Philip Reid looks at the subtle changes made at St Andrews in order to bring some of the traditional hazards back into play

Nothing, it seems, is sacred; not even the most venerable tract of golfing terrain on earth, this Old Course - once infamously referred to by American golfer Scott Hoch as "the worst piece of mess I've ever seen" - that evolved over time and has carried the footsteps of anyone who was anyone in the game of golf.

It's true that St Andrews didn't always have an instant attraction to its suitors over the ages. When Bobby Jones first saw the course, he was "puzzled and bewildered" by it. He wrote, "I could not play the course and I did not think anyone else could." Not only did he learn to play the course, however, Jones learned to love it and determined it to be "the most fascinating golf course I have ever played".

But then, the Old Course has always been something of an anomaly. After all, if a modern course architect produced a blueprint that presented so many blind shots off the tee, so many double greens and the safety issue of a routing that left little or no separation between the holes, he probably wouldn't be allowed to build it.

The Old Course, though, is what it is; except that, this time, the R&A have financed changes that, if not altering its charm, has added yardage. Both the R&A and the St Andrews Links Trust deny that Tiger Woods's winning score of 269 (19-under-par) for the 2000 championship prompted them to attempt to toughen up the links.

Still, the course has been vulnerable to low scoring for many years - particularly if the wind doesn't blow - and the prospect of a score more than 20 shots under the card winning the oldest major in golf would not be too desirable by the powers-that-be.

So it is that the course this time round will play 164 yards longer than it did when Woods won five years ago. The increased length comes from five new tees which have been constructed to bring traditional hazards back into play.

"We are restoring rather than changing the course," said Peter Dawson of the R&A. "Modern equipment and the greater athleticism of the game's leading players had led many of the Old Course hazards to be taken out of play."

The 14th is a typical example. By moving the tee back an extra 37 yards, the Beardies fairway bunkers are back in play off the tee and emphasise the need to target the fairway between the bunkers and the out-of-bounds wall on the right. If into the wind, the infamous Hell bunker will again challenge the second shot.

"Because of the history of the Old Course, moving hazards is not the option it would be at many other places. You simply can't move a bunker here or there.

All that leaves is to move tees . . . we're not looking for the course to become a big hitter's paradise, but are committed to staging a championship that isn't just for golfers who hit the ball a long way. The course has proved many times it is subtle enough to provide a strong challenge. We are not trying to change the character of the course, we're just trying to reinstate the decisions players had to make in the past," added Dawson.

Generally, the alterations are about brining key hazards back into play. Cheape's bunker had ceased to threaten the drive on the second hole, but the new tee should make the tee shot more of a strategic choice.

Playing left and short of the bunker will leave a more difficult second shot, yet a drive down the right would be a brave play.

In this modern game, though, additional length doesn't always prove a deterrent to low scoring by the professionals. In many ways, probably the most interesting architectural changes are to the short par four 12th.

Although it has been lengthened by 34 yards, it is the work carried out on the bunker lips, rendering them invisible from the tee, that goes against modern convention in golf design which emphasises all hazards should be on show. You suspect this subtle change is more in keeping with the essence of St Andrews.

Colin Montgomerie is yet to be convinced by the decision to lengthen the course ahead of this week's major. "If the R&A thinks it has to lengthen courses, then everyone has to do it because we look up to them.

"My own view is it's unfortunate, because we're running out of room. It makes you want to ask, 'hang on a minute, where are we going with this?' Every links we go back to these days you find they've added new tees.

My home course of Royal Troon was exactly the same last year.

"Even in the States they brought in new tees for the US Open at Pinehurst (No 2), as if that course wasn't already long enough . . . as for St Andrews, the interesting thing about adding length is that it doesn't necessarily play into the hands of the long hitters. I think the extra length at Augusta, for example, does favour the big guns. But that might not be true at the Old Course."

Apart from the added yardages, green staff rebuilt 94 of the course's 112 bunkers for this year's championship.

The most closely scrutinised will be the Road Hole bunker, which fronts the 17th green. Three years ago, the Links Trust - which manages the six courses owned by the town of St Andrews - embarked on its bunker fix-up programme without consulting the R&A.

The revision of the Road Hole bunker elicited widespread derision and, in response to the criticism, the bunker was rebuilt and reshaped early this year using old photos as a guide. The renovators decided that the bunker should be remodelled according to its 1970 contours, the year Jack Nicklaus beat Doug Sanders in a play-off.

To that end, the right side of the bunker was extended nearly five feet and a swale was added to the left side, all in an effort to collect more balls that end up short of the green.

It's just another quirky feature to a course that has delivered torment and adoration in equal measures over the years. Things have changed, but the more they change, the more they remain the same. There is, in truth, only one St Andrews; and it has stood the test of time.

The Second (453 yards) Par 4

The tee has been moved back 40 yards and slightly to the right into an unused area of the Himalayas putting green beside the first fairway. The idea is to bring Cheape's bunker into play off the tee, and it has been transformed from a relatively tame hole into a tougher proposition with players faced with a blind shot over 200 yards of gorse off the tee. The added length takes a three-wood out of a player's hand and puts a driver back.

The Fourth (480 yards) Par 4

An additional 16 yards has been added, which will force choice of line to left or right of the central mounds.

The extra yardage means that players will need a 290-yards carry to get over the sprawling, rough-covered mounds in the middle of the fairway to reach the landing area. Most players will probably opt to play out left of the mounds towards the 15th fairway.

The Twelfth (348 yards) Par 4

An extra 34 yards will bring the hidden fairway bunkers back into play. For the big hitters, it is still possible to drive the green - but a slight push or pull will end up in horribly thick gorse. Those not seeking to reach the green (the majority of the field) will play a long iron or hybrid to land in the 33-yard deep area between the fairway bunkers.

The Fourteenth (618 yards) Par 5

The tee has been rebuilt some 37 yards back to make this the longest hole in British Open history, replacing the 601 yards sixth at Royal Troon last year. The added distance brings Beardies bunkers back into play and increases the threat of out-of-bounds down the right hand side.