Bucket ListChampionship VenueLinks Classic

St Andrews — The Old Course

St Andrews, Fife · Designed by Nature, refined by Old Tom Morris · Est. 1552

There is no more famous golf course on earth. Golf has been played on the links at St Andrews since at least the 15th century, and the Old Course — public land, owned by the town and managed by the St Andrews Links Trust — is where the game grew up. Its template shaped golf everywhere: the 18-hole round (cut from 22 holes here in 1764), the great shared greens, the out-and-back routing along a narrow finger of linksland between the town and the Eden estuary.

The course plays to par 72 over about 7,300 yards, but its defences are subtlety and history rather than sheer length. Seven enormous double greens serve fourteen holes; gorse, whins and more than a hundred bunkers — Hell Bunker on the 14th, the Principal's Nose, the Beardies — punish the careless. The 17th, the Road Hole, is the most famous and feared par-4 in golf: a blind drive over the corner of the Old Course Hotel, then an approach to a shallow green pinched between the deep Road Hole Bunker in front and a tarmac road and stone wall behind. The 18th sends you back over the Swilcan Burn and its little stone bridge, up the widest fairway in golf, to a green beneath the windows of the R&A clubhouse.

The Open Championship has been played here 30 times, more than anywhere else — most recently the 150th Open in 2022, won by Cameron Smith. Getting on is the real challenge: tee times come via advance reservation and a daily ballot, and there is no play on Sundays, when the Old Course rests and the town walks its fairways. Plan a long way ahead. There is nowhere like it.

Holes worth knowing

117th "The Road Hole" (par-4, ~495 yards) — the most famous par-4 in golf: a blind drive over the corner of the Old Course Hotel, then an approach to a shallow green pinched between the deep Road Hole Bunker in front and a road and stone wall behind. It has decided Open Championships.
218th "Tom Morris" (par-4) — over the Swilcan Burn and its old stone bridge, up the widest fairway in golf to a green beneath the R&A clubhouse. The most photographed walk in the game.

Highlights

The Home of Golf — 30-time Open host
The Road Hole 17th and the Swilcan Bridge 18th
Public links — but advance reservation or the daily ballot to play

Good to know

→There is no play on Sundays — the Old Course rests and locals walk it. Tee times come via advance reservation (released roughly a year ahead) and a daily ballot entered two days before, so plan far ahead or chance the ballot.
→A caddie is worth every penny here: the lines are blind, the bunkers hidden, and a St Andrews caddie reads the ground like nobody else.
→The other St Andrews Links courses — the New, the Jubilee, the Castle and the Eden — are excellent and far easier to get on. A Links Ticket gives you options if the Old Course ballot does not come through.
→The town is a joy in its own right: the university, the ruined cathedral and castle, the West Sands beach of Chariots of Fire, and the R&A and the British Golf Museum behind the 18th green.
→Booking the Old Course means the daily ballot (enter two days ahead) or the single-round queue on the first tee; the town — the R&A, the West Sands of Chariots of Fire, the Jigger Inn by the 17th — is the beating heart of golf.

Visitor Information

Getting There

30min drive

1h 15min drive

1h 45min drive

Common questions

How do I get a tee time on the Old Course at St Andrews?

Two main routes: an advance reservation (released roughly a year ahead and snapped up quickly), or the daily ballot — entered by 2pm two days before play, with results posted that evening. Singles cannot enter the ballot, and there is no play on Sundays. If a confirmed time matters, a golf-travel package or an Old Course Experience hotel package can guarantee one.

Why is St Andrews called the Home of Golf?

Golf has been played on the links here since at least the 15th century, on public land owned by the town. Many of the game's conventions were set at St Andrews — the 18-hole round was fixed here in 1764 — and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, based beside the 18th green, became the body that codified the rules for most of the world.

What is the Road Hole at St Andrews?

The 17th — widely regarded as the hardest and most famous par-4 in golf. You drive blind over the corner of the Old Course Hotel, then face an approach to a long, shallow green pinched between the deep Road Hole Bunker in front and a tarmac road and stone wall immediately behind. It has decided Open Championships.

Can I play other St Andrews courses if I can't get on the Old?

Yes. The St Andrews Links Trust runs seven courses, and the New and Jubilee are championship-quality links that are far easier to book, with the Castle, Eden, Strathtyrum and the short Balgove rounding out the choice. A Links Ticket gives you flexibility across them.