The Ultimate Buddies Golf Trip: St Andrews

The Ultimate Buddies Golf Trip: St Andrews

January 7, 2020 Off By BBF
Rainbows aren’t rare in Scotland, but it is not that common to have one literally land on the town of St. Andrews.

St. Andrews is a small town north of Edinburgh on the east coast of Scotland and is widely considered to be the “home of golf”. The epicenter driving this thought is certainly The Old Course which is smack in the middle of town. There is something very magical about this place if you have an affinity for golf. Golf drives everything in St. Andrews. 

“I’m 4 over, but the dog is even par”. a man with his dog golfing in St. Andrews

If it’s your first (or only) time to Scotland it’s arguable your best bet is to go straight to St. Andrews for the full duration. Hopefully you can get onto The Old Course, and even if you don’t there is plenty of bucket list golf to be played from the New Course (which is 200 years old) to Kingsbarns. The other advantage of being in St. Andrews is that you might be able to get through the trip without having to drive on the wrong side of the road. 

Swilcan Bridge

GOLF:
While the air hangs heavy with the history and majesty of the Old Course, a St. Andrews trip can knock off a number of bucket list belt notches. 

The list literally goes on and on. However, if you’re looking to play courses that have hosted the Open Championship you will need to figure out logistics. Carnoustie would be an excellent choice in addition to The Old Course. Another approach is to plop down in town, buy an unlimited golf pass at St. Andrews Links and crank through those 7. This way you won’t need a driver, and you’d  avoid the long treks from course to course wasting precious sight seeing time. St. Andrews is very charming and has a number of memorable shops, pubs, and sights to see. Be sure to visit Old Tom Morris’s grave. 

One thing to consider is that your trip might feel a bit of a miss if you don’t play The Old Course, and you could risk becoming obsessed with slaying this dragon for the rest of your life. So, it makes sense to try and play it. Don’t be fooled that you’ll be able to walk onto it, this is rare. Usually reserved for singles, it’s an approach that can have you wasting your vacation sitting in a golf shop hoping for a round. Also, don’t play the Old Course first. Play something else. 

GETTING THERE:

The best bet to get to St. Andrews is to fly into Edinburgh and arrange a transfer on the way up. Many people argue that the best time of year to go is May. However, May all the way to September can work. I personally like being there during June around the longest day of the year because it helps maximize your time. You are pretty far north so it stays light out fairly late. 

WHERE TO STAY

Example of pub with a hotel room above it. The New Inn. I would avoid staying here.

There are a number of places to stay in St. Andrews. In fact, each of the establishments in St. Andrews are given a number of vouchers for play on The Old Course. Most sell them to tour companies, but if you’re adventurous and don’t mind staying in a ramshackle room above a pub, this could be an interesting and affordable way to go to save money and guarantee access to The Old Course. The Old Course Hotel is also an interesting choice, being very centrally located, and they do packages that include golf. This is definitely worth researching. 

If you have a connection at the Royal and Ancient, you probably aren’t reading this blog. However, there are a number of places to stay around the 18th green if you are connected. So, start poking at your R&A friends about a potential golf trip to St. Andrews. 

At the end of the day you won’t probably won’t make a huge mistake as long as you stay in the town proper. One way or another you will have an amazing experience. One piece of advice I would give is to avoid staying at the Fairmont. The service does not live up to the brand and it’s frankly a hassle to get back and forth to the town proper. 

Be sure to leave time for things other than golf while in St. Andrews. For instance a nice whisky tasting.

SHOPPING

While in Scotland, enjoy yourself, and be sure to bring back many mementos. Most golf courses are well suited with golf shops that will give you a solid choice of logowear. While in St. Andrews, the entire town likens to one giant golf shop. If you are buying clothing, be sure to try it on. European sizes vary greatly in many cases, and in a golf shop with merchandise from around the world, you can’t be guaranteed that the size on the label will remotely resemble the size you wear back home. Don’t forget to stop in a  shop or two for a Whisky tasting. This is the home of the stuff, and bringing it back is highly preferred to trying to find it stateside. 

Best Buddies Golf Trip Rankings:

  • Bucket list rank (from 1 to 5 buckets): 5 Buckets
  • Caddies: 8 can be hit or miss.  
  • Location: 9
  • Spectacle/ visual: 9
  • History: 10
  • Memorability : 10
  • Buddy-a-bility : 9 (if you share rooms be sure to ask about how much space you will have between beds)
  • Service/etc: 6- don’t expect amazing service in Scotland
  • Value: This can be whatever you want it to be. 
  • Shopping:10- the whole town is a golf shop. 
  • Warm up facilities/Range: 7
  • Food & Drink: 5-let’s be honest, this is not why you are here. Just make sure you schedule your golf so you will have a window to get fed food of some sort.
CategoryAccomodations Europe- Great Britain Europe: Scotland Five Buckets
TagsBuddies Golf Trips

About The Author

BBF or “Big Ball First” comes from a golf saying for hitting a shot fat. Or hitting the “big ball first” in that you hit the ground (the big ball) before hitting the golf ball. In the BBF blog, it’s a metaphor for traveling the planet, soaking in exclusive experiences, and pointing people to the Awesome, the Great, the Good, and the not so good out there. We’re hitting the big ball running with tales from international golf courses, with fine wine, fine food, did I mention golf…well, especially the ‘buddies bucket list golf trips’. The hope is that like minded people will enjoy the stories, and hopefully use it as a reference point. If this blog helps people prioritize the experiences they want to have on our planet then we will have succeeded on our mission. We only have so many go’s at “bucket list” travel experiences. Especially the bucket list buddies golf experiences. My hope is you can refine your experience based upon my learning, and take your “big ball first” experiences to the next level.