RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: And let's move now from the soccer field to the historic greens of St. Andrews, the golf course in Scotland, said to be the birthplace of that sport. The Old Course, as it's known, is getting its first facelift in many decades. The chief executive of the royal and ancient golf club of St. Andrews said that in order to make sure the course remains challenging for modern professionals they are going to quote "stiffen its defenses." That will mostly involve changes to the bunkers or sand traps, adding new ones, making some existing ones bigger and moving them closer to the greens. Work is expected to be finished - or you could say up to par - before the British Open returns to St. Andrews in the summer of 2015.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: You're listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News.
Scotland's St. Andrews is sacred ground for golfers, often referred to as the "birthplace of golf." Renee Montagne and David Greene tell us about a major announcement — the first changes to the club's "Old Course" in about 70 years. The goal is to make it more challenging before the next British Open at St. Andrews in 2015.