ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- The famous Old Course at St. Andrews is about to unveil a series of changes that will lengthen several holes and bring many of the venerable layout's hazards back into play, course officials have announced.
Beginning Apr. 4, nine new tees will come in to play, taking the Old Course up to 6,721 yards from the plaques, an increase of 112 yards. The Standard Scratch Score from the medal tees will become 73 instead of 72.
Over the past few months, several former championship tees have been converted to medal tees while others have been brought into line with the official measurements used for the British Opens of 2000 and 2005.
The major adjustments are to holes 3, 9, 10 and 13, which, between them, account for 100 of the extra yards. The biggest change is to the ninth hole, which gains 40 yards and will now play at 347 yards.
"These changes are designed to improve the experience of playing the Old Course," said Alan McGregor, general manager of the St. Andrews Links Trust, which maintains and administers the Old Course. "We continually monitor the pace of play on the Old Course and it has become apparent that delays can take place on some holes, such as the ninth.
"The extra yardage on these holes will enable golfers to hit their drives before the green is clear and so speed up play," he said. "It will also bring some features back into play off the tee such as the Kruger bunkers and the heather on the ninth. This can only add to the enjoyment of playing here."
Other changes to the Old Course include the lengthening of the 10th hole to 340 yards, an increase of 22 yards. The 13th hole, which played as the second-toughest during last year's British Open, is now the third-longest par 4 on the Old Course, at 418 yards.
Hole 3 has received an extra 18 yards, to bring it up to 370, creating a longer carry to the fairway. The remaining five holes that have been changed -- 1, 11, 17 and 18 -- are now playing at exactly championship distance: 370, 174, 455 and 357 yards, respectively. The 14th is now measured at 530 yards, an increase of seven yards, following the repositioning of the medal tee to the right of the teeing area.
The medal course is now only 212 yards shorter than the course set-up for the British Opens of 1984, 1990 and 1995, which produced champions of the caliber of Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and John Daly. Despite the lengthening of the Old Course, the Jubilee Course retains its position as the longest medal course among the Links Trust layouts at 6,742 yards.
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