St. Andrews old Golf Course Scotland UK

Full Description: St. Andrews is undoubtedly the most famous golf course in the world. It is sacred ground for those who attempt to gain the upper hand in the never-ending battle of man over the elements, the ball, and the card. The Old Course in particular, thought to be the oldest course in the world, has an unassailable place in the history of golf. Home to the Royal and Ancient, without doubt the world’s most influential club, St. Andrews is justly named the home of golf. It was here the international standard eighteen holes per course evolved, simply because that is how this piece of links land was most conveniently divided. Millions of the world’s great golfers have played here over the last 600 years, and many have been humbled by the experience.

The Clubhouse of St. Andrews Old Course

Food:
St. Andrews is expensive for everything, including the food. Like the golf, expect the highest standards in traditional British golfing fare using the best local produce, best enjoyed with new and old-world wines.

Changing Rooms:
Excellent quality and clean wood decor changing rooms, with spacious overnight lockers, showers, hair dryers, clothes-drying facilities, and overnight facilities for storing and cleaning your clubs and shoes.

Interior and Exterior:
St. Andrews has two clubhouses to cater to its many courses. The Links clubhouse near the Old Course caters more for dining, with the Eden clubhouse offering more family facilities.

Pro Shop:
The clubhouse has a range of men and women’s clothing in St. Andrews Links tartan. Captivating posters and prints are sold in the Golf Museum shop opposite the Royal and Ancient clubhouse.

Background to St. Andrews Old Course

Architect:
The so-called oldest golf course in the world has evolved over time. Those who played a major role in shaping it in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are Daw Anderson, Old Tom Morris, and Dr. Alister Mackenzie.

Type:
A flat links course within sight and sound of the sea.

Landscape:
The outward nine expand out to the seafront, and the back nine bring you home. Holes seven to twelve are the most picturesque, located out on the coast peninsular.

Historical Facts:
• St. Andrews is the home of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, founded in 1754, which administrates the rules of golf around the world (except for the United States) and runs the Open Championship. The R&A oversees the rules of 109 countries and an estimated twenty-six million golfers in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. • St. Andrews Links is the largest golf complex in Europe. • The eleventh hole on the Old Course was made infamous by Bobby Jones. Despite winning all four championships in 1930, Jones cut his teeth at St. Andrews in 1921 and was destroyed by Hill Bunker to the left of the green, which caused him to walk out in disgust.

Playing the Holes (Old Course)
Signature Hole:
“The most famous hole in golf” is how the seventeenth (461 yards, par 4) is often described. From the tee the drive is blind and has to be played over the old coal sheds that used to be part of the railway buildings but are now a wing of the Old Course Hotel. The fairway is a dogleg to the right, and the ideal line is up the right-hand side, which leaves a second shot into the green, avoiding having to play over the infamous Road Hole Bunker (which has claimed more famous scalps than Sitting Bull!). Anything too far to the right can get you into trouble from the hazards of the road and the boundary wall. Once there, the green provides a test for the most proficient of putters, with its subtle humps and hollows.

Best Golf Hole:
The eleventh hole (172 yards, par 3) plays right out to the Eden Estuary. The tee shot has to be pinpoint accurate as the green slopes sharply toward the front with Strathes Bunker to the right (behind which the pin is often placed) and the dreaded Hill Bunker to the left. Any shot unfortunate enough to finish in the Hill Bunker has to be played out over a 12-foot-high face. If this shot is overhit, the ball can travel across this double green, ending up closer to the seventh pin and leaving up to a 180-foot putt back to the hole.

Trickiest Hole:
Standing on the tee of the twelfth (316 yards, par 4), named Heathery In, the golfer might be forgiven in thinking that he or she is being presented with a simple scoring opportunity. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unless you can carry the ball 225 yards over the well-disguised bunkers, the center of the fairway should be avoided at all costs. Forty yards farther on lies a ridge concealing another family of vicious-looking bunkers from whose depths it is almost impossible to reach the wide and shallow green. The best course of action is to play short, then chip and run up to the pin.

Playing the Old Course
Skills:
At first glance the Old Course at St. Andrews can seem fairly benign, but with its hidden hazards and exposure to the elements, it provides an examination of a golfer’s accuracy and course management to equal any in the world. Physically it is not a strenuous test, but it will test your mental agility to the max.

Score Card
Phone: +44 (0)1334 466666
Fax: +44 (0)1334 479555

Courses and Lengths:
New Course: Eighteen holes, par 71, 6,604 yards, 5,992 yards (ladies).
Old Course: Eighteen holes, par 72, 6,609 yards, 6,032 yards (ladies).
Jubilee Course: Eighteen holes, par 72, 6,742 yards, 6,043 yards (ladies).
Eden Course: Eighteen holes, par 70, 6,195 yards, 5,455 yards (ladies).
Strathtyrum Course: Nine holes, par 69 (eighteen holes), 5,620 yards, 4,705 yards (ladies).
Balgove Course: Nine holes, par 69 (eighteen holes), 1,520 yards.
Tee Times:
Vary; high season 6:30 A.M. to 8:30 P.M.

Handicap:
24 for men and 36 for ladies at the Old Course.

Green Fees:
High season runs from April to October. Fees are £110 (US$200) for the Old Course, dropping to as little as £10 (US$18) for the nine-hole Balgove. Prices drop in low season (November to March).

Packages:
Available on all courses bar the Old Course. You can purchase three-day, seven-day, and fourteen-day tickets for unlimited play on all other courses at a rate of £120 (US$200), £240 (US$380), and £430 (US$700), respectively, during high season.

Other Costs:
Caddies cost £35 (US$60) and trainee caddies £25 (US$45). Trolleys are £3.00 (US$5.00) per round, allowed on all courses except the Old Course. There are a small number of two-person electric buggies for rent on the New and Strathtyrum Courses. They can be rented by senior citizens for £18 (US$30) and medical certificate holders for £12 (US$20). Balls cost £2.70 (US$4.00) for fifty.

Facilities:
From the Eden and Links clubhouses, you can rent sets of new Titleist 762 irons, 980 fairway woods, 983K drivers, and Scotty Cameron putters in a Titleist stand bag, along with Footjoy golf shoes (with a complimentary pair of socks). Get your swing going at the Golf Practice Centre. Location: On the edge of the university town of St. Andrews, the courses can be accessed by car from Edinburgh along the M90 and A915 and from Perth on the M90 and A91.

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