The Old Course, St Andrews
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The Course
The Old Course at St Andrews is not a golf course in the conventional sense — it is a landscape that became a golf course, shaped by centuries of play on the linksland between the town and the sea. Nobody designed it. It evolved. The wide shared fairways, the enormous double greens, the hidden bunkers with their individual names — Hell, the Principal’s Nose, the Beardies — the Road Hole with its terrifying wall and the road behind the green, the Swilcan Bridge: none of these were planned by an architect. They emerged from the game as it was played, on this land, over hundreds of years.
The result is unique in world golf. The Old Course plays to a par of 72 and stretches to 7,305 yards from the championship tees — longer than it appears, partly because the wide fairways invite aggressive driving that often overestimates how far from trouble the player actually is. The famous Road Hole, the 17th, is the most strategically complex par four in championship golf: the drive must carry the Old Course Hotel outbuildings (or play safe left and sacrifice the angle), the approach must find a narrow green with the road and wall behind and a savage pot bunker left, and the putt on a surface that slopes towards the road is one of the most anxious in golf.
Walking across the Swilcan Bridge on the 18th is one of the defining moments golf can offer. The town of St Andrews rises in the background, the R&A clubhouse stands to the right, and the crowd — always there, always watching — lines the right side of the approach. Every great champion has walked this ground. To join that procession, however modestly, is to participate in the deepest tradition the game possesses.
Getting On
Access to the Old Course is via ballot (drawn the evening before, subject to availability) or advance booking through the St Andrews Links Trust. Visitor tee times are available most days; the ballot gives residents and visiting golfers who cannot book far in advance a genuine chance. The course is closed on Sundays. Green fees are significant but not excessive for what is being offered.
- Enter the ballot the evening before for your best chance of a tee time — arrive at the starter’s hut early
- The shared fairways are wider than they look — use the correct line from the tee or approach shots become impossible
- Learn the bunker names before you play — knowing where Hell, Strath and the Principal’s Nose are is essential course management
- The Road Hole 17th: drive right, not over the hotel; approach below the hole; two putts is a triumph
- Walk across the Swilcan Bridge slowly — this is a moment to remember, not rush
- Stay at the Old Course Hotel for the definitive experience — the view from the road hole suite is extraordinary
Old Course Hotel, St Andrews
The only hotel in the world with a direct view of the Road Hole — and with Kohler Waters Spa, outstanding dining and immediate access to all six St Andrews Links courses, it is the definitive Stay · Play · Recover base for a St Andrews pilgrimage. The view from Room 201 across the 17th is worth the trip alone.