The most famous hazard in golf, the Road Hole bunker, has been drastically and dramatically changed. The bunker, which used to dominate the 17th on the Old Course at St Andrews, has been moved back from the putting surface and its height reduced by about 60cm.
It has always been regarded as the hardest par four in the world. Many great players have gone into its greenside bunker, stayed in, and had their chance of fame and fortune destroyed.
It gained such a malign reputation that the BBC installed a camera in the front wall for viewers to watch the largely unavailing attempts of the world’s best players trying to get out.
But almost overnight and without any apparent con- sultation the shape, depth and even the position have been arbitrarily altered.
As a result, says David Malcolm, a past captain of the New Club at St Andrews, ”the whole town is in uproar”.
”This is a bunker with a story longer than any saga and more colourful than a Hollywood epic,” he says. ”Its loss is a tragedy.”
There were complaints after the 2000 Open that the floor of the bunker was too flat; that the sand which should have curved up to the face formed a right angle and if the ball was too close ,it was impossible to advance it.
This week the secretary of the Royal & Ancient (the ruling body for golf outside of the United States) Peter Dawson said: ”We did not ask for these changes and it is evident that they have altered the nature of the hole.” —