Peter Cowen diary: St Andrews must always stay on the rotation of The Open venues

As I mentioned in my last daily diary, I left St Andrews on Saturday lunchtime feeling rough with a head cold and so much more. I rested Sunday and then, on Monday I was in bed all day and lost the whole day.

I then tested for Covid and it came out positive and I will be confined at home in Rotherham for five days - my own choice. Rotherham and the whole of England and wider afield is in the middle of a heatwave.

Without AC and the like, our infra-structure cannot cope, and there is even talk of airports closing with melting runways.

Welcome to our world in the UK. We understand the temperatures in Dubai, the UAE and the Middle East are far higher, but you always seem to cope with everything airconditioned malls and everything never far away. There is not much essential walking to do outside in Dubai in the summer.

I have been thinking about last week.

It was an exceptional week that was a success all round. The golf course stood up well and the best scores won. The town at St Andrews was a buzz all week, and it was a traditional Open.

In my opinion, it must always stay on the rotation of Open venues. The R&A should be applauded for keeping the integrity of St Andrews at bay. If they had put the pin positions in easy positions on Sunday, someone would have broken 60.

With so many par-fours being driven, I have come to the conclusion that the governing bodies of the game need to have a good look at modern equipment.

It so sad to see some of the older courses in England, not being fit for purpose for professional golf tournaments in 2022. Golf courses such as Little Aston, Moortown, Sunningdale, St Pierre and many others are now being overpowered by the modern professional.

It is now time to address the matter.

In my opinion, the only solution is to create a tournament ball. It would be given out to all the players and it would have distance restraints and be the same for everyone.

In any other sport, I cannot think of a player or team bringing their own ball, to arguably, their advantage.

When I played on Tour, I used to use a Balata down wind and a TopFlite into the wind. A Balata into the wind was always a challenge as it would invariably balloon into the air and lose a lot of yardage. The Tours now stipulate that only one type of ball can be used in a tournament round.

However, the golfing world has to come together to agree this and be ratified by the authorities.

Finally, with all this talk of new Tours, I am tired of it dominating everyone’s conversation on the range, clubhouse and at the tournaments.

My approach is to stay quiet. My employers are my players and that is where my loyalty lies.

I will sit back, listen and watch and see where the journey takes both me and the game of golf. I could not even tell you my plans for the next travels to my next tournament. Now, I have not said that for many years.

Stay healthy and see you all soon!

— Peter Cowen is a world-renowned golf coach with academies in the UAE and England.