Royal St George's
Royal St. George's will play 100 yards longer and be cut to a par 70 for this summer's Open Championship from July 14th - 17th.
The course in Sandwich, Kent measured 7,106 yards when American Ben Curtis produced a shock to win in 2003, but this year it has been stretched to 7,211 yards.
On the front nine, the third hole is now 30 yards longer at 240 yards, the long seventh is up from 532 to 564 yards and the ninth goes up from 388 to 412 yards. Meanwhile, on the back nine, the 15th has been lengthened from 475 yards to a 496 yard par four.
The famous fourth hole - with a huge bunker staring players in the face as they tee off - has been shortened slightly but will now play as a long and tough 495 yard par four rather than a 497 yard par five.
Meanwhile, with less than 30 per cent of all drives finishing on the first fairway in 2003, the landing area has been widened by about 12 yards. Tiger Woods started with a triple bogey seven - fellow American Jerry Kelly had an 11 - and ended the week two strokes behind Curtis.
"Tiger's lost ball was not an influence - it was the overall statistic of 27-28%," said Royal and Ancient Club chief executive Peter Dawson. The fairways on the 17th and 18th have also been made more user friendly.
“Whenever The Open comes to Royal St George’s, we welcome a large number of enthusiastic spectators from London and the surrounding area,” said Peter Dawson. “This new service brings The Open Championship closer to the capital than ever before, and we hope that it will encourage more people to enjoy a day at golf’s oldest Major.”
