St. Andrews - The Home of Golf
St. Andrews Links is a complex of 7 golf courses located in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. The most famous of these courses is The Old Course.
The Old Course at St. Andrews is the oldest golf course in the world. The Old Course is a public course over common land in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by The St. Andrews Links Trust under an act of Parliament.
The club house of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews sits adjacent to the first tee.
The Open Championship at St. Andrews
The first Open Championship to be held at St. Andrews took place in 1873. The most recent Open Championship to be played at St. Andrews was in 2005, and it was won by Tiger Woods,
The Open Championship returns to St. Andrews in 2010. This will be the 150th anniversary of the event.
Click here to get more details of the history of the Open Championship at St. Andrews.
Playing at St. Andrews
Playing golf at St. Andrews is an experience to remember. All of the courses at St. Andrews are public courses. Most can be booked online at the St. Andrews Links Trust website.
The Old Course is immensely popular, with over 40,000 rounds played each year. As a result of this high demand, special conditions apply to bookings. There is a handicap requirement of 24 for men and 36 for ladies, and you must present a valid certificate or card to the Starter before your round.
Advance bookings for play on the Old Course are typically opened in the first week of September for the following year. Alternatively, there is a daily ballot which is drawn every day for the next day's play. Follow this link for the most up-to-date information on booking golf at the Old Course.
St. Andrews Updates
St Andrews' Road Hole lengthened for 2010 Open
St. Andrews' famous and notoriously difficult Road Hole has increased in length for the 150th anniversary of the Open Championship in 2010.
A new tee has stretched the 17th hole to 495 yards (an increase of 40 yards) to limit shorter irons being used to avoid hazards (mainly the infamous road-hole bunker).
The decision to alter the length of the Road Hole for the first time in more than 100 years was taken in conjunction with golf's ruling body, the R & A. The R & A says the change will place "an increased premium" on an accurate drive of sufficient length over the sheds, encouraging players to take a driver from the tee. Widening of the fairway on the left hand side will "ensure that the tee shot remains fair". This will re-establish the difficulty of the second shot, making it more difficult to hold the approach on the putting surface and increasing the threat posed by both the road behind the green and the Road Bunker.
R & A chief executive Peter Dawson said: "The 17th was played at the same yardage in 1900 as it was in 2005 and this fuelled our belief that the formidable challenge of this iconic hole should be returned for The Open Championship. Over the years, we have seen the threat from the road behind the green, and to a lesser extent the Road Bunker, diminished as players have been hitting shorter irons for their approach shots, allowing them to avoid these hazards more easily. This change will ensure that the hole plays as it was originally intended."
Click here to go to the Official Website of St. Andrews.
