Continuing To Lengthen Golf Courses Makes Zero Sense

In honor of an epic World Series being played this week, I’ll start this story off with a baseball analogy.

Imagine if, over time, baseball players were hitting more home runs. Let’s say too many home runs, according to some.

So to fix the issue, ballparks started moving seats and pushing their fences back to solve the problem. Maybe they change the configuration of the new fence so that the vulnerable porch in right field isn’t so vulnerable anymore. Maybe the entire stadium needs to get bigger to accommodate the changes. Maybe millions of dollars are spent just to find some equilibrium.

They wouldn’t do this, right? It would be ridiculous, right?

Hold my beer, says golf.

In golf, we have become addicted to lengthening golf courses to account for distance gains. And not just lengthening holes but coordinating that added length with moving hazards to fit the new landing areas.

Famously, Augusta National buys property and moves boundary walls just to push a tee farther back. But many courses without their limitless budget are constantly searching for ways to add length to their holes so the top players will be fully challenged and, over the past couple of decades, courses are being built with that added length already a part of the equation.

The latest course to be altered? The oldest one there is.

St Andrews is getting revamped

Prior to the 2027 Open Championship, the Old Course at St Andrews is getting lengthened by 132 yards.

Six holes will be lengthened (Nos. 5, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 16), while several bunkers will be relocated or extended.

The changes follow an extensive review process following the 2022 Open when Cameron Smith finished at 20-under 268—a record score for the Old Course and the lowest score to par in any major until Xander Schauffele shot 21-under at the 2024 PGA Championship.

“Every generation has played a part in shaping the Old Course, and this latest program continues that long tradition,” said Neil Coulson, Chief Executive of the St Andrews Links Trust. “The work will restore features that have changed subtly over time and refine others to preserve the course’s unique character.”

The 16th hole will have the biggest adjustment with two bunkers being added down the left to create more risk. There will also be new bunkers on Nos. 2, 6, 9 and 10.

These bunkers are specifically meant to be hazards for better golfers who had been easily carrying previous bunkers, some of which are being replaced with grass.

Notably, golf’s rollback is scheduled to start in January 2028 after this Open Championship takes place—although the changes are being made with future years in mind.

Call me crazy but this is a ridiculous trend

We all know golf courses are living, breathing creatures. Obviously a course isn’t going to stay exactly the same over the years—and that includes renovations or other forms of upkeep.

I’m not suggesting St Andrews shouldn’t evolve as a golf course. And perhaps these changes will make the course more interesting for the pros.

What I’m saying is that having so many courses making these type of changes just to challenge the