St Andrews Links (Old Course)

The Original Home of Golf

The Old Course at St Andrews Links has no single architect or conventional opening date. Golf was played on the ground long before Archbishop Hamilton's Charter of 1552 formally recognised the townspeople's right to use the links. In 1764, the old 22-hole arrangement was reduced to 18, shaping the standard round followed across the game.

The course continued to change through play and maintenance. Allan Robertson widened fairways and developed the great double greens during the 1800s. Old Tom Morris later refined bunkering and playing lines, working with land already marked by natural folds and centuries of traffic.

Its apparent width hides the real decisions. A golfer can choose several routes from the tee, yet the best angle into the flag may sit close to a bunker or beyond a deceptive contour. Seven double greens serve fourteen holes, creating putting surfaces whose scale can make distance difficult to read.

The closing holes draw the course back into St Andrews. The Road Hole runs beside the hotel before its green meets the road and stone wall. The 18th crosses the Swilcan Burn, and the final approach over the Valley of Sin brings the town into the round.