Road Hole Extended

Probably the most famous hole in golf, the 17th on The Old Course at St Andrews, is to be lengthened by 35 yards in preparation for the 2010 Open Championship.

The 150th staging of golf's oldest major will take place next July, and the course is a very different beast to that faced by professional golfers throughout the 20th century. Although many new tees had been added before the 2005 Open, this is surely the most controversial, and perhaps the most unnecessary. Currently the 17th plays 455 yards. With out of bounds on the right, thick rough on the left, an extremely narrow green complex, and the road hole bunker itself to contend with - you would've thought this hole was intimidating enough. But the powers that be are concerned many of the longer hitters can still tame this hole by hitting a long iron off the tee. They are adamant that it should be a driving hole, and that is most definitely what it will now be.

My argument is that golfers should have the right to select their own path of course management. Even in 2005, only the very longest hitters were choosing a hybrid or long iron from the tee. This choice made the second half of the hole even tougher, because they were now faced with another long iron to a treacherous green. Those brave enough to hit driver, and land it on the short stuff, were rewarded with a 150 yard approach to the same treacherous green. By adding this new tee, you alienate guys like Tom Watson who will now struggle to reach in two. Into the wind, shorter hitters may even have to face the humility of playing around the old railway shed, lay up to the tightest part of the fairway with a long iron, and hit a third shot from around 90 yards. This isn't great tv, and certainly not the way the hole was designed to be played.

The new tee in question is being built in the adjacent driving range which used to be part of the old Eden Course. This is the first time the hole will have been altered in more than a century. The R&A's reasoning is that by widening the fairway, the players will have a larger and fairer target to aim at with driver, with the hole playing as originally intended. If Tiger Woods had been sitting in on that meeting, he may have found it tough to hold back a smile.