ALREADY ranked by an American magazine as one of the top 100 courses outside the US, the Jubilee in St Andrews is to undergo a programme of alterations and improvements over the next four years designed to keep the links, which opened in 1897, contemporary.
Sir Michael Bonallack's favourite of St Andrews' many golfing delights, the Jubilee was last updated 20 years ago when the opening of Donald Steel's re-design was performed by Curtis Strange. The funds which were available to the Links Trust in th
e Eighties, however, were not as substantial as they are today. Between the seventh and 15th holes – an area thought to lack definition – will be one of the first areas to receive attention, with additional fairway bunkering and changes to the tees.
Originally built as a 12-hole course at the end of the 19th century for the prize sum of £178 3s 8d, it's safe to say course architect Martin Hawtree's latest update will outstrip the original cost. However, the Links Trust are undertaking the work in-house and expenditure is likely to be modest. Director of greenkeeping Gordon Moir has made it clear the function of the changes is not to make the links more difficult for handicap golfers who already find the Jubilee sufficiently testing.
"When we revised the course 20 years ago, there wasn't much money around and the work was almost unfinished," recalled Moir yesterday. "From the seventh tee to the 15th green there's not much in the way of fairway bunkers. Visually, there's not a lot of definition and you can struggle to get an aiming point.
"So there will be bunkering and more dune mounding. That's the main gist of the project, although in due course we'll look at every hole apart from the 17th. The bunkers are going in at the 280 to 310-yard mark off the medal tees and the work will take place over the next four winters. We're not setting out to make it more difficult for the average golfer. The changes are from the championship tees rather than the medal tees."
Hawtree's plans for the Jubilee are currently on display in the Links clubhouse in St Andrews until 22 June. Golf Digest recently ranked the Jubilee in 92nd place in their assessment of the top 100 courses outside the US.
"The Jubilee scraped into that top 100 and a lot of people like Michael Bonallack (the former secretary of the Royal and Ancient] think it's a great course," added Moir. "These alterations should enhance that reputation."
