest hole may decide the Open Championship

Navigating the Railway requires a narrow, deep and blind 275-yard tee shot — straight into the wind — to avoid thick gorse beds  on the left. The tracks, which are out of bounds, run a mere 20 yards off the right side of the fairway

“I think there's a few holes, 11 is a great example, just get that one on the fairway,” said U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau. “It's a very difficult, difficult hole.

“If the wind picks up, it may be driver. There are times where it has to be driver. You can’t hit 3-wood or 5-wood; it’s just too short. I could hit a 3-wood, and if it’s 15, 20 miles an hour into the wind, it could go 250 yards, 240 yards depending on the height. If it’s raining too, that plays a big factor, as well.

“So, there are times where you may be forced to hit driver, and you’ve just got to suck it up and hit a good drive.”

Even if one lands the fairway, they're facing a lengthy second shot into the breeze. Those darn tracks hug the back-right of the small green. There's also a brick wall over there; maybe one gets a lucky bounce, maybe the ball nestles up next to it. A pot bunker sits on the front left of the green. Good luck.

The Railway rated as the most difficult hole in 1997. It also played as the venue's most difficult in 2016 (4.561 scoring average), when it victimized Thomas Pieters.

For more succinct perspective: Prime Jack Nicklaus carded a 10 and a 7 at the Railway. The Golden Bear would call it one of the hardest par-4s in the world. A “par 4 and a half”, he even suggested.

Bubba Watson said it best in 2016.

“Let’s be honest, that hole fits nobody’s eye.”