The anticipated closure of Port Royal for a multi-million dollar revamp is set to become reality — but not for at least another year.

A little over two months since first revealing that such plans were in the pipeline, The Royal Gazette can now confirm that the Port Royal Trustees intend to close the course for up to nine months, starting in the early part of 2008 when comprehensive work to the greens, bunkers and faulty irrigation system will be carried out.

Chairman of the Trustees Wendell Brown — who took over in April with a firm mandate to upgrade the Island’s premier public course — said yesterday the initial plan had been to close the facility either at the end of this year or in the early part of 2007.

But with all newly-laid greens requiring a large amount of water in the early stages of their development, the decision was taken to delay the closure for at least 12 months to accommodate the installation of a new reverse osmosis plant and for improvements to be made to the $1 million irrigation system — a system which has given the course management constant headaches since its installation in 2000.

Brown added that in light of the severe delays experienced during the recently-completed renovations at St. George’s Golf Club, the Trustees were determined to avoid a repeat and would do so by being thorough and taking their time during the planning stage.

The length of the course is also set to be increased from around 6,500 yards to over 6,700 from the championship tees.

The planned increase in the production of water at Port Royal will also require extra storage space — necessitating the construction of extra water features to both hold the water and make the course more challenging.

“Given the nature and the scale of the changes we are intending to make, there is not enough water up there at the moment for us to do what we need to do,” Brown said.

“In light of that, we have decided not to close to course until the water situation has been dealt with and we intend to install a new reverse osmosis plant there during 2007. Once we have a sufficient amount of water, we will be in a position to proceed with the programme.

“What we are planning is significant and it makes sense to take plenty of time over the planning stage so when it comes to making the changes, everything runs smoothly.

“The Department of Tourism has been selling Bermuda as a golf and spa destination for some time now, and if we are going to remain competitive with the courses on the eastern seaboard it is imperative that we do everything we can to improve our product.

“Some of the private courses such as Tucker’s Point and Belmont Hills have spent a lot of money upgrading themselves and it is our responsibility to follow their lead.”

A 2003 golf course report written by Government tourism consultant Roddy Carr argued that Bermuda would fall behind in the cut-throat world of golf tourism if it did not spruce up all local courses, with Port Royal in particular deemed by Carr to be in need of an “urgent upgrade.”

Designed by renowned golf course architect Robert Trent Jones, at various times since it first opened in the early 1970s Port Royal has been regarded as one of, if not the best public course in the world.

Over the past ten years or so, however, the course has become a shadow of its former self — despite continuing to play host to major local events such as the Bermuda Open and the Amateur Strokeplay Championships.