Port Royal is to close for nine months from the start of New Year as part of a multi-million dollar facelift set to transform it into Bermuda's premier golf course.

Government's signature course will be out of action from January 2 while extensive work to the greens, bunkers and faulty irrigation system are carried out.

Chairman of the trustees Wendell Brown, who took over in April 2006 with a firm mandate to upgrade the public course, said Port Royal would be the Island's top golf facility once the substantial upgrade was complete.

"Port Royal has long been the most challenging course for golfers on the Island, but has undergone hardly any improvements over the last 30 years. Golf courses are judged by the standard of their greens and when the revamp is complete Port Royal will be the premier golf course in Bermuda."

Initially the facility was to close early this 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 over 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.

"We aim to close the course on January 2, 2008 with the initial estimate of the cost exceeding $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 Mid Ocean Club and Tucker's Point. The roughs and fairways will also be re-laid with Bermuda grass.

"There will be vast improvements made to the drainage system to ensure rain doesn't have such an adverse effect on the course."

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.