Since the 1995 Open the Old Course has been extended and the championship length
is now 7115 yards. The most significant changes are at the 3rd, the 10th, the
13th, the 15th and the 16th.
Course record
The new championship tees were first used in the Alfred Dunhill Cup in 1997
when the course record was set at 65 by Jesper Parnevik and Justin Leonard.
In the 1999 event it was equaled twice by Carlos Franco from the Paraguayan
team. At its previous length of 6933 yards, the record holder was Curtis Strange
who went round in 62 in 1989.
Bunkers
All 112 bunkers have been revetted using 5.5 acres of turf produced in the
Trust's turf nurseries. The Bunker faces at Hell and Shell were rebuilt in 1999
using railway sleepers sunk into a concrete base beneath the turf wall. These
will provide a template for future repairs. It took 5 men a month to revet Hell
Bunker using 10,000 turfs. It is the largest bunker at 600 sq m and at it's
highest 3m (10ft).
Greens
The greens on the Old Course measure more than 30,000 sq m (nearly 7.5 acres)
in total. The largest double green, the 5th/13th, measures more than 6,500 sq
m (over 1.5 acres) and a greenkeeper cutting it with a pedestrian mower will
walk seven miles taking one and a half hours to complete the task.
Rocca watches his ball bounce off the face of the bunker at the famous 17th "Road Hole", with it goes the chance of winning the 1995 Open at St Andrews. Allsport.
Manpower
In the two years before the Open, 14 greenkeepers have been working on the
Old course - during July 2000 this will increase fourfold to 56. Usually there
are 11 in the squad all with formal greenkeeping qualifications. The greenkeepers
are supported by a workshop squad of five. In the summer 11 seasonal staff are
taken on to fill and repair divots.
Machinery
The fleet of tractors and mowers is renewed on a rolling basis every five years
and represents a capital investment of over £1.5m. Machinery is stored
in two new greenkeeping centres - the Eden and the Jubilee - which were opened
in the 1990s. Turf care machinery is provided by Textron Turn Care and Specially
Products. The fleet of tractors is provided by New Holland.
Irrigation
Phase 1 of the installation of a £2.5m irrigation scheme was completed
in Spring 1999. The second phase will start in Winter 2000. It will be the single
largest golf course irrigation system in Europe. There are four boreholes serving
a 750,000 gallon reservoir and over 4,00 sprinkler heads. Sprinkler and control
systems are supplied by Toro.
