St Andrews Golf Club

St Andrews, Scotland

There is a document from 1552 giving locals permission to play golf on the links at St Andrews. That makes this the earliest written record of the game being played on this particular strip of ground, and golfers have been treating it as sacred ever since. The Old Course is the most recognisable golf layout on the planet, and the seven courses now managed by the Links Trust are testament to how the game grew up on this thin coastal wedge of Fife.

Playing the Old Course

As of 2026, the green fee for the Old Course is £355 per round in peak season. That is up from £295 a few years ago, and it will keep rising. The ballot system has also changed in subtle ways: you must now submit your entry at least 48 hours before play (not just the day before), and applications require a minimum of two players and a maximum of four. Handicap certificates remain mandatory at 24 for men, 36 for women.

In 2025, St Andrews launched “The Drive” initiative, offering heavily discounted rounds at around £45 on selected dates to make the Old Course more accessible. Nearly 2,000 spots are available in 2026, almost triple the previous year. The scheme also applies to the Castle, Jubilee, and Eden courses. If you’re flexible with dates, it is worth checking the Links Trust website specifically for these windows.

Advance booking through the Links Trust website releases a limited number of guaranteed slots months ahead. These disappear fast. The free daily ballot remains the most democratic option, but “democratic” here means genuinely competitive in summer. Flexibility in your schedule is not optional.

Hire a caddie. The Old Course looks manageable on paper and is not. The greens are enormous and shared between outward and inward holes, the pot bunkers are invisible until you are already in them, and the wind rewrites every distance calculation you’ve made. Caddie fees run around £65 plus tip and are worth every pound of it.

The Swilcan Bridge on the 18th fairway is the photograph of golf. Everyone knows it. Players and spectators cross it freely when there is no play in progress.

The Town

St Andrews is a university town first and a golf resort second, which keeps it from being insufferable. The University of St Andrews, founded in 1413, is Scotland’s oldest and the third oldest in the English-speaking world. When students are in term, the town has actual life in it.

The cathedral ruins on the east side of town were once the largest church in Scotland before their partial demolition following the Reformation. Walk around the graveyard and you feel the scale of what was lost. Entry to the grounds is free; a combined ticket covering the cathedral and the adjacent castle (with its remarkable bottle dungeon cut into the bedrock) costs around £8. The castle ruins are genuinely interesting and usually less crowded than they deserve to be.

West Sands Beach, stretching north of the town, is where they filmed the opening run in Chariots of Fire. It is also just a very good beach.

Where to Eat

The Adamson on South Street is solid without being exceptional – Scottish produce treated respectfully, mains around £20-28, reliable for a post-round meal. The Jigger Inn at the Old Course Hotel is the more honest choice for golfers: cheap beer, long hours, and people who want to talk about the round they just had. The Northpoint café on North Street near the castle does coffee and food at sensible prices. Skip the tourist traps around Market Street.

Where to Stay

The Old Course Hotel sits literally on the 17th Road Hole fairway. You can watch approach shots from your window if you book the right room. It costs accordingly, with rooms from around £350. The Fairmont St Andrews south of town runs its own golf courses and has package deals that can make the overall cost more reasonable if you plan to play multiple rounds. B&Bs and guesthouses near the university area are the sensible budget option; they are quietly good value and well-maintained. Avoid anywhere that markets itself primarily on proximity to golf – the prices inflate without the quality following.

Getting There

St Andrews has no railway station. Leuchars is the nearest – 5 miles north, reachable by taxi or the number 94 bus. From Edinburgh, the train to Leuchars takes around 50 minutes; the total door-to-door journey from Edinburgh is about 90 minutes. Edinburgh Airport is the practical international entry point. Car hire from Edinburgh gives more flexibility, particularly if you want to play other courses in the East Neuk of Fife.