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Home > The Courses > The Old Course

Great moments from Open Championships at St Andrews

A collection of memories from The Old Course, St Andrews. The Home of Golf.

The Old Course Ballot

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The Old Course                                                       


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The Old Course is the Home of Golf where golf was first played 600 years ago. It remains a real test of golf for today's champions. The fabled original links course is synonymous with The Open Championship which it has hosted more times than any other venue and will host for a 29th time in 2015. Despite its reputation and status, it is a public course and is one of seven public courses at St Andrews Links.

Golf was first played on what is now the Old Course in the 1400s. The course has evolved over time and was not designed by any one architect. The people who played a major role in shaping it were Daw Anderson (1850s) and Old Tom Morris (1865 - 1903).

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Hole Guide

Hole 1 - Burn

  • White Yards376
  • Yellow Yards355
  • Red Yards339
  • Par4
  • S.I.10

Playing Advice

Drive left of centre, towards the small gorse bush at the edge of the burn. There is out of bounds left and right. The second should be played to the middle of the green to avoid the burn and the rough at the back.

Hole 2 - Dyke

  • White Yards411
  • Yellow Yards395
  • Red Yards375
  • Par4
  • S.I.6

Playing Advice

The right of the fairway holds hidden bunkers at 200 yards and savage gorse. The ideal tee shot should stop to the right of Cheape’s Bunker. The approach must take into account the pronounced diagonal ridge which forms the chief obstacle to the green.

Hole 3 - Cartgate (Out)

  • White Yards370
  • Yellow Yards337
  • Red Yards321
  • Par4
  • S.I.16

Playing Advice

The major hazard on this hole is Cartgate Bunker, to the left of the green. The further left you drive, the more this bunker comes into play on the approach. There is a cluster of bunkers and some gorse to avoid on the right at average driving distance.

Hole 4 - Ginger Beer

  • White Yards419
  • Yellow Yards411
  • Red Yards401
  • Par4
  • S.I.8

Playing Advice

A drive to the plateau on the left gives a good view of the approach. Attacking the narrow valley is more risky. The shot from the right will avoid the large mound 20 yards from the green. The shot from the left will have to carry an array of bunkers.

Hole 5 - Hole O'Cross (Out)

  • White Yards514
  • Yellow Yards514
  • Red Yards454
  • Par5
  • S.I.2

Playing Advice

Aim just to the left of the pair of far-off bunkers (The Spectacles). The lay up is short of these bunkers. The green is 100 yards deep so the distance to the pin varies considerably.

Hole 6 - Heathery (Out)

  • White Yards374
  • Yellow Yards360
  • Red Yards325
  • Par4
  • S.I.12

Playing Advice

The marker post guides drives from the medal tee; shots from further forward should go left of it to avoid the bunkers on each side of the fairway. To put your approach close to the pin, you will have to negotiate the gully in front of the green.

Hole 7 - High (Out)

  • White Yards359
  • Yellow Yards349
  • Red Yards335
  • Par4
  • S.I.4

Playing Advice

The most direct line to the green is towards the red fl ag on the eleventh green. The seventh hole features the enormous Shell Bunker. The green slopes to the right and good pitches will drift down towards the hole if set out to the left.

Hole 8 - Short

  • White Yards166
  • Yellow Yards154
  • Red Yards145
  • Par3
  • S.I.14

Playing Advice

Short Hole features a large green that tilts slightly towards the back and is diffi cult to hold. It can require a wood or a short iron, depending on the strength and direction of the wind.

Hole 9 - End

  • White Yards347
  • Yellow Yards289
  • Red Yards261
  • Par4
  • S.I.18

Playing Advice

The perfect line is left of Boase’s and End Hole bunkers. It may well be that a putt from the fairway is the best way to approach the hole. A defi nite birdie opportunity.

Hole 10 - Bobby Jones

  • White Yards340
  • Yellow Yards311
  • Red Yards296
  • Par4
  • S.I.15

Playing Advice

A subtle hole, it requires a well placed drive to the right of centre in order to set up the option of a pitch or a running shot.

Hole 11 - High (In)

  • White Yards174
  • Yellow Yards164
  • Red Yards150
  • Par3
  • S.I.7

Playing Advice

The 11th is one of the most celebrated par 3s in the world of golf. With any kind of wind, it is one of the most diffi cult. Hill and Strath are the archetypal greenside bunkers. The green slopes severely from the back. Regardless of pin position, try to aim between the two large bunkers. Everything about this hole is demanding.

Hole 12 - Heathery (In)

  • White Yards316
  • Yellow Yards304
  • Red Yards304
  • Par4
  • S.I.3

Playing Advice

A great tactical challenge. The centre of the fairway is the home for a family of unpleasant bunkers, which cannot be seen from the normal tee, although they are a prominent feature of the reverse course. With the prevailing wind slightly in your favour you might try to carry them; failing that, hit an iron to the left of Stroke bunker. One of the shallowest greens on the course makes for exciting approach play.

Hole 13 - Hole O'Cross (In)

  • White Yards418
  • Yellow Yards388
  • Red Yards377
  • Par4
  • S.I.11

Playing Advice

The drive is to either side of the rather ominously named Coffi ns, a group of bunkers 200 yards from the tee. The approach from the left allows a better view of the immense green.

Hole 14 - Long

  • White Yards530
  • Yellow Yards523
  • Red Yards487
  • Par5
  • S.I.1

Playing Advice

Most players should aim for the landing area known as the Elysian Fields. The intention should be to play to the left of Hell Bunker, which gives a good view of the green.

Hole 15 - Cartgate (In)

  • White Yards414
  • Yellow Yards391
  • Red Yards369
  • Par4
  • S.I.9

Playing Advice

Drive on the church steeple between the two prominent humps (Miss Grainger’s bosoms). The deceptively deep green is one of the trickiest on the course.

Hole 16 - Corner Of The Dyke

  • White Yards381
  • Yellow Yards345
  • Red Yards325
  • Par4
  • S.I.13

Playing Advice

The safe line is left of the Principal’s Nose cluster of bunkers. The route to the right, towards the out of bounds fence, was famously described by Jack Nicklaus as ‘strictly for amateurs.’ From the left, the shot to the green is threatened by Grant’s and Wig bunkers.

Hole 17 - Road

  • White Yards455
  • Yellow Yards436
  • Red Yards426
  • Par4
  • S.I.5

Playing Advice

Road Hole is one of the most famous golf holes in the world. It is a long par 4, but it is not the distance to be carried that tests players; it is the route they have to travel, starting with a drive over the old railway sheds. Even from the short grass, there remains one of the most difficult shots imaginable: into a shallow green set at 45 degrees to the fairway. The prudent shot is to the front right corner of the green.

Hole 18 - Tom Morris

  • White Yards357
  • Yellow Yards361
  • Red Yards342
  • Par4
  • S.I.17

Playing Advice

Drive straight for the Martyrs’ Monument. The road across the fairway is not a hazard, but an integral part of the course, and the ball must be played from the road if it fi nishes there. The Valley of Sin is the fi nal hazard on the course. With a mass of subtle borrows, this is perhaps the most often three putted green in golf.

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St Andrews 2010
The Old Course
15-18 July

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What They Said...

"I fell in love with it the first day I played it. There's just no other golf course that is even remotely close."

Jack Nicklaus, Open Champion 1970, 1978

Green Fees

Seasons Adult Under 16
Low Season (1 Jan  - 31 Mar 12) £70 £70
Shoulder Season (1 - 15 Apr 12) £100 £100
High Season (16 Apr 12 - 14 Oct 12) £150 £150
Shoulder Season (15 - 31 Oct 12) £105 £105
Low Season (1 Nov - 31st Dec 12) £75 £75

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