How to play the Old Course

The Old Course is public land, owned by the town of St Andrews and run by the St Andrews Links Trust — so, in theory, anyone can play it. In practice, demand vastly outstrips tee times, so getting on takes a plan. There are three main routes: the advance reservation, the daily ballot, and a guaranteed package. There is no play on Sundays — the course rests and the town walks its fairways.

The Links Trust releases a block of Old Course tee times for the following year, usually in late summer/early autumn, and demand is such that they are allocated by application rather than first-come. This is the way to lock in a confirmed time many months ahead — apply as early as you can, be flexible on dates, and check the official St Andrews Links website for the current release window and rules, which change year to year.

If you have not booked ahead, the daily ballot is your best free route. You enter — as a group of two, three or four (singles are not accepted in the ballot) — by around 2pm two days before you want to play, and the draw is published that evening. It is a genuine lottery, so build slack into your trip: base yourself in St Andrews for a few nights and enter the ballot each day. If your name does not come up, the other St Andrews Links courses are superb fallbacks (see below).

For a confirmed time without the ballot lottery, authorised tour operators and the official Old Course Experience sell guaranteed tee times bundled into stay-and-play packages — at a premium. And if you are travelling solo, turn up early at the starter's box and join the singles queue: single golfers are often paired into gaps through the day, and it is one of the game's great experiences to be slotted in with strangers on the first tee.

A handicap certificate is required (the limits are generally 24 for men and 36 for women), so bring proof. Green fees are premium and vary by season — expect the peak-season rate to be among the highest in Scotland. Take a caddie: the lines are blind, the bunkers hidden, and a St Andrews caddie reads the ground like nobody else. And consider a St Andrews Links Ticket, which bundles several of the Trust's courses.

Do not despair — the other St Andrews links are excellent and far easier to secure. The New Course is rated by many locals as the best of the seven, and Kingsbarns and Dumbarnie are a short drive away. See our Fife guide for the full Kingdom, or the 7-day itinerary to build a trip around it.