British Open course revamped

Royal Birkdale has been increased in length by 154 yards in preparation for the 2008 British Open Championship.

A new green has also been built at the 17th, along with six new tees and 20 new hazards, 16 of which are fairway bunkers.

The new layout will be approximately 7,122 yards in total.

Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A said: “Royal Birkdale has always been a strong Open venue and we feel that by introducing these changes, that challenge can be maintained.

“We have paid particular attention to the introduction of tee shots that give players a number of strategic options and, through tighter bunkering and the recontouring of green surrounds, intend to make players execute more imaginative recovery shots around the greens.”

The major changes are:

HOLE 1:

Fairway – Reposition and reshape left-hand fairway bunker and mound to be more threatening from the tee.

Green – Reposition left-hand approach bunker and rework and deepen hollows surrounding the green.

HOLE 2:

Fairway – Two new fairway bunkers added on right at 300 yards. New mounding in left rough between 250 and 300 yards to better define the fairway.

HOLE 3:

Tee – New tee back right of former tee, now making the hole slightly dogleg left to right.

Fairway – Two new bunkers added on left at 315 and 330 yards.

Green – Recontouring of surrounds with introduction of ridges and hollows. New bunker constructed front right.

HOLE 4:

Green – Left-hand bunkers tightened up and right-hand bunker expanded and moved closer to green. Extensive recontouring with mounds and hollows to right of green.

HOLE 5:

Green – Bunkers tightened up and green extended behind right-hand wing bunker.

HOLE 6:

Tee – Tee lengthened by 19 yards.

Fairway – Bunker added at left corner of right-hand dogleg (280 yards).

Green – Bunker added on left-hand approach to green with mounding to tie in to left-hand dune.

HOLE 8:

Fairway – Ridging formed at 260 yards behind existing bunker on right and bunker added at 265 yards on left with ridging behind. Further bunker added on right at 310 yards and existing bunker at 320 yards repositioned into new mound on right.

Green – Green extended at back.

HOLE 9:

Tee – New tee constructed back right of existing tee to give better line for tee-shot.

Fairway – Fairway eased left to accentuate the left to right dogleg. Bunker repositioned (270 yards) at dogleg on right. New mounding and recontouring in right rough beyond this point.

Green – New bunker added front left of green.

HOLE 10:

Tee – Tee enlarged and levelled.

Fairway – Two bunkers added on left at 225 and 235 yards. Bunker added on right at 285 yards.

HOLE 11:

Tee – New tee 24 yards back.

Fairway – Bunker added on left at 285 yards.

Green – Bunker at front left moved closer to green edge and tightened.

HOLE 13:

Fairway – Bunker added on right at 290 yards. Existing bunker on left at 325 yards, widened by three yards into fairway. Cross bunker on left at 350 yards incorporated into a larger mound.

Green – Greenside bunkers pulled closer to putting surface and swales formed in the green surrounds.

HOLE 14:

Green – Bunker added front left of green and green extended at rear. Swales recontoured.

HOLE 15:

Fairway – Two new bunkers constructed on right at 300 yards. Fairway narrowed on approach to green and extensive recontouring with formation of hillocks on left, short of green.

HOLE 16:

Tee – New tee (+22 yards).

HOLE 17

Fairway – Two bunkers and mounding added at 310 and 320 yards on right. Bunker on right 100 yards short of green repositioned and additional dune added to narrow the fairway.

Green – Green moved back 20 yards with present top tier becoming the bottom tier of the new green. Bunkers repositioned as appropriate.

HOLE 18:

Fairway – Bunker and mound added at 300 yards on left.