When Darren Clarke returns to The K Club to defend his Smurfit European Open title next month he will be confronted by a number of changes to the North Course.
Throughout the winter, alterations have been made to many of the bunkers and tees at The K Club, home of the Smurfit European Open and The 2006 Ryder Cup Matches.
The work was carried out by the Golf Course Operations Team led by Course Superintendent, Gerry Byrne. The changes were determined utilising the services of the Palmer Course Design Co in consultation with The European Tour.
The first major change will become apparent the moment players step on the first tee as a new fairway bunker has been built on the left-hand side spanning 25 yards in length. The bunker starts 270 yards from the tee and in addition to catching wayward drives, helps frame the hole.
A pot bunker has been installed on the second 260 yards from the tee and is expected to gather any misdirected tee shots down the left side.
A new tee has been constructed on the fifth, increasing the length of the hole by 24 yards to 440 yards, and the sixth has also been lengthened by 31 yards by building a new tee to make the hole measure 478 yards.
The ninth hole, known as "The Eye of the Needle", has been increased in length by 27 yards, bringing the chestnut tree to the right side of the fairway much more into play. The total yardage for the hole is now 461 yards.
On the back nine the 11th tee has been raised marginally to give a better view of the fairway and the teeing ground has been lengthened by seven yards to take the hole up to 415 yards.
The dog-leg par four 13th hole has also had a new tee built, adding 21 yards to the hole which now measures 423 yards. Players will now have to consider whether to cut the corner or take a more conservative route.
The long par three 14th hole, which measures 213 yards, has been the subject of some major changes with the removal of the original bunker located short on the right side of the green. Two new deep bunkers have been installed closer to the green, designed to produce more challenging pin positions.
The final change to the course is the extension of the large fairway bunker on the 18th on the right side of the landing zone. The bunker has been brought out into the fairway and deepened to penalise those unfortunate enough to find the sand. The bunker will require a carry of 280 yards.
Paul Crowe, Director of Golf at The K Club said: "This is the first phase of many improvements which will take place at The K Club. The course is a great test of golf but like all great courses needs to evolve and this will take place right up to The 2006 Ryder Cup Matches. We are very much looking forward to getting feedback from the players post tournament and I would like to in particular congratulate the fantastic work carried out by Gerry Byrne, our Course Superintendent, and his team in implementing these changes."
David Garland, Director of Tour Operations at The European Tour, said: "Everybody at The K Club should be congratulated for the continued investment and development of the course which was started three years ago with their tree planting programme and is focused on 2006."
