Sir Nick Faldo joins players and fans in backlash over renovation of Swilcan Bridge at St Andrews

Former Open champion Sir Nick Faldo, English star Eddie Pepperell and legendary commentator Ken Brown have joined the backlash over the renovation of one of the most famous landmarks in golf.

The iconic Swilcan Bridge at St Andrews, estimated to be 700 years old, provides arguably the most famous photo opportunity in golf.

Legends including Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods have famously been pictured walking over the bridge, after teeing off on the 18th hole, to bid farewell to the Open Championship, which is played at the Old Course every five years.

A photo posted on Twitter by UK Golf Guy showed a paved area on each side of the iconic Old Course bridge.

‘They appear to have built a garden patio next to the Swilken Bridge!’ the post read. 

Former Open champion Sir Nick Faldo on the iconic Swilcan Bridge at St Andrews

Brown tweeted: ‘The Swilken Bridge now serving food. A table for Fore please.’

Faldo, who won his second Open championship at the Old Course in 1990, added: ‘If you’ve travelled halfway around the world for your bucket list round at St Andrews, would you rather leave with a bit of historic dirt on your shoes or a few cement mix scraps?’

English golf pro Eddie Pepperell said: ‘It’s an absolute mess. The most famous bridge in golf, and look at what some f****** has come up with! Hard to believe.’

The St Andrews Links Trust, which manages the course, issued a statement on Sunday to address ‘some concerns’ that have been raised regarding the work.

It also emphasised no work had taken place on the bridge itself.

The statement said: ‘The ongoing works are solely focussed on the turfed approach area to the bridge, which regularly falls into disrepair due to the significant foot traffic by tens of thousands of golfers and countless other visitors seeking to have their photograph taken at the landmark.

‘In order to avoid having to close the bridge to foot traffic during certain periods of the year, a number of solutions have been attempted previously.’

The trust said this included the installation of hybrid and synthetic artificial turf and the regular method – replacement, reseed and support of natural turf.

Biggest names in golf like Tiger Woods have famously been pictured walking over the bridge

But it said these solutions did not prove successful in ‘adequately protecting the area from the significant wear and tear’.

It added: ‘Historically the bridge has previously seen a stone pathway leading onto it and the current works are designed to see if we can replicate this while being fit for purpose for the amount of foot traffic it has to endure.

‘The shape of the current installation covers the ground that receives the most traffic as the area where the majority of photographs are taken of people on the bridge.’

The statement concluded that the works were ongoing and said the final result would be ‘in keeping with its surroundings’.