a a
— Center of the Golfing Universe —

— St. Andrews Old Course —
   St. Andrews, Fife, East Central Scotland
The "Home of Golf" is still #2 in the
world after 600 years and a frequent
host course of the British Open.

        St. Andrews Old Course has more to do with the history and with the future of golf than any other golf course on earth. The private club that has playing rights to the public Old Course, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club—probably second oldest (1754) in the world, behind Muirfield’s Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (1744)—is the ruling body for golf everywhere but in the United States, where the USGA holds dominion. The Old Course traces its roots—literally the roots of the game of golf—back 600 years to the Middle Ages when games of any kind—unless exclusive to the noble classes—were suspected as idleness and, therefore, the devil’s play.
        In the centuries since, the Old Course and the Royal & Ancient have been home to many of golf’s nobility. Kings and princes of the British Empire have been captains of the R&A. Belonging to the grand old club is akin to a peerage in the House of Lords. The R&A oversees the world’s most honored and watched golf tournament, the Open Championship—what we provincials in American democratically demote to the British Open, one of four major events in the world of golf, the other three being played Stateside. Of course, golf’s nobility knows the importance of the Open Championship. Each July the best in the world—including all the top Americans—drop what they’re doing to make the pilgrimage to Britain to try to win golf’s most famous trophy, the Claret Jug. Although played in England, too, the British Open is played most frequently in Scotland, the home of golf. Twenty-six times since the Open Championship first began in 1860 the tournament has been held on the Old Course at St. Andrews. No other course has hosted the British Open more often. The list of British Open winners at St. Andrews is a list of golf’s royalty: Bob Furguson (1882), J. H. Taylor (1895, 1900), James Braid (1905, 1910), Bobby Jones (1927), Sam Snead (1946), Peter Thomson (1955), Jack Nicklaus (1970, 1980), Seve Ballesteros (1984), Nick Faldo (1990), John Daly (1995), and Tiger Woods (2000). As of 1990 St. Andrews has been scheduled to host the Open every five years. The Old Course will host its 27th British Open July 14-17, 2005.
        One could easily expect golf at the Old Course to be aristocratically exclusive, aloof, snobbish, unaffordably expensive, unwelcoming, regressively traditional, and, not especially fond of upstart American golfers. Not so. The course handles the weight of its prestige and the pressures of being the #1 Shrine of Golf quite lightly, even humorously. Being a public course helps. Not forgetting that golf is a game played in the fresh air (mostly) by amateurs looking to enjoy themselves has kept St. Andrews a happy place. Remembering that during its long history the Old Course had to contend with angry rabbit farmers, royal sanctions against golf by Scottish kings, and even bankruptcy has kept St. Andrews humble.
        The long history of the Old Course has been peopled with as many quirky characters as there are quirky hazards on the course itself. Perhaps the denizens of St. Andrews have come to an understanding that its eccentricity makes the Old Course one of golf’s oddest, most memorable, most delightful and most entertaining must-plays. Eccentricity? Consider asphalt lies, a hole named after a beer concession, fairway bumps called "Miss Grainger’s Bosoms", dykes, the Valley of Sin, public roadways, two-holed greens, play in two directions, a bunker that mysteriously appeared overnight, a bunker from hell, bunkers that look like eyeglasses or coffins or an educators prominent nose. And how about this: the Old Course is closed on Sunday—closed for golf, but not for walkers. Leave your clubs at home on Sunday—bring your camera.
        Not so, again. The fact is, the Old Course takes its role as Shrine #1 with a great sense of responsibility but not with an overblown sense of pride. They know everyone wants to play the course, and they do yeoman’s work keeping the place immaculate and remarkably affordable. Its current greens fee of about $200 is less than those charged at Royal Troon and Turnberry in Scotland, and less than the popular Irish courses at Doonbeg, the K Club, Old Head of Kinsale, and Portmarnock, and much less than the American shrines: $450 at Pebble Beach, for instance. If you can get on. The Old Course, it’s true, can be difficult to get on, too. St. Andrews is taking reservation now for 2006! But—and this is big—there is a daily lottery ("ballot") to fill open tee-times. Play the lottery a couple of days and you’re likely to win—about half of the Old Course’s annual tee-times are filled this way. And singles who approach the starter early each morning have more than a decent chance at getting assigned to a less-than foursome.
        Don’t forget that St. Andrews is much more than the Old Course. There are 5 other courses at the St. Andrews complex—and soon there will be a 7th course on the links land. At least three of these (Eden, Jubilee, and New) are excellent challenges, and all cost far less than the Old Course. The New Course—"new" only in comparison to the Old Course—for example, was designed by the great golfer/designer Old Tom Morris in 1894. It’s right next to the Old Course, and has many of its classic features, including shared fairways and a double green. Tee-times are almost always available and the weather is identical to that affecting the Old Course. At £55 per round, the New Course is a bargain.

LOCATION:
        St. Andrews Old Course
         Links Clubhouse, West Sands Road
         St Andrews, Fife KY16 9XL, Scotland
       Tel: +44 (0) 1334 466666
       Bookings: reservations@standrews.org.uk

Open & Playable Year Round, but always closed on Sundays, except the final Sunday of the British Open. Open from 6:30AM May–August (opening time differs in spring, autumn and winter).

LENGTH & PAR:
    Medal Tees: 6609 yards (3272 out; 3337 in) Par 72, SSS 72.
    Ladies' Tees: 6032 yards (2956 out; 3076 in), Par 77.

FACILITIES:
• Golf Cart (Buggy): not permitted
• Pull Cart (Trolley) are not permitted on the Old Course in winter.
    Permitted April—October if there are no caddies or trainee caddies available.
    Rental trolleys only may be used.
• Club Rental: Titleist steel £20 per round or £30 per day.
                   Titleist graphite £30 per round or £40 per day.
                   Ladies' clubs are available in graphite shafts only.
• Shoe Rental: £12.50 (includes new pair of socks)
• Caddies available on request—email: kheggie-watkinson@standrews.org.uk
     Caddie: £35
     Trainee Caddie: £25
• Practice Center: for practicing driving, iron play, pitching, bunker play and putting.
• Restaurant & Bar
• Links Clubhouse: has a range of facilities for both golfing and non-golfing visitors.
    Open to the public with ample car parking and handicapped accessibility.
• Golf Shops: Three shops at St. Andrews offer clothing, accessories and souvenirs with the official Old Course and St Andrews Links logos. All purchases help finance the maintenance of St Andrews Links.
The shops are behind the 18th green of the Old Course and in both clubhouses.

Visitors Welcome:
    Singles: advance tee times not required for singles.
        Without Advance Reservations: Singles without tee times should apply to the starter early in the day. The starter will try to add single golfers to the first available twosome or threesome.
Advance Reservations: There is a single golfer package available from April to October, which includes a round on the Old Course and one on the Jubilee Course. Times and dates are restricted. Single golfers wishing to play the Old Course should contact the reservations department via e-mail at:
reservations@standrews.org.uk
    Groups: due to huge demand for tee-times, it is very difficult for groups to secure advance tee times sooner than one year ahead of their desired playing date. However, because of the St. Andrews Old Course ballot system, advance tee times are not required for groups.
        Without Advance Reservations: Around 50% of all starting times over the year are put into the daily ballot (lottery) which is drawn every day for next day's play except Sunday - the Saturday draw is for Monday play. Success in the ballot is not guaranteed and chances vary according to the time of year, how busy the course is and the weather. A minimum two golfers may enter either by telephone or in person before 2PM on the day before they wish to play. The results are shown by 4PM on the web, at the clubhouses, the starters' boxes, the caddie pavilion, local golf clubs and the tourist information centre. Ballot results web page: http://www.standrews.org.uk/cgi-win/ballot/index.htm
        Advance Reservations: Groups (of up to 8 golfers) wishing to make advance reservations to play St. Andrews Old Course should write or write or fax the Reservations Office up to two years ahead of their desired date of play. Applications are held in order of receipt and applicants are contacted in September/October of the year before play. Applications should provide details of all golfers in your group (names, home golf clubs, and handicaps), name a Lead Golfer with a home address for future correspondence, and list the dates you wish to play. A maximum of two times a day may be applied for. For dates between 1 April and 31 October, there is a two-course must-play policy; choose a second 18-hole St. Andrews course: Jubilee, Eden, New, or #7 (under construction). You will be informed in September the year before you wish to play whether or not your application has been accepted. The booking will be valid only for those named on the application form and only those named will be allowed to play. At the Trust's sole discretion one name change per starting time may be accepted provided it is notified by the Lead Golfer at least one month before the date of play. No name change will be accepted within one month of the date of play. Identification evidence is required by the Starter and anyone whose name does not match the booking will not be allowed to play. On the day please take the tickets to the Starter along with current handicap certificates/cards and proof of identity (e.g. drivers license, passport or credit card) for all players. A letter of introduction from a home golf club is no longer acceptable.

BOOKING OF TEE TIMES—To make an advance booking or for more information please contact:

Reservations Office
St Andrews Links Trust
Pilmour House
St Andrews Fife KY16 9SF Scotland
Opening Times:
Monday-Friday 9am-5pm
(Thursday open at 9:30AM)
Tel +44 (0)1334 466666
Fax +44 (0)1334 477036
reservations@standrews.org.uk

Handicap Limits (presentation of valid certificate or handicap card required):
    Men: maximum handicap: 24
    Women: maximum handicap: 36.

Dress Code for the Old Course: Smart casual. (No blue denims, no shorts unless tailored.) Soft spikes preferred. Socks required.

GREENS FEES:
    April—October: £110/round
    November—March: £75/round
    Currency Converter: http://www.xe.com/ucc/

Payment of Fees:
        Once paid, green fees are non-refundable. Ballot times should be paid for at the Starter's Box on the day. The course accepts cash (£ sterling), checks (with guarantee card) and major credit cards (except Diners Club). Tax (at 17.5%) is payable on all golf bookings made by commercial concerns such as tour operators and hotels. Bookings made with the Trust by individual golfers remain VAT exempt.

LOCATION: St. Andrews Old Course is located just west of St. Andrews, Scotland, at the entrance to town on the A91.

Nearest Home at First Lodgings are Kingdom of Fife Cottages, about 5 miles west of St. Andrews. Other nearby Home at First lodgings are in Central Scotland approximately 90-120 minutes west of St. Andrews.
More information on travel with Home at First to: CENTRAL SCOTLAND

DIRECTIONS: from Home at First’s Kingdom of Fife cottages near St. Andrews, take the A91 5 miles east to St Andrews.

OTHER REGIONAL COURSES OF NOTE:
    • St. Andrews Bay: new resort just south of St. Andrews with two championship
      courses.
    • Elie: Traditional links along Fife Coast 22 miles south of St. Andrews.
    • Crail Balcomie: Traditional links along Fife Coast 11 miles SE of St. Andrews.
    • Lundin Links: Traditional links along Fife Coast 19 miles south of St. Andrews.
    • Leven Links: Traditional links along Fife Coast 22 miles SW of St. Andrews.
    • Carnoustie: Monstrous links (British Open venue) on Angus coast 25 miles north of
      St. Andrews.
    • Gleneagles: Scotland's best known inland courses (3), including a new Jack
      Nicklaus course, 45 miles west of St. Andrews.

HISTORY OF ST. ANDREWS OLD COURSE: Golf has been played on the Links at St Andrews since around 1400AD. Once golf grew in popularity in Scotland and elsewhere in the 19th century, St. Andrews and the Old Course became the center of the golfing universe. After 600 years golf at St. Andrews has evolved from one simple course hacked through the heather into six public golf courses—soon to be seven—the largest golfing complex in Europe, attracting many thousands of golfing pilgrims from around the world who wait up to two years to get a tee time. But golf at St. Andrews wasn't always such a universal institution, and the Old Course faced some crucial, essential, and often humorous situations:

• Golf was banned in 1457 by King James II of Scotland who felt it was keeping young men from practicing archery. Successive monarchs upheld the prohibition against golf until James IV who relaxed the ban 1502 when he became a golfer himself.

• In 1764 the Old Course had 22 holes—11 out and 11 back—with golfers playing to the same hole going out and in, except for the 11th and 22nd holes. When club members (of what would become the Royal & Ancient Golf Club) decided that the first four (and, therefore, the last four holes, too) were too short, they converted them into two holes. This reduced the number of holes in the round to 18, and created today's standard round of golf. At that time, once a hole had been successfully played a golfer teed up his ball within two club lengths of the previous hole, using a handful of sand scooped out from the hole to form a tee.

• When, in 1797, the St Andrews town council lost total control of the golf course to bankruptcy, local farmers attempted to secure rights to the links land for the profitable raising of rabbits. After two decades of struggle a wealthy local golfer settled the dispute by buying the course and dedicating its use to golf.

• The original Old Course was so narrow that golfers played to the same holes going out and coming in. Congestion first came to the course in the 19th century when inbound and outbound golfers would approach the same hole. The solution was to cut two holes on each green. Holes on the front (out) nine were pinned with white flags, and those on the back (in) nine with red flags.

• Once Old Tom Morris designed a separate 1st hole green in the 19th century, golfers could proceed in either direction on the out-and-back, green-sharing course. Thereafter the Old Course was played clockwise and counter-clockwise on alternate weeks. In modern times counter-clockwise has become the accepted direction of play. Many of the course's 112 bunkers were clearly designed to come into play normally when the course is played clockwise. For the first time in many years the Old Course will see clockwise play again in Spring 2005. Clockwise play begins with a drive from the 1st tee in the direction of the 17th green. The second hole is then played from the 17th tee to the 16th green, and so on until the final hole, which is played from the 2nd tee to the 18th green.

THE COURSE AND SOME NOTABLE HOLES: About St. Andrews Old Course Tiger Woods says, "It's my favorite course in the world." But such high praise is rare. The truth is that the Old Course is uniquely different—so different that it makes many golfers uncomfortable. Although St. Andrews Old Course is the Home of Golf, it has little resemblance to conventional modern courses. The challenge at St. Andrews has much to do with the unconventional nature of its 600-year-old links.
        Remarkably, the Old Course is a public course—one of what will soon be a total of seven courses on the St. Andrews Trust links land. Over time the Old Course has evolved with the game over. Although three men (Daw Anderson in the 1850's, Old Tom Morris in the second half of the 19th century, and Dr. Alister Mackenzie in the 1930's) played the greatest role in the "modern" lay-out at St. Andrews, most credit Nature and the Hand of God with the Old Course's unique architecture.
        An "out-and-back course", with the front 9 playing east-to-west, and the back 9 reversing the direction to west-to-east. From the medal tees, one par-3 and one par-5 are incorporated into each 9. From the ladies’ tees, the front 9 has one par-3 plus 2 par-5’s, and the back 9 has one par-3 plus 3 par-5’s. Many greens are "doubled" with 2 holes cut into the putting surface to serve "out" and "in" holes. As such, putts approaching 100 yards are possible. The course includes 112 bunkers, including 'Hell' on the long 14th, and the Road Bunker on the 17th. This penultimate hole (when played counter-clockwise), called the "Road Hole", is probably the most famous golf hole in the world, because a road (which is in play) runs right up against the back edge of the 17th green.
        The Old Course is also unusual in that it starts and finishes at the entrance to town. Indeed, you can come off the 18th green and walk to the shops and pubs along the high street in five minutes. Most remarkable of all, is that this simple ancient, treeless, almost waterless, relatively short and open public course successfully holds its own against the best players in the world every five years when the British Open comes to St. Andrews.

Some Notable Holes:

• Hole #2, "Dyke", Par 4, 413 yards, Handicap: 6— The "dyke" is the old wall which forms the boundary between the hotel and the 17th fairway.

• Hole #4, "Ginger Beer", Par 4, 464 yards, Handicap: 5— 150 years ago Old Daw Anderson set up his refreshment stand along this hole. Despite the hole's name, soft drinks were not the only libation Daw hawked to golfers.

• Hole #10, "Bobby Jones", Par 4, 379 yards, Handicap: 17— Named for the great American golfer who even more than Tiger Woods had a love affair with St Andrews.

• Hole #14, "Long", Par 5, 581 yards, Handicap: 10— The longest hole with the largest bunker ("Hell Bunker" around 100 yards from the pin.

• Hole #17, "Road", Par 4, 455 yards, Handicap: 1— Most famous hole in golf? Named after the road immediately behind the green. The road—in play—has changed the leader board significantly during several British Opens. It cost Tom Watson the Claret Jug in 1984, but helped John Daly win in a 1995 playoff.

• Hole #18, "Tom Morris", Par 4, 357 yards, Handicap: 11— Another road in play—this time running across the fairway—plus the Swilken Burn with its famous stone arch bridge, plus the "Valley of Sin" gulley at Tom Morris's masterpiece green, plus hotel row and the "Home of Golf", combine to make Hole 18 one of the most memorable holes you may ever play.

THE REGION: When you’re not playing golf—or you’re waiting for the lottery results to be posted—visit the British Golf Museum just off the 18th green of the Old Course (open daily at least 10AM-4PM; admission: £5/adult, £4/senior). Or stroll through St. Andrews town (pop. 15,000, of which almost half are students) and up to the top of the hill to see the dramatic ruins of the 11th century cathedral and the 13th century castle. St. Andrews University, third oldest in the United Kingdom (1411), ranks with the best in Britain. In recent years it has become something of a tourist attraction owing to the attendance of Prince William, second in line for the British throne, and one of the world’s most eligible bachelors.
        This corner of Scotland—east central, just north of Edinburgh and south of Dundee—is (the Kingdom of) Fife, but could just as easily be called golf heaven. The Fife coast is home to dozens of golf courses, including new ones (St. Andrews Bay: 2 resort courses) and some wonderful traditional links courses that may be played for very reasonable greens fees (Elie, Crail Balcomie, Leven Links, Lundin Links). Not too far (approximately 45 minutes) inland is Scotland’s best known public parkland golf complex, Gleneagles, with its 3 courses including a recent one of Jack Nicklaus design.
        Home At First offers several very comfortable cottages strategically placed for access to St. Andrews and other golf courses in Fife and throughout Central Scotland. Just 10 minutes drive from the Old Course, our Kingdom of Fife Cottages offer great convenience, charm, and—like all Home at First lodgings—all the comforts of home.

THE BRITISH OPEN: The Open Championship was first played on the Old Course at St Andrews in 1873 and the Old Course has now become the most frequent venue, having been used 27 times for the championship. The 2005 Open Championship at St Andrews was the 27th time the event has been played over the Old Course since it first moved away from Prestwick way back in 1873. Tiger Woods won the 2005 Open at St Andrews as he did in 2000 when the victory was part of his imitable "Tiger Slam". In 2000, Woods landed in none of the Old Course's 112 bunkers, capturing his third successive major championship with a record 19-under-par 269. Woods victories in 2000 and 2005 mirror Jack Nicklaus, who won successively at the Old Course in 1970 and 1978. Other notable champions who have won the British Open on the Old Course include a veritable history of golf. The venerable James Braid won the British Open 5 times, twice at St. Andrews (1905, 1910). Golf's greatest amateur, Bobby Jones, won at St. Andrews in 1930. Another smooth Southerner, Sam Snead, won here in 1937. Other Old Course winners of the modern era include three crowd pleasers: Champagne Tony Lema (1964, Nick Faldo (1990), and John Daly (1995).

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