St Andrews Links - The Home of Golf

 

St Andrews Airport transfer, is called The Home of Golf for a reason. The town and links course meld into one experience that every golfer aspires to make a pilgrimage to at least once in their lifetime.

It’s a place where scratch and high handicappers alike find themselves intimidated by its history yet at ease by the sheer beauty of the landscape.

The Old Course

The Old Course is the holy grail of golf and a must-play for any true golf fan. While other courses may be prettier or more dramatic, none captivate like this shaggy old track in the town that claims to have invented the game.

During the late 1800s, it became apparent that the Old Course was becoming too popular and that the R&A needed to build a new course to handle the demand. The New Course was designed by Old Tom Morris and opened for play in 1895.

Although Scottish golf etiquette is to play in twosomes or threesomes, the R&A allows single players to play on the Old Course provided they enter the ballot. The ballot opens 48 hours before each day of play and can be done online, by phone or in person.

The New Course

The New Course is a fantastic golf course and often overlooked due to its superstar neighbour. It has all the hallmarks of a great links course; a traditional out and back layout, shared fairways, double greens at the 3rd and 15th holes and swathes of gorse to provide the defining visuals.

St Andrews Shuttle

The 10th hole is a classic one-shotter; a blind tee shot to an offset green with tricky slopes and greenside bunkers makes for an extremely tough start. The 16th is another memorable hole; a long approach to a green with a series of steep slopes and odd angles makes for a very testing hole.

A lot of people think the New is a better golf course than the Old and it certainly is a more challenging course. It is a fantastic test that every serious golfer should try.

The Jubilee Course

As the name suggests, it was laid out in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. An out and back course, it is situated directly on the west sands and is the closest of all the courses to the North Sea. Open Champion Willie Auchterlonie made some changes to the course following World War II, and Donald Steel redesigned it into its championship layout in 1988.

Despite its short length, it is considered to be the hardest of all the courses in St Andrews. It is built on a narrow strip of land wedged between the New and the sea, and features many holes that thread their way through modest sand dunes. Its raised tees provide excellent views of the course and St Andrews Bay to the east.

The Castle Course

The Castle Course is the seventh course in St Andrews and opened in summer 2008. Designed by David McLay Kidd (designer of heralded Bandon Dunes in Oregon) this cliff top links offers spectacular views over St Andrews town, St Andrews Bay and Carnoustie.

Golfers are challenged with an array of gorse lined fairways, narrow greens and tricky sloping bunkers. It is also considered by many locals to be the hardest of the courses in St Andrews.

The Castle Course is a must play for anyone visiting The Home of Golf. It is a great alternative to the Old Course and offers a completely different view and test. As is Scottish etiquette, single golfers are welcome to join existing groups at the course on non-busy days.