The Old Course at St Andrews is undergoing a facelift ahead of the 2027 Open Championship, as the Home of Golf hopes to cling on to its place in the modern game.
Six holes will be lengthened, adding over 130 yards to the historic course, and two new bunkers will be added, among other changes. Those alterations seem small, but any modifications to this hallowed ground are always met with raised eyebrows and resistance from some traditionalists.
Changes to the course are needed if it wants to maintain its place as a major championship venue and as the most frequent host of The Open Championship, which it has hosted since 1873.
Cameron Smith won with a score of 20 under in 2022, breaking the record for the lowest Open-winning score at St Andrews. The 11th hole, the Eden Hole, is one of the world’s most famous par threes and was designed to test players’ mid-iron ability. But in today’s game, it’s approachable by wedge. 21 yards will be added to that hole in particular.
But these changes are simply papering over the cracks of what are fundamental issues with this golf course. Perhaps it’s time to face some sad truths about the Home of Golf.
Why St Andrews can’t keep up with modern golf
If we learned anything from the Ryder Cup, it’s that just because a course is long, it doesn’t make it difficult.
Bethpage Black is 7,468 yards long, still longer than the Old Course even after its changes. But after Keegan Bradley’s Bethpage Black setup, shaving down the rough, it proved far too easy for the best players on the planet.
It wasn’t just the longest drivers in golf, such as Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy, who found the course easy with its short rough. Nearly every Ryder Cup player was long enough, so distance was barely a factor. As long as their tee shot was in play, they were almost certainly finding the green.
Compare that with Delhi Golf Club, which hosted the DP World India Championship after the Ryder Cup, and presented a real challenge for players. The course is tight and tree-lined, forcing golfers to manage their shots and play strategically.
McIlroy couldn’t hit his driver in India, and that was the same for many players at a course which Tiger Woods described as the narrowest he’s played. That’s not the answer for St Andrews, but it shows that obstacles, not distance, make a modern course challenging.
St Andrews is reminiscent of the Monaco Grand Prix in Formula One. It has been part of the sport’s fabric for as long as we can remember, but technological advancements raise questions about its place in the modern game.
The sport wouldn’t be the same without it, but, like the Monaco GP, it’s fair to ask whether St Andrews is more of an idea, a blast of nostalgia, than a major championship venue.
But learning from Delhi, and other courses around the world, there are changes St Andrews can make to the Old Course to maintain its place in modern golf.
The changes St Andrews should make to remain a major championship venue
The answer to making a course more difficult in 2025 isn’t distance, it’s obstacles, and while we can’t line St Andrews with trees while maintaining its historic feel, it does have one weapon at its disposal. Bunkers.
While two bunkers will be added, and fairway bunkers will be moved ahead of 2027, it’s not enough to make a severe impact on scoring.
That’s not to say that the R&A should be littering the course with them, or turning every green into an island surrounded by sand. But links courses such as these are iconic for the punishment dished out by the bunkers, and St Andrews can lean into that further.
By making every bunker a true punishment, heightening the lips on fairways, and adding depth to the greenside bunkers, accuracy will be emphasized. Players should fear missing the green at St Andrews.
Of course, the Old Course already features a series of challenging bunkers, but many are clearly easy enough to avoid for the best players.
And while changes to the course, such as increasing the size of the bunkers, or reshaping the land to reel more balls into them, will be unpopular, the alternative is to see these players make an embarrassment of the Old Course in the years to come.
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