What the longest driver in the world shot over the final seven holes at St Andrews just before course changes announced

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The Old Course at St Andrews is undergoing changes to keep up with the length of modern golf.

Over 130 yards are being added to St Andrews, in an attempt to provide a greater challenge to the best players in the sport. The course has become too easy for players with modern technology, as Cameron Smith won the Open Championship in 2022 with a score of 20 under. 

But most courses in the world are no match for the distance of Kyle Berkshire. He is a four-time World Long Drive champion, and is regarded as the longest driver in the sport.

He holds the world record for the longest-ever drive on a golf course, hitting it 579 yards in 2023, and Berkshire hit a 1,060-yard drive on a runway in August with a 400+ yard carry.

So, how did Berkshire get on at St Andrews before the much-needed changes are made?

What Kyle Berkshire shot on the final seven holes at St Andrews

At his best in college, Berkshire was a +4.5 handicap, and said he could realistically get back to a +3 handicap in 2023. But on the Old Course, he showed exactly how easy it can play if you have distance off the tee.

Starting on the 12th, Berkshire shot two under par over seven holes. He had a birdie on the 12th and 17th holes, made tap-in pars from the 13th to the 16th, and made a five-footer to par the 18th. 

Berkshire set a goal to drive the green on the 449-yard par four 17th, known as the Road Hole. And he almost did just that. Berkshire’s drive carried 346 yards and ended up pin-high.

St Andrews proved no match for Berkshire, and generous fairways meant he could put the ball nearly anywhere. The fairway bunkers simply weren’t in play. That should be different at the 2027 Open Championship when some of the bunkers will be moved, and greenside bunkers added. 

But Berkshire’s score doesn’t bode well for the ease of the Old Course at the next major.

PGA Tour players that have criticised St Andrews 

It’s not a niche opinion that St Andrews has become too easy for the modern game. A number of professionals and former pros share the sentiment.

At the 2024 Dunhill Links, Scotsman Robert MacIntyre called the famous Road Hole “terrible”, stating “I don’t think there are many worse holes in world golf”.

Jordan Spieth, at the 2022 Open Championship, was asked if the course was too easy. When asked, he said, “Yeah, I think it might be. It’s hard for me to tell given 2015 we had so much wind that we couldn’t even play.

“But I think if it’s like it was this morning out here, it’s just a wedge contest, really. It was not necessarily built for today’s technology.”

And the ever-outspoken Gary Player worried that players like Bryson DeChambeau would ruin the Old Course with their distance.

He commented: “Isn’t it sad, when you think of the great Home of Golf, St Andrews, a place that we all love and adore? That is so obsolete. You’ve got people there who will drive eight or nine greens.”

It’s a sad reality, but the Home of Golf simply doesn’t present a challenge for the best players in the world any longer. Technology has overtaken the course.