"If they feel the need to “modernize” St. Andrews they can give due consideration to modernizing their membership criteria."

Ken Willis reels off several fine lines in trying to understand the impetus for modernizing the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Not saying the place is old, but when da Vinci made a move to fix Mona Lisa’s smile, a friend interjected and said, “Damn, Leo, that’d be like adding a bunker to the Old Course.”

As for the women issue, maybe they’re lucky. Women can play the Old Course, and like others can even walk their dogs across the property to the beach. What they CAN’T do is sit in the grill room and listen to some self-absorbed 22-handicap explain how his 102 would’ve been a 98 if he hadn’t been taken hostage inside the Road Hole bunker. Pity.

I was wrong about the Old Course changes shining a light on the distance issue. Looks like it's the membership policies that will start getting extra scrutiny. Well done Chief Architect Dawson, well done!