When Andrew Oldcorn defends the Volvo PGA Championship next week he will find many interesting changes to the famous West Course at Wentworth Club.
Over the winter a number of alterations have been made to the course as part of a process that has been on-going for the past ten years.
Players will notice the first change as soon as they step on the first tee as the whole area has been redesigned and landscaped. The teeing area for the Championship tee has been increased by almost 100 square metres and, importantly, the back tee has been increased in depth by three metres, thereby offering more tee positions. The tee has been realigned and the surrounding area reshaped.
The 13th tee has also been rebuilt and realigned and a new Championship tee built, increasing the length of the hole by 25 yards to 467 yards. The fairway bunker on the right side has also been enlarged, and at 254 yards from the tee is very much in play.
The 15th hole was lengthened two years ago, but two more bunkers have been added to the left side of the fairway, in addition to the existing one, to catch any wayward drives. There is now sand on the left hand side between 230 and 300 yards from the tee.
An additional fairway bunker has been installed on the 16th hole, sited nine yards beyond the existing bunker on the left hand side. The two bunkers now range from 254 yards to 270 yards from the tee.
Chris Kennedy, Golf Courses Manager at Wentworth Club, said: "We have made the changes to keep the test presented by the West Course up to speed with modern equipment. Throughout the process of updating the course we have endeavoured to keep Harry Colt's masterpiece, with no changes to the original routing plan, in line with the modern era. We have had to tighten up the examination paper to get the course back to where it was.
"A lot of the bunkering was outdated for the majority of professionals. By replacing them at strategic distances we have brought them back into play. For example, at the 13th some professionals were hitting nine irons and wedges into the green. By moving the tee back 25 yards the fairway bunker is now in play and players will have to think about either going for the big drive or laying up. That is the way Colt designed the course.
"At the 15th we watched where players balls were landing and have placed bunkers where they are in play. The old bunker has remained untouched for the amateurs."
All the work has been carried out by Kennedy and his team at Wentworth Club in consultation with Bernard Gallacher and other Tour Members who have played in the Volvo PGA Championship and the Cisco World Match Play Championship and European Tour Officials.
David Garland, Director of Tour Operations, said: "The European Tour welcomes the most recent changes to the West Course which have been ongoing over the last few years and result in the West Course maintaining its reputation and position as a tough but fair test of Championship golf."
