The R&A
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ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND | At this point, the R&A and the St Andrews Links Trust can breathe again.
A couple of weeks after the two organisations revealed their “carefully planned programme of enhancements and restoration to the Old Course ahead of The 155th Open in 2027,” it would seem that none of the locals has raised objections. Although the main changes are aimed at championship golfers rather than the everyday variety, the townsfolk always want to know what’s happening to their links – and be ready to pounce where necessary.
When, for example, the mud on either end of the 700-year-old Swilken Bridge was suddenly replaced by modern patio slabs in February 2023, they dialled the equivalent of 999 and called for them to be removed ASAP. That happened first thing on a Monday morning and, when I asked a passing woman golfer if the shenanigans really had been the talk of the town, she replied with an exasperated: “It’s not just the talk of the town, it’s the talk of the world.”
To borrow from the carefully couched press release which was issued by the R&A and the Links Trust on 28 October, “the project will refine the strategic challenge for elite players in a small number of areas for future championships.” At the same time, it is set “to restore traditional features that have evolved over time to improve the playing experience for local and visiting golfers.”
Mackenzie and Ebert, the renowned golf course architects who have overseen multiple renovations on the Open rota, will be working on the project with the R&A and the Links Trust and, when it comes to the 17th hole, you can rest assured that they have not been seeking advice from Bob MacIntyre. Though the Scotsman won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last month with a spectacular trio of 66s, he last year let rip with the suggestion that the 17th be “blown up” before rating it among one of “the world’s worst holes.” (It hardly needs to be mentioned that he had amassed a double bogey on the Saturday and a bogey on the Sunday.)
Such was the uproar that Scotland’s favourite son had created he felt duty-bound to pen an apology – at once humble and humorous – to the hole itself. “Sorry 17th hole @thehomeofgolf,” he wrote on X. “All in the heat of the moment, nothing personal.”
On this occasion at least, the relevant experts have planned for one of golf’s most famous holes to enjoy “a sympathetic restoration to reduce the effect of sand splash at the Road Hole Bunker.” In other words, the hole will be left in relative peace as against what happened ahead of the Opens of 2010 and 2015; Paul Lawrie described the new tee built for the former championship as “out of place,” and Tiger Woods said that the widening of the Road Hole Bunker undertaken before the latter was unnecessary. Incidentally, it is not just sand splash which affects the depth of the Road Hole Bunker. It is well known that golfers have on occasion asked friends to spread their ashes in it. Before you ask, the 14th hole’s Hell Bunker is not such a sought-after resting place.
For Mackenzie and Ebert, discussions apropos the new alterations began in earnest way back in 2020 when the pair were contemplating how, if Bryson DeChambeau were to start winning a string of majors, it might affect the Open rota.
“It’s horrid to think that the writing might be on the wall for the Old Course,” said Mackenzie at the time.
“Of all the Open courses,” continued Ebert, “the Old Course is the one where we’ve exhausted all possibilities when it comes to finding extra yards.”
There was more to their to-ing and fro-ing.
“We want the professionals to have to stand on the tee and think about their options,” said Ebert before Mackenzie chipped in with the idea that the professionals should be asked to work with fewer clubs: “How much fun it would be to watch a Bryson or a would-be Bryson having to manufacture a shot rather than bring out a wedge which will do the thinking for him?”
“In the U.K., the average putting surface is around 500 square metres. On the Old Course, they measure over 2,000.” – Jim Coxton
With DeChambeau having won no more than two majors – both U.S. Opens – since that conversation took place, it was interesting to hear what Ebert had to say in August of this year when he was explaining the changes made to Trump Turnberry. On this occasion, when he was asked what the Open rota would look like in five to 10 years’ time, he said he was sure St Andrews would stay put, “because it’s so interesting.”
Foursomes outings and an R&A members’ Stableford event were taking place two Fridays ago, with the players’ main topic of conversations centering on alterations planned for the 16th. This is one hole where the adjustments would affect them no less than the major championship men.
According to the plans, “the historic playing route will be restored to the left of the Principal’s Nose and Deacon Sime bunkers, along with the addition of two bunkers to add risk on the left hand side of the extended fairway.” Scottie Scheffler, in the days ahead of the ’22 Open – his first at St Andrews – practised hitting his tee shots into the left rough from the word go. (The strategy has long been a simple get-out clause for the finest players.)
Jim Coxton, the CEO of BIGGA (the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association), said that all the proposals, and most notably those at the 16th, made perfect sense to him. He added that the leadership at St Andrews Links Trust and the R&A, along with that of Mackenzie and Ebert, “has a track record of engaging with the greenkeeping team when it comes to alterations and this time will be no different. Everything will be spot on.”
He went on to issue a fascinating reminder of the sheer size of the putting surfaces on the Old Course – surfaces which prompted Old Tom Morris to be the first to suggest that greens be cut shorter than the fairways. “In the U.K.,” said Coxton, “the average putting surface is around 500 square metres. On the Old Course, they measure over 2,000. Even accounting for the fact that there are only 11 greens on the Old Course, their total area is more than double a regular course’s 18 greens. The largest green, shared by the fifth and 13th holes, is over 3,400 square meters, which amounts to around the size of seven normal greens. Just imagine what that means for maintenance!”
The 17th will receive “a sympathetic restoration to reduce the effect of sand splash at the Road Hole Bunker.” Ross Parker, R&A via Getty Images
For further information on the upcoming changes, six holes are contributing to the extra 132 yards (to a total of 7,445) which were always going to be hard to find. In this instance, the new championship tees at the fifth, sixth, seventh and 10th will play a major role, adding 35, 17, 22 and 29 yards, respectively, with tee enlargements at Nos. 11 and 16 supplying a further 21 and 10 yards.
On the second, the two right-hand side drive-length bunkers will be relocated farther from the tee and to the left to make them more relevant to the line of play. On the ninth, the right-side approach bunkers will be extended slightly towards the line of play, including Boase’s Bunker, which will be restored to its larger and less-rounded shape. And, at the 12th, the championship tee will be realigned slightly to help ease championship spectator movement with a similar process undertaken at the “daily play” tee on 14.
No information has been forthcoming on how much the work is going to cost. However, bearing in mind that St Andrews is the most expensive place to live in Scotland, the new bunkers on the Old Course won’t come cheap for a start.
Yet judging from the all-round approval, it will be well worthwhile. The links can only become more “interesting,” to use Ebert’s word, than less in an era when so many grand championship courses can look much the same.
What is more, you can only think that Jon Rahm will have set rather more than his LIV colleagues thinking that the game’s traditions mean a whole lot more to them than they ever thought possible.
Who won’t want to tee up in the ’27 Open at St Andrews? And are they going to care if the course is a few hundred yards shorter (and the purse a few million dollars fewer) than those at the other majors? The answer is no.
Rather will they all be concentrating on that famous Jack Nicklaus quote: “If you’re going to be a player people will remember, you have to win the Open at St Andrews.”
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