For X decades, The Links Trust has - as part of its responsibilities - overseen the management and running of the Old Course at St. Andrews. How would you rate their performance as stewards of The Old Course? Like other courses that host big events, changes in technology have made their task especially challenging.
Despite such advances in technology, has The Links Trust materially changed any of the playing corridors or greens? NO, the fairways haven't been narrowed, which seems to be the crutch that is most often (mis)used. They haven't gone on a tree planting program ala Augusta National (plenty of irony in that statement). The green sizes haven't shrunk nor have they been ringed by thick, choking rough. Furthermore, not one of the green slopes (and I'm thinking in particular of those that slope from front to back) have been altered.
Has The Links Trust tried to shift The Old Course with the times? NO, the blindness off the tees tells the story there. Plus, walking is still viewed as a crucial part of the game and remains mandatory save for medical exceptions.
Have playing conditions been made softer in an effort to stretch out the course? NO, the Open that Tiger where the fairways were baked, tight and "puttable" is but one example but has anyone played any course where the fairways are so consistently tight??
Has The Links Trust stuck their head in the ground and done nothing? NO, they have moved numerous tees back in an effort to have the golfer hit a variety of clubs into the greens. I am told that the placement of the new back tees has not undermined any of the playing angles/strategies of the holes.
Have they added bunkers/hazards? I am not sure though they have dramatically altered the appearance of the bunkers by making all of them revetted. In David Joy's superbly compiled book entitled The Scrapbook of Old Tom Morris ( a true must for any golf library), one gains an immediate appreciation for the far greater range of bunker "styles" that once dotted the Old Course ( which I assume would add proportionately to the variety of recovery shots required). I have been told that due to the heavy play, The Links Trust opted for the less random, free flowing bunkers of years gone-by but ... I don't follow that logic as well as I should perhaps
This is my sole reservation re: The Links Trust and their management of The Old Course (what they have done to The Eden Course is for a different post).
Overall, I would give them a B+. One thing to their credit: they have never had to fix past mistakes/neglect of their own doing unlike so many famous clubs/courses that have had to undertake restoration efforts.
Relative to other all-universe courses that I place in the same league (NGLA, CPC, RM West, Pebble Beach, Sand Hills, Royal County Down, Oakmont, Merion, Pine Valley, Shinnecock and Ballybunion Old), maybe only half of them would get the same grade or higher. Thus, whether measured against its peers or not, I think a tip of the hat is most definitely due to The Links Trust - who agrees/disagrees?
Cheers,