St Andrews (Old Course)

The St Andrews (Old Course) has been the home of golf from the 15 th century making it arguably the oldest surviving golf course in the world. It is a public course located in St Andrews, Fife, in Scotland.

History of the course

Though there is no proof as to when the golf was first played at the St Andrews (Old Course) , there is written evidence that in 1552 a license was issued which permitted the community to rear rabbits on the links and "play at golf, futball, schuteing ... with all other manner of pastimes." There is record that in 1574 golf was played at this course. There are even documents stating that King James IV had bought golf clubs at St Andrews, thus substantiating the fact that the game was played at this venue in the 15 th century itself.
For many years the course evolved on its own without the help of any architect. Originally, it was played over the same set of fairways out and back to the same holes.
As people got more interested in the game, the whins were cut back to allow for two fairways. All the greens were also increased in size and two holes were removed.

The course had 12 holes, 10 of which were played both out and in, making a total of 22 holes but as time went by the first four holes were merged in 1764 to make the St Andrews (Old Course) a 18-hole course.
Course Trivia

A unique feature of the Old Course is the huge double greens. Seven greens are shared by two holes each. Only the first, ninth, 17th and 18th holes have their own greens.

The course is laid out in such a way that golf can be played in both directions, clockwise and anti-clockwise.

The course remains closed on Sundays except on two occasions: the final day of a) the Dunhill Links Championship, an annual event on the European Tour and b) the Open Championship.

Previous champions at the St Andrews (Old Course) include Tiger Woods (twice), Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Sam Snead, John Daly and a host of other top golfers.

The St Andrews (Old Course) was hailed by the Golf Digest magazine as the greatest golf course, outside the United States, in the world. As we continue on this tour we will learn about the other top-100 golf courses in the US .