Old Course Hotel to get ‘ball resistant roof’

• Old Course Hotel to get new ‘golf ball resistant’ roof
• It had been spending £1,500 per week replacing slates
• The Road Hole is the toughest hole on the Open rota

The management at the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews have gone to drastic measures to stop balls doing damage to the hotel’s roof.

Experts have been called in after bosses at the Old Course Hotel, which is managed by Kohler, realised they were spending more than £1,500 per week replacing slates damaged by errant balls fired by players from the 17th tee box at the Old Course.

“They were spending $2,000 a week just replacing slates” – Henry Kamphuis

Canadian company Euroshield have been summoned to do the job on the 28-year-old roof, which will be made from 70% recycled tyre and has been developed to resist impact.

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Euroshield owner Henry Kamphuis told The Daily Express: “I was kind of stunned when we got the call because it was St Andrews.

“The hotel has slate on it and they were spending $2,000 a week just replacing slates from all the golf balls that were hitting it.

“The gutters are just full of golf balls” – Henry Kamphuis

“I was up on the hotel and the gutters are just full of golf balls. It’s very easy to hit the hotel, it’s right in the middle of the fairway.”

While the Old Course tends to be considered the easiest on the Open Championship rota, the Road Hole is certainly the toughest.

Just ask Phil Mickelson, who did this in 2015.

From 1982-2015, St Andrews has hosted the Open seven times and, on six of those occasions, the 17th made it into the top ten toughest holes on the rota – reaching its highest scoring average of 4.79 in 1984.

Work is expected to begin on replacing the Old Course Hotel roof early next month, with it due to be finished in April in time for the start of the golf season.

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Old Course Hotel gets ‘ball resistant roof’

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