St Andrews is famously the Home of Golf, and players of all ages and abilities love it and its seven courses, designed to cater for a wide range of needs. Meanwhile, the Old Course, for example, has fairways that are hundreds of yards wide in places, with many double greens measuring more than 25,000 square feet. So there are numerous potential pin placements and angles. When you also factor in variables such as the wind, it means that no two rounds will ever be the same.
And while same say other courses may be better technically, the all-round experience is unparalleled.
The Old Course is open for public play if you can display a current official handicap card or certificate showing your handicap is no more than 36. So while it’s one of the most exclusive courses in the world, it is nonetheless possible for members of the public to play on it. Here are some of the ways that can be possible:
Enter the advance lottery
Late summer each year, the St Andrews Links Trust (the body which manages and maintains the seven courses at St Andrews) receives applications for Old Course tee times for the following season. Applications tend to be open for a number of weeks in August and September, and you’ll generally get a reply about whether you’ve been successful later in the year.
Book through an authorised provider
St Andrews also releases some tickets through authorised providers, typically in April the year before play.
Book a winter golf package
If you can play off-season (i.e. between November and March), you can apply in June to play in the following winter. The package includes three rounds, one on the Old Course and one each at two of the other courses of your choice.
The same day option
Every morning, St Andrews allocates a small number of tickets on the day. So you can join the golfers queuing up outside the Old Pavilion by the first tee. The starter, who arrives at dawn, then allocates the remaining open slots. Be aware that if you are with friends, you may be split up, and that people have been known to arrive as early/late as midnight to get a space for the coming afternoon.
Enter the lottery
Every day a number of tee times is put into a lottery, drawn two days before the day of play. You must have one, two or three other people in your group. The lottery closes daily at 2pm, with results made available just a couple of hours later.
Get a round at St Andrews as part of one of our junior camps
Participation in our Players Golf Camp (which this year we’re running three times in St Andrews throughout July) includes the option to enter the ballot to play the Old Course. We offer the same option on our elite Masters camp, which again we’re offering three times in July and August.
So this is a unique chance for your junior golfer to play on one of the most exclusive courses in the world, creating memories to last a lifetime. Get in touch and book your place for this summer.
