![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/topgolf_FY25-2321_alwayson_display_globalgolfpost_practice-how-you-play_1000x600-700x420.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSuch was the uproar that Scotland\u2019s favourite son had created he felt duty-bound to pen an apology \u2013 at once humble and humorous \u2013 to the hole itself. \u201cSorry 17th hole @thehomeofgolf,\u201d he wrote on X. \u201cAll in the heat of the moment, nothing personal.\u201d<\/p>\n
On this occasion at least, the relevant experts have planned for one of golf\u2019s most famous holes to enjoy \u201ca sympathetic restoration to reduce the effect of sand splash at the Road Hole Bunker.\u201d 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 \u201cout of place,\u201d 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\u2019s Hell Bunker is not such a sought-after resting place.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s horrid to think that the writing might be on the wall for the Old Course,\u201d said Mackenzie at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf all the Open courses,\u201d continued Ebert, \u201cthe Old Course is the one where we\u2019ve exhausted all possibilities when it comes to finding extra yards.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was more to their to-ing and fro-ing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want the professionals to have to stand on the tee and think about their options,\u201d said Ebert before Mackenzie chipped in with the idea that the professionals should be asked to work with fewer clubs: \u201cHow 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?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the U.K., the average putting surface is around 500 square metres. On the Old Course, they measure over 2,000.\u201d \u2013 Jim Coxton<\/p>\n
With DeChambeau having won no more than two majors \u2013 both U.S. Opens \u2013 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\u2019 time, he said he was sure St Andrews would stay put, \u201cbecause it\u2019s so interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foursomes outings and an R&A members\u2019 Stableford event were taking place two Fridays ago, with the players\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
According to the plans, \u201cthe historic playing route will be restored to the left of the Principal\u2019s Nose and Deacon Sime bunkers, along with the addition of two bunkers to add risk on the left hand side of the extended fairway.\u201d Scottie Scheffler, in the days ahead of the \u201922 Open \u2013 his first at St Andrews \u2013 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.)<\/p>\n
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, \u201chas 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
He went on to issue a fascinating reminder of the sheer size of the putting surfaces on the Old Course \u2013 surfaces which prompted Old Tom Morris to be the first to suggest that greens be cut shorter than the fairways. \u201cIn the U.K.,\u201d said Coxton, \u201cthe 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\u2019s 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!\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ROSS-PARKER-RAGettyImages-1628663451-700x445.jpg\")
The 17th will receive \u201ca sympathetic restoration to reduce the effect of sand splash at the Road Hole Bunker.\u201d Ross Parker, R&A via Getty Images<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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 \u201cdaily play\u201d tee on 14.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t come cheap for a start.<\/p>\n
Yet judging from the all-round approval, it will be well worthwhile. The links can only become more \u201cinteresting,\u201d to use Ebert\u2019s word, than less in an era when so many grand championship courses can look much the same.<\/p>\n
What is more, you can only think that Jon Rahm will have set rather more than his LIV colleagues thinking that the game\u2019s traditions mean a whole lot more to them than they ever thought possible.<\/p>\n
Who won\u2019t want to tee up in the \u201927 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.<\/p>\n
Rather will they all be concentrating on that famous Jack Nicklaus quote: \u201cIf you\u2019re going to be a player people will remember, you have to win the Open at St Andrews.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a9 Global Golf Post LLC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The R&A Editor\u2019s note: \u201cIn Case You Missed It\u201d is a GGP+ feature that highlights a story from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,98546,101,17950,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-257889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-old-course","tag-sports","tag-st-andrews","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/THE-OLD-COURSE-RA-700x468.png\")
The R&A<\/p>\n