St. Andrews Reverses Course On Swilcan Bridge Renovation After Golf Twitter Whines About It

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A photo of the Swilcan Bridge at St. Andrews went viral in golf social media circles over the weekend thanks to the admittedly bad renovation the landmark recently went under. Thanks to golf Twitter being the most complaint-filled place on the internet, however, St. Andrews has reversed course and is getting rid of its latest addition to the bridge.

The Swilcan Bridge, built over 700 years ago, is arguably the most recognizable landmark in golf. Anyone who has ever played The Old Course has stopped on the bridge to have their photo taken and the number of legendary players who have walked across the bridge is hard to comprehend.

The bridge is one of those timeless things that should never be touched, but St. Andrews touched it and all hell broke loose among golf fans.

The bridge itself didn't receive any sort of facelift, instead, a rather sizable patio of stones was laid short of the bridge. With so much foot traffic in the area, it's difficult for St. Andrews to keep healthy grass in that spot so the course elected to cover it up with the stone.

After a weekend filled with being bombarded by angry golf fans and the media. St. Andrews announced on Monday that it will be removing the recently laid down stone.

"The stonework at the approach and exit of the bridge was identified as one possible long term solution,  however while this installation would have provided some protection, in this instance we believe we are unable to create a look which is in keeping with its iconic setting and have taken the decision to remove it," St. Andrews said in a statement.

"We have also taken on feedback from many partners and stakeholders as well as the golfing public and we would like to thank everyone who has been in touch for their contribution to the issue."

By Tuesday morning, the stones had already been removed.

While Golf Twitter can be an exhausting place to find yourself, its commitment to being overly dramatic and persistent typically gets things done, and this is just the latest example of that.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.