Port Royal closed yesterday for an estimated nine months as part of a multi-million dollar facelift to transform it into Bermuda's premier golf course.

The Government's signature course is out of action while extensive work to the greens, bunkers and faulty irrigation system are carried out.

A golf club source said excavation work would not start for some time with plenty of preparation work still to do. He also stressed that the nine-month closure period was only an estimate and could be longer depending on delays.

Chairman of the trustees Wendell Brown, who took over in April 2006, has a firm mandate to upgrade the public course. He told The Royal Gazette in October he believed the course would become the Island's top golf facility following the substantial upgrade.

Initially the facility was to close early last year, but plans were delayed for 12 months to accommodate the installation of a new reverse osmosis plant and for improvements to be made to the problematic $1 million irrigation system.

As part of the long awaited revamp there will be a complete resurfacing of the greens, fairways and roughs with the yardage to be increased from 6,500 to more than 6,700.

Increasing the production of water will also require extra storage space with ponds at hole three and 17 to be enlarged and a water feature to be created at hole two.

It is believed the initial estimate of the cost exceeds $10 million of Government funding. The greens will be removed, replaced and rebuilt using TifEagle, Bermuda grass developed exclusively for golf greens. It's already in use at the Mid Ocean Club and Tucker's Point. The roughs and fairways will also be re-laid with Bermuda grass.

A 2003 golf course report by the Department of Tourism argued Bermuda would fall behind in the cut-throat world of golf tourism if it did not spruce up all local courses, with Port Royal, once heralded as the best 18-hole municipal course in the world, in need of an "urgent upgrade".

Despite continuing to play host to major local events such as the Bermuda Open and the Amateur Strokeplay Championships, the standard of the course has declined steadily over the last decade.