St. Andrews: The Old Course
Any way you slice it the Old Course is a very quirky golf course. If it were not for the history and its importance to the game I think people might actually complain about some of its unusual features.
Nestled by the water in the town of St. Andrews, the Old Course just dominates everywhere in the town. Despite there being dozens of golf courses in the area and five on the same peninsula it’s all about the Old Course.
My suggestion would be to play the New Course or Jubilee prior to teeing it up at the Old Course, and the primary reason: Nerves. Butterflies will start to flutter the minute you get into town, anticipation is palpable. The area of the first tee and 18 green look positively huge on TV, but when you are standing on the tee box you realize a badly hit duck hook could actually break a window… This does not help with the nerves.
The course itself is interesting. Originally a 22 hole design (out and back with 11 shared greens) it was cut down to 18 holes by Old Tom Morris and is largely credited with setting the standard by which 18 hole golf courses are set today. Originally the course was played the other way around (sometimes they still do play it this way) which means that the middle 6 holes are backwards. What looks like an amazingly generous fairway with lots of mounds is actually bunker ridden nightmare, you just can’t see. Unlike American golf course designers, the Scots have no qualms putting bunkers where “good” golf shots would be hit.
My recommendation would be to take a caddy. Besides the famous holes that you know from Tiger Woods golf or the Open Championship there are many quirks on this golf course, and the greens are almost unreadable by the lay person. It’s worth the price to have a looper, this is pinnacle bucket list stuff here, and you want to make sure you enjoy it.
Also, keep in mind that the course is a public park. So you need to be careful of the first to not hit pedestrians that are walking across the first fairway. Being a public park, it’s also the only golf course I have ever seen in which golfers can bring their dogs for a round.
Getting a tee time at the old course is no easy trick. They do a lottery each year, so you can try that. Otherwise you should go through a golf tour company to get a time so that you are dialed in for your trip. They have daily “walk on” waitlist as well. However, it’s almost guaranteed not to work for a foursome, just a single or maybe a double. Plus you have to wait around the starter building which is not an ideal way to spend your precious vacation time in Scotland
