By David Whyte
Ahead of the 155th Open Championship in 2027, the Old Course at St. Andrews is set to undergo a sensitive but significant overhaul.
Traditionalists will no doubt be disapproving, but ongoing improvements in equipment, especially driver heads, along with elite players’ distance off the tee, make it necessary if the ‘Old Lady’ is to survive the modern golf era.
Six holes (5, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 16) will be lengthened, while the par-4 12th will be shortened, adding 132 yards overall and taking the course to 7,445 yards. The par-4 16th hole will see one of the most dramatic changes: The R&A, in concert with the St. Andrews Links Trust, which manages the Old Course, will restore a historic fairway route to the left of the “Principal’s Nose” and “Deacon Sime” bunkers, along with two new bunkers to raise the risk-reward challenge.
On the second hole, they will relocate two right-side bunkers farther down and more left to toughen the tee shot, while they’ll add new fairway bunkers to the sixth and 10th holes. The ninth will see Boase’s Bunker restored to a larger, more angular shape.
Sitting about the gorgeous fishing village of Stonehaven in northeast Scotland, a Jack Nicklaus Signature course just south of Aberdeen has been on the cards for some 20 years, and now, finally, there’s serious movement on it.
The so-called Silver City struck oil back in the 1970s. Now the town is beginning to sparkle as a golf destination. With the two Trump International courses on the other side of town and a parcel of seasoned links such as Royal Aberdeen, Cruden Bay, Murcar, and more, Scotland’s northeast is becoming a full-service golf spot.
Nicklaus’ course at Ury Estate will not be a links layout, but that doesn’t seem to put developers off, with courses such as Kingsbarns and Cabot Highlands occupying headland sites and achieving links-like status and massive popularity.
At the center of the project is Ury Castle and the Nicklaus Village, offering fully serviced self-build plots and five-bedroom luxury homes. Course construction is well underway with holes expected to open in 2026 and completion by 2027.
Opened in the late 1980s, the European Club quickly became a prominent fixture in Irish golf. Set on beautiful Brittas Bay overlooking the Irish Sea in County Wicklow, this wonderful links has hosted the game’s big names, including Johnny Miller, Gary Player, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy, and in its relatively short lifetime, it has ranked among the top 20 golf courses in the UK and Ireland.
The course, half an hour south of Dublin, was first established by Pat Ruddy, an Irish golf journalist, course designer. and publisher who went on to become one of the most influential figures in modern Irish golf. (There’s hope for us ink-stain wretches yet!)
Ruddy reportedly turned down multiple purchase offers before eventually selling earlier this year to a father-and-son team, Raymond and Nicky Conlan, for over $40 million. The former car dealers are closing the operation this winter to enter an ambitious 18-month renovation project expected to conclude in late spring 2027.
Full details of the redevelopment have yet to be disclosed but the new owners promise to transform the club into a world-class golf destination, improving both the golf course and the clubhouse facilities.