St Andrews Links

The Home of Golf

Golf has been played at St Andrews since at least the 1400s, and the present-day Old Course is the direct descendant of those wind-shaped strips of common land. There is no sport in which the original venue is still the highest object of pilgrimage — except this one. Walking the Swilcan Bridge on the 18th is the closest thing the game has to a sacred act.

St Andrews Links is unusual in that all seven of its courses (Old, New, Jubilee, Castle, Eden, Strathtyrum and the par-3 Balgove) are owned by a public trust. The Old Course is open to all comers, but tee times are scarce and the surest route is a 48-hour-ahead daily ballot or a confirmed booking via an authorised reseller as part of a stay-and-play package.

Beyond the Old

The Old Course gets the cameras, but most locals will tell you the New Course (1895, also Old Tom Morris) is the better technical test, and the Castle Course — perched on cliffs east of town — is the most spectacular. The town itself is the secret weapon: medieval streets, dozens of pubs and the world's best golf shopping all walkable from the first tee.

Practicalities

Peak Scottish summer is May–September; July and August carry the highest demand. Bring rain gear regardless of season. Caddies are widely available and strongly recommended — the firmer Fife turf and the ground game it rewards are unfamiliar to most American visitors.