The R&A yesterday announced a raft of changes that are being made to Royal St. George’s – the venue for the 2011 Open Championship.
The world’s top golfers will descend on the Kent course in July in a bid to wrest the famous Claret Jug from the grasp of its current custodian, South African Louis Oosthuizen. But to do so, they will have to contend with a course that will play considerably tougher than in past years.
For starters, the par of the course will be dropped from 71 to 70, while more than 100 yards will be added to the course length for the 14-17th July major.
The last time the tournament was played at Sandwich was 2003, and only the eventual winner Ben Curtis finished under par.
One of the most prominent changes will be the changing of the 497-yard par-5 fourth hole – its cavernous bunker and all – which will be shortened by two yards, but will also see its par shaved to a par-4.
Meanwhile, thepar-3 third hole will be lengthened by 30 yards to 240 yards, while the seventh will be extended to 564 yards from its current length of 532 yards. The ninth hole will also be lengthened to 412 yards from 388 yards.
The main alteration to the back nine stretch will see the 15th hole being stretched from its current length of 475 yards to a 496-yard par four.
Its not all bad news however, as the landing area at the first hole will be widened, which should suit Tiger Woods – his first drive of the 2003 Open ended with a lost ball. The fairways at the 17th and 18th holes will also be made easier to hit, after less than 30 per cent of the field managed to hit those fairways in 2003.
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