Peper: Leave The Old Course Alone!

Thanks to reader Richard for sending in George Peper's column lamenting changes to the Old Course.

As an area resident until recently and Royal and Ancient Golf Club member, it's great to see his attitude about allowing low scores on the Old Course at St. Andrews and also poking fun at the other governing bodies for living in fear of being the first to give up a 62.

In the Old Course the R&A has something the other three do not—an original—the true and sacred crucible of the game. As such, it should not be bastardized, it should be celebrated.

Imagine for a moment that none of these changes were made to the Old Course—imagine in fact that the holes that have been lengthened for the past two Opens at St. Andrews were restored to their original distances, so the course played at something close to the length it was one hundred years ago. What would happen when the Open returns in 2015? Assuming decent weather, there would be numerous scores in the low 60s—likely a few in the 50s—and the winning total would be somewhere around 30 under par.