Thanks to The R&A will TOC see out her days as a Pitch and Putt Course?

[Matt_Ward]

Gents:

The best man this week -- end of story.

TOC is a fine layout and worthy of continuing -- if people shoot low more power to them.

One other thing -- as Pat M mentioned -- the distance the ball is going really peaked a few years ago.

[Melvyn Morrow]

Pat

I am surprised to see you joining in the conversation, clearly you seem to know the course and all the issues and the R&A attitude to some of the problems

You will then understand that some of the town folk are getting very unhappy with the R&A which has raised other issues, clearly by the way your brain works there must be a vendetta.

But please feel free to add your comments based upon your experience of the town the R&A and the town folk. When you have done that you can tell me who has a vendetta and against whom.

Melvyn

PS If people did not hide behind their flags then I would not be seen as anti American but have some valid points about the game of Golf. This site is not about America or Scotland its about golf and how it has benn played for centuries. Change that and you quite rightly open yourselves to some questions and debate. Some of you Americans are like us Brits during our Empire/ Victoria days pushing our flag.  Its not about flags its about f~@king Golf. I cant do anything about you disliking me, thats life.
Anyway John your are a first class prat at times but then we all suffer from that at times.

[David_Tepper]

"You will then understand that some of the town folk are getting very unhappy with the R&A"

I am sure the R&A is quaking in their boots.

[Tom_Doak]

Comparing the winning scores at St. Andrews with other majors is an unfair comparison, since par there is 72.  Nearly all the U.S. Open courses [except Oakmont] are playing with two par-5 holes and two par-5's that are converted to par-4's.  If they were playing the "normal" par for members, the heralded "Level par" score that wins the Open would actually be revealed to be -8 instead.

Perhaps for the next Open they can just call #9 and #18 par-3 holes.  There certainly isn't anywhere to go back with a tee on 18.  If they had said so this week, only two guys would have broken par.

[Brian_Ewen]

Until there is a specific ball for first-class ball we will continue to play two games - the professional game that renders almost every great old course obsolete - and the game the rest of us play.

Mr. Clayton, I wish !

[Shane Gurnett]

Similar thread after the 2005 Open :

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,18956.0/

[Tom_Doak]

Shane:

None of us architects posted on that thread.  We were all too busy back in 2005.  [sigh]

[Shane Gurnett]

Tom, except for Brian Phillips!

Shivas post #26 put forward one possible option for the 18th, which I remembered when watching the telecast last night (I've not played the course)

[Tim_Cronin]

Melvyn,
   Actually, the way the Links Trust manages the Old Course, and especially the 18th, may be precisely the way to go about it. Let it play the way it has always played. The professional players hit the ball longer, and more accurately, thanks to technology and fitness. Fine. Let them.
   What you have in the Old Course, even after the R&A puts tees on practice grounds – though I must say the 17th is more interesting when someone takes it completely over the hotel than just the mock shed – is the test bed for how much golf has changed.
   And how much has it changed? You still have players dumping approach pitches into Swilken Burn. You still have players getting lost in the gorse. The Road, while paved, is still in play. And it's still possible to drive the last green, even as Jack did, nearly driving out of bounds in 1970.
   The Old Course offers infinite challenge no matter what the weather.