The Old Course, St Andrews: the visitor's guide

What it is

The Old Course is the course golf was first played on, on common land by the sea in St Andrews, Fife. It isn't a private club: it's owned and run by St Andrews Links Trust, a charity, and anyone can play it, in theory, without ever setting foot in a clubhouse as a member. In practice, demand means every tee time is allocated rather than booked on a whim.

It's ranked second in Great Britain and Ireland by four separate rankings: NCG, Today's Golfer, Top 100 Golf Courses and Golf Monthly, all checked 23 September 2026, all currently placing Royal County Down (/courses/royal-county-down/) just above it.

How the course plays

Visitors play the Old Course at 6,670 yards, par 72, from the standard tees (St Andrews Links, Old Course page, checked 23 Sep 2026). For The Open Championship, the course is stretched further: the official card for the 150th Open in 2022 was 7,313 yards, still par 72, and new tees are being added on several holes before the course hosts the 155th Open in 2027.

The course shares seven double greens with the parallel outward and inward nines, some more than 100 yards across, and the fairways are among the widest in golf, which sounds forgiving until you're standing on one working out which flag is actually yours. The Swilcan Bridge, crossed on the 18th, and the Road Hole, the par-4 17th played across the corner of a hotel building and a road that's in play, are the two best-known features. There's very little rough by links standards; the challenge is mostly the wind, the humps and hollows in the fairways, and the bunkers, some barely visible until you're in one.

Its history

The Links at St Andrews were confirmed as common land by royal charter in 1123, and Archbishop Hamilton's 1552 charter secured the townspeople's right to play golf there, a right that still holds today. Golf had already been played through the 1400s. Tom Morris became Keeper of the Green in 1865, on £50 a year, and is credited with shaping the 1st and 18th greens among other changes (St Andrews Links, Our History, checked 23 Sep 2026).

The Open Championship has been played here more often than at any other course. Bobby Jones won in 1927. Jack Nicklaus beat Doug Sanders in an 18-hole play-off in 1970, and played his final professional round here in 2005, aged 65, waving from the Swilcan Bridge. Zach Johnson won a play-off in 2015 after the Championship ran into a Monday finish for only the second time. The most recent Open at St Andrews, the 150th, was played in 2022 in front of record crowds and won by Cameron Smith. The Women's Open was first played on the Old Course in 2007, won by Lorena Ochoa. The 155th Open returns to St Andrews from 11 to 18 July 2027.

Playing it as a visitor

There's no walk-up golf and no ordinary online tee sheet. St Andrews Links Trust allocates tee times on the Old Course three ways.

Advance booking suits groups planning ahead: call or email Reservations more than seven days before you want to play, and they'll check availability. St Andrews Links Trust also runs an annual package, currently branded the Swilcan Package, that guarantees a tee time on the Old Course plus one other course at St Andrews Links; applications for 2027 are expected to open before the season (St Andrews Links, Old Course page, checked 23 Sep 2026).

The daily ballot is the main route for visitors already in the area. It's a free lottery for tee times two days ahead, run every day except Friday (there's no Sunday play, so no Friday draw). At least two named players with handicaps are needed to enter, online, by phone, or in person at the Old Pavilion or a clubhouse. Entries close at 2pm and results are posted after 4:30pm the same day; you only pay the green fee if you're drawn and choose to take the time.

Single golfers use the Singles Daily Draw instead. Since March 2024 they've entered in person, on a tablet, between 9am and 5pm the day before, at the Old Pavilion, the Links Clubhouse, the Craigtoun Clubhouse or the Home of Golf Hub on Market Street. A digital draw at 5pm creates a waiting list, and single players are given a place in a group as spaces come up, without the overnight queue the old system needed (St Andrews Links, Old Course Ballot and Singles Daily Draw, checked 23 Sep 2026).

The green fee for 2026 is £355 in the high season, 21 April to 18 October, £240 either side of it in early April, £250 in late October, and £180 from November to the end of March, when fairway mats are in use. A caddie isn't compulsory, unlike some Open venues: the 2026 fee is £80 plus a gratuity, paid in cash after the round. You'll need a current handicap certificate showing 36 or under to play; it's the only St Andrews Links course that asks for one.

Getting there

By car, it's about an hour from Edinburgh via the Queensferry Crossing, the M90 and the A91, or around two hours from Glasgow via the M8, M80 and M90 to the same A91 junction. Leuchars is the nearest railway station, about ten minutes from St Andrews by bus or taxi. By air, the closest airport is Dundee, about 11 miles away with a direct link to London City; Edinburgh Airport is about 35 miles, and Glasgow Airport about 71 miles.

Where to stay

The Old Course Hotel sits on the course itself, next to the 17th fairway. Rusacks St Andrews, also on the course, overlooks the 18th. Rufflets Hotel is about 1.6 miles out, and Fairmont St Andrews, with its own courses on the coast, is about 3.6 miles from the Old Course.

When to go

High season runs 21 April to 18 October, when green fees are highest and daylight longest. Outside that window the course still plays, with fairway mats used through the winter from November to the end of March to protect the turf. The course is shut on Sundays year-round.

Events

The 155th Open Championship returns to St Andrews from 11 to 18 July 2027, the course's 31st time hosting it, more than any other venue. New championship tees are being added on several holes beforehand.