No sooner than the Claret Jug will have been presented to the 150th champion golfer of the year than the clubhouse of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club will be turned into a building site. There was vocal opposition within the club to an extensive redevelopment that will cost £11m but modernisation ultimately won the day. Members must clear their lockers – spare slacks et al – by the time of the autumn meeting. The building will treble in size, primarily on account of underground works.
Fear relates to a potential demolition job on the Old Course itself. The R&A would object to claims it has procrastinated over matters of driving distance but the fact remains golf is yet to properly find a balance between enjoying the athletic prowess of Rory McIlroy and limiting the ease with which the world’s best can overpower historic venues. Many of them, indeed, are unfit for professional competition on the basis of being deemed too short.
