St Andrews: Open Championship Feature

A visit to St Andrews is not complete without a walk around the Old Course (the course is built on public land – you can even take a picnic onto the links on a Sunday afternoon). Having said this your trip should not be all about the Old Course, with a multitude of fantastic courses in the area there is no better place for a golf holiday. There’s no reason not to try and play the historic course on any trip, just don’t make it the be all and end all. There are several ways to get a round on the Old Course so don’t be disheartened.

The first option is to plan well in advance and apply for a tee time the previous year through the links trust, this way you can plan your trip around your tee time. The second option is to play during the low and shoulder seasons when you can book your tee time as part of your trip through Golfbreaks.com. The third option is to allow time to enter the daily ballot, which is essentially a lottery, held each day to allocate the following days tee times. There seems to be a myth surrounding this method that you are unlikely to get your tee time, but in most cases if you allow a couple of days on a trip to enter the ballot you would have to be extremely unlucky not to get a tee time. Don’t forget if you are unsure about any of these processes do not hesitate to call our expert sales team for further advice and information.

While playing the Old Course is a magical experience, there is better golf available in the surrounding area. The New golf course and the Jubilee golf course run parallel to their prestigious neighbour offering much sterner tests of your game and the fantastic stretch of coastline to the south of the town offers you several world famous courses. Kingsbarns Golf Links is widely recognised as a masterpiece in modern golf course design, both demanding and exciting, this is a European Tour Venue of the highest quality. Crail Golfing Society a little further along the coast offers two fantastic courses; the Balcomie golf course and Craighead golf course showcase classic links golf at its very best. Such classic links litter the shoreline of this unspoilt landscape with Lundin Links, Scotscraig golf course and Leven Links also not to be missed.

If you prefer to keep travelling to an absolute minimum, the Fairmont St Andrews and the Old Course Hotel both own courses that present beautiful views of St Andrews and are sure to go in to any golfer’s list of top courses. Any tour based in St Andrews can also easily include trips to the world famous Carnoustie and Gleneagles, both of which offer 3 superb golf courses and fantastic accommodation. Alternatively The Green Hotel and The Windlestrae Hotel in Kinross offer excellent value packages with golf onsite enabling day trips to St Andrews for both extra rounds of golf or sightseeing.