[PHOTO: Ross Parker – SNS Group]

One would think it is sacrilegious for any Scottish golfer to demean the road hole of the Old Course at St Andrews, the par-4 17th, but for an accomplished Scottish tour professional to do so?

Robert MacIntyre, 28, has the credentials to render opinions on golf courses and golf holes anywhere; this year alone he won the RBC Canadian Open and the Genesis Scottish Open.

Still, it is somewhat shocking to hear his disdain for one of golf’s most historic and iconic holes disparaged by anyone, much less a Scot.

“Blow it up,” he told the Scotsman on Sunday after the final round of the Dunhill Links Championship. “I don’t think there are many worse holes in world golf. I think it’s a terrible hole off the back tee. It doesn’t need to be modernised. To bring excitement it needs to be a hole you are able to hit a golf shot into and not one where you just hit it onto the green and try to get up and down.

“It almost plays like a par 5. They try to do things to this golf course that don’t need to be done. Today I rifled a drive off the tee and then a 4-iron and I was the furthest up the hole.”

MacIntyre finished tied for 25th in the tournament.