St Andrews Links Blog

Eden 5th green set to reopen

Over the winter months, we’ve been keeping you up to date with our changes to the 5th green of the Eden Course. Well, the wait is almost over – Monday will see the newly reconstructed green return to play.

The green has been rebuilt from scratch with help from renowned golf course architect Martin Hawtree. We’ve tried to maintain as much of the original character as possible. It still has the two tiers and the shape of the green is the same albeit the tiers are slightly larger than before. This will allow for more pin positions as we have also reduced the slope on the back section.

The biggest changes regular golfers might notice is to the mound on the right. This used to cut into the green and reduced potential pin positions. It’s been moved further right away from the green and has been replaced by a bunker to protect that back side. Along the back of the green, the slope has been altered and will be left as rough which calls for more accuracy in club selection while helping to screen the 6th tee immediately behind the green.

Despite a relatively cool spring so far, we’ve managed to achieve good top growth and rooting and are confident the green will stand up well to regular rounds.

The health of the turf remains priority over the next month meaning cutting heights will remain as much as 1mm above the rest of the greens. This may affect pace slightly but is crucial to ensure long term performance can be achieved.

Players can assist with the establishment of the site by always remembering to repair pitch marks and using the traffic routes provided.

Thank you all for showing such patience during this project. Enjoy your golf!

Words by Richard Devlin. Deputy Course Manager Eden, Strathtyrum & Balgove Courses