Subtlety the key to winning Old Lady's heart

WHATEVER unfolds at St Andrews this week, there will be no controversy about the Old Course to match the players' horrified reaction to Carnoustie's penal rough last year.

Head greenkeeper Eddie Adams is adamant that the course is in great condition for the four- day test which gets under way on Thursday.

Yes, there are adjustments to the championship track. It will be 200 yards longer than in 1995 because of new tees on the third, 10th, 15th, and 16th holes, and, yes, all 112 bunkers have been worked on to make them tougher, but the course has remained true to itself despite the obvious risk that it could be carved up if conditions are calm.

Five-times Open winner Peter Thompson once remarked: "It will always be the greatest [golf course] because nowhere else has turf like you have here."

As the latest inheritor of Old Tom Morris's mantle of custodian of the links, Adams says: "I'm pretty chuffed with the course's condition, but we're in the lap of the gods for championship week."

With wider landing areas than any other Open Championship venue, and very little rough, Adams admits: "Tiger Woods could shoot 61 or 62, but I don't think I would worry that much.

"It's vital the course stays the same. If he can shoot that sort of score here, everybody should be in awe of his golf rather than saying the course is too easy.

"At the Old Course it is golf for everybody. We are catering for the 28-handicapper as well as the professional player. There are 40,000 rounds of golf played here a year, most of them in the six months of summer. If, for example, there was more rough, golfers would be searching for their balls every second shot, and it would take a long time to complete rounds."

Instead, Adams is relying on more subtle methods to protect his old lady's integrity. The way the grass is cut will pose problems. "The tees, aprons and fairways are all the same," he says. "The championship committee didn't want any visible difference, so it's difficult to visually judge distances. The pros know the yardage, but their eyes are telling them something different."

The restored bunkers will also present difficulties, especially Hell bunker on the 14th, which took Jack Nicklaus five attempts to escape from in 1995, and the Road bunker at the 17th, where Tommy Nakajima infamously took nine to get out of in 1978 on his way to running up a 13.

"Hell bunker took two months and five staff to complete," says Adams, whose expanded staff will be working from 4am till 11pm this week.

The head greenkeeper has been working at St Andrews for 15 years, but this will be his first Open in complete charge.

"I've been thinking of this for the last five years," he concedes. "All the staff have put a tremendous amount of work in. It'll be a downer coming back to work next week."

Adams, who describes his own golf as "mediocre" (which prob-ably means he's a single handicapper), says the R&A want to encourage bump and run shots, a type of golf he himself particularly admires.

Of his own employers, the St Andrews Links Trust, he points out: "They have been good to us. The trust has come a long way in the last 10 years. When I started there were 40 people working here, now there are over 200. The amount of expenditure on the golf courses and machinery has been immense."

Born and brought up in St Andrews, Adams has no aspirations to move elsewhere. "I'm very happy here," he says. "I'm a local guy and I live in the town. I suppose I could move and expand my horizons, but I'm in charge of an Open Championship course - and it is the most famous golfing turf in the world without question. I also get well looked after here and work with a good crew."

And his favourite hole? "The fourth, because it's a monster of a hole in the wind," he says. "It's a real struggle to carry the mound to where the players want to be. The green is difficult and the bunkers are very subtle on that hole."

After witnessing Nick Faldo win in 1990 and John Daly five years later, Adams has no doubt who will win the millennium Open if he is on form.

"If Tiger plays as he did at Pebble Beach, nobody will touch him," he says. "It's great for golf - you can't put him down. I'm sure newer players will eventually catch up. He's got good course management as well as playing good golf.

"I would love to see Woods win at St Andrews, but having said that I would love to see Andrew Coltart win. I'd like to see Colin Montgomerie have a good Open. If the wind gets up, Craig Parry could do well. Retief Goosen is a good each way bet and Michael Campbell did very well here in 1995."

Above all, Adams wants St Andrews to emerge with its reputation intact.

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