NEWS: Links Trust News Archive

January-June 2003

6/01/03
A frosty start to the New Year in St Andrews. Wintry weather has resulted in late opening of the courses in the holidays and one day of closure - Friday 3rd January. The Old Course only was also closed on Saturday 4th January.

13/01/03
Worldwide demand for late availability tee times on the Old Course. Nearly 200 golfers from as far afield as Japan, Australia and North America were quick enough off the mark this morning to snap up last minute tee times on the Old Course within two hours. The Old Course is now fully booked for 2003 - for other booking options click here.

24/01/03
New format for 2003 St Andrews Links Trophy. One of the world's leading amateur strokeplay tournaments, the St Andrews Links Trophy, is being extended from two to three days. For more details click here.

5/02/03 Celebrate the Chinese New Year at the Links Clubhouse - Enjoy a banquet with an eastern influence on Saturday 8 February. Or for an evening with a more European flavour, why not take a culinary Trip Round France on Saturday 8 March.

6/02/03
Entry forms for the Links Trophy now available online. For this and information on the other summer tournaments, click here.

10/02/03
New Trustee for the Links - click here.

20/02/03
Progress on Links Trust's seventh course- St Andrews Links Trust has concluded the purchase agreement for land for its seventh golf course - for more details click here .

21/02/03
History of the Links updated - St Andrews Links, the First 600 Years, the definitive history of the world famous Links by St Andrews author, Tom Jarrett, has been reprinted and updated to include the changes and events of the last decade - for more details or to buy a copy online click here .

5/03/03
A Trip Round France - a four course dinner with classic French white wines at the Links Clubhouse. Saturday 8 March at 7pm. To reserve a table, please phone 01334 466664.

11/03/03
Next step to St Andrews Course No 7 - St Andrews Links Trust has started to prepare a detailed assessment of the potential environmental effects of its proposal to build a seventh course at the Home of Golf. For more details click here.

17/03/03
Late availability on the Old Course - for more information click here.

21/03/03
Making the grade at the Home of Golf - St Andrews Links Trust has passed its re-assessment for Investors in People (IiP) with flying colours for the third time. For more details click here.

24/03/03
Ladies' centenary competition on the Old Course - The Scottish Ladies' Amateur Championship is coming to St Andrews in May. First played on the Old Course in 1903, it seems appropriate that the tournament should return to the Links for its centenary year.

A field of 132 ladies will play two qualifying strokeplay rounds over the Old Course, with the best 32 going on to compete for the matchplay title. The final is on Friday 23 May. The last time the event came to St Andrews was in 1986 when Belle Robertson (Dunaverty Golf Club) took the title.

To view a full calendar of golfing events on the Links in 2003 click here.

24/03/03
Late availability on the Old Course Spring 2003 - for more details click here.

08/04/03
New shuttle bus for the Links - Friday 4 April saw the arrival of a Links Shuttle Bus operating between the Links Clubhouse, the Golf Practice Centre and the Eden Clubhouse. For more information click here.

15/04/03
Local golfer enters the record books - News of a hole-in-one scored on 6 November 2001 has been making headlines recently. For the full story click here.

17/04/03
A world class field for the 2003 Links Trophy - An international field of 132 golfers will be competing for this year's Links Trophy played over the Old and New Courses from 23-25 May. For more details click here.

25/04/03
Buggies go electric - A fleet of electric buggies is now operating on the Links following a new contract with Yamaha. For more details click here .

29/04/03
Links Trophy draw - to view the draw for the 2003 Links Trophy in May click here .

01/05/03
Take a walk in 2003 - Visitors to St Andrews can find out more about the history of the world famous Old Course and its well known landmarks on a guided walk this summer. For more details or to make a booking click here .

02/05/03
Strong links with Pinehurst - Pinehurst is one of the world's most famous golf courses and 2005 will see St Andrews and the North Carolina resort hosting their respective Open Championships. To find out more click here.

02/05/03
Links staff and caddies play for charity - The Scottish children's charity, Children 1st, received a cheque for £340 from the staff and caddies at St Andrews Links following their annual golf tournament on 27 April. For the full story click here.

05/05/03
St Andrews Links shuttle bus - the free bus service between the two clubhouses, the first tee of the Old Course and the Golf Practice Centre is now operating every day from 8am to 6pm. For more details click here.

07/05/03
Summer barbecues are back - Friday night is fun night at the Eden Clubhouse this summer. For more details click here.

09/05/03
Free gift from the Home of Golf - Spend over £50 on merchandise from our online golf shop and receive a complimentary Tartan Visor. To visit the shop click here.

14/05/03
Ladies' century celebrated on the Old Course - on Monday the Scottish Ladies' (Close) Amateur Championship will return to the Old Course, where the event was first played in 1903. For more details click here.

19/05/03
Apply now to play the Old Course in 2004 - Reservations are now accepting written requests for tee-times on the world famous Old Course in 2004. Events such as the British Amateur Championship, the Links Trophy and various local golf club competitions, including events to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, mean that golfers will not be able to book times in advance for June and September, although a restricted daily ballot will still be in operation. For more information on booking a time on the Old Course click here.

20/05/03
Laing leads the ladies after day one - Anne Laing, a +2 handicapper from Vale of Leven, was at the head of the pack yesterday after the first qualifying round of the Scottish Ladies' (Close) Amateur Championship, which is being played on the Old Course this week. Her 4 under par score of 72 was closely followed by Lynn Kenny (University of Stirling) on 73 and Jenna Wilson (Strathaven) on 74. The three ladies head out with 129 other hopefuls for the second qualifying round today. For more details on the event click here.

21/05/03
Please note there is no ballot for Thursday and a restricted ballot for Friday this week.

21/05/03
Past champions make their mark - two past winners of the Scottish Ladies' (Close) Amateur Championship earned their place in the first round of this year's matchplay event after sharing the best qualifying score of 146 after two rounds on the Old Course. Anne Laing (Vale of Leven) took the title in 1996 at Royal Dornoch and Lynn Kenny (University of Stirling) won at Machrihanish in 2000. A field of 32 qualifying golfers will be whittled down to eight by the end of today, after two rounds of matchplay on the Old Course. For more details on this year's competition click here.

23/5/2003
Anne Laing regained the Scottish women's amateur championship she last held in 1996 when she won the Centenary title with a 4 and 3 victory over Claire Hargan in the 18-hole final over the Old Course, St Andrews today (Friday).

Anne, a 28-year-old Vale of Leven member and lecturer at Elmwood College, Cupar, was three under par in beating her 26-year-old opponent, an Edinburgh-based trainee actuary and member at Prestonfield.

Despite the wind and rain which which never far away, Miss Laing was able to maintain the moment which began when she earned the No 2 seed position in the qualifying stages and continued through the week. In contrast, Claire played her best golf getting to the final but once there her form slipped down a notch.

But it was still a very close contest for most of the way. At the halfway stage, there was still everything to play for. Claire and Ann had both gone out in two under par 36 and were all square. Then Miss Laing's like for the Old Course's inward half took over. She birdied the 10th to go one up, although she lost the 11th to a par. Then Anne got her title-winning charge going. She won the 12th with a par, the 13th on a concession, the 14th with a par and the 15th.

Four successes in a row and suddenly the title was back in Miss Laing's possession. It was her fourth final but she had lost in 1999 and last year, since beating Alison Davidson in the 1996 final at Royal Dornoch.

For Claire it was a first appearance in a final.
In the semi-finals, she produced spectacular figures of six under par in beating Ohio State University student Laura Wells from Dumfries by 5 and 4. She was the ninth qualifier for the match-play stages.

23/5/2003
Lee Corfield of Burnham and Berrow led a world-class field of golfers on the New Course today with a score of 67 after the first round of the 2003 St Andrews Links Trophy. Full results at the close of the first stage of the tournament can be found by clicking here.

24/5/2003
Finch and Wilson share best qualifying score - Having played the New Course yesterday and the Old Course today, Richard Finch (Hull) and Stuart Wilson (Forfar) share the best qualifying score of 137 in the 2003 St Andrews Links Trophy. For a full table of scores click here and to view the order of play for Sunday 25 May on the Old Course, click here.

25/5/2003
Finch wins the 2003 St Andrews Links Trophy - Richard Finch (Hull) kept his form on the Old Course in the final stages of the 2003 St Andrews Links Trophy on Sunday. Adding a 69 and 70 to his 36-hole best qualifying score of 137, Finch finished a comfortable 5 shots ahead of silver medallist, Lee Corfield (Burnham & Berrow). Corfield looked like a strong contender from the start of the tournament, scoring an impressive 67 on the New Course in round one, setting a course record. For a full table of results click here.

Richard Finch, winner of the 2003 St Andrews Links Troph

26/05/2003
A hat-trick of aces during the St Andrews Links Trophy - It's not the first time a hole in one has been scored during the St Andrews Links Trophy, but three must surely be a new record.

Keith Hamilton (Whitecraigs) carded the first of the three aces on Friday during the opening round of the tournament. He used a 5-iron to clear the 225yd, Par 3 9th hole of the New Course.On Saturday it was the turn of Eric Ramsay (Carnoustie), who holed his shot with a seven-iron on the 172 yd, 11th hole of the Old Course, another Par 3.

The same hole proved lucky for Stuart Wilson (Forfar) 24 hours later. His chosen weapon was also a 7-iron and the ace contributed to him finishing fourth equal with a four-round total of 285.

30/05/03 Birdies, eagles, albatrosses and...ducks? - In case there was ever any doubt that golfers share the Links with a whole host of wildlife, here's a pair of Eider Ducks who were found making themselves quite at home on one of the putting greens at the Golf Practice Centre.

A small number of the grey-brown females nest around the Eden Estuary reserve, including a few pairs on the Links. In recent years their success has been much reduced, probably due to an increase in predation by foxes, crows and gulls. The sea going birds were probably just resting between prospecting for potential nesting sites.

05/06/03
The St Rule Trophy was won by Swede Karin Borjeskog by two strokes. Played over the Old and New Courses, Borjeskog's 10 under par aggregate of 217 included a ladies' course record on the New Course of 68, seven under par. She admitted that her two rounds on the Old Course (74 and 75) were not as impressive and included a double bogey at the 15th in the final round. Her closest contenders, Scot, Anne Laing, and Martina Gillen from Ireland, were unable to catch up despite an excellent six under par first round on the Old Course by Laing. They both finished on 219, two behind the winning score.

06/06/03
Times in August 2003 now available on the Old Course - click here for details.

12/06/03
It's barbecue season at the Eden Clubhouse - click here for details.

16/06/03
The Links under review - If you have played the Links recently, share your experience and send us your course review. Click here for details and to read past reviews.

17/06/03
Caddie Connect CD Rom launched - click here for full story.

20/06/03
Coastal protection success - Coastal defences along the Eden Estuary installed by St Andrews Links Trust are succeeding beyond expectation according to a recent report. For details click here.

24/06/03
Happy 10th Anniversary! - Tuesday 1 July marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Strathtyrum Course and the Golf Practice Centre at St Andrews Links. For more details click here.

25/06/03
Join the celebration - A 9 hole evening competition for teams of adults and children is taking place on the Strathtyrum Course on Tuesday 1 July to mark the 10th anniversary of the course. There will be a shotgun start at 5.30pm followed by an evening barbecue and ‘Snag’Golf at the Eden Clubhouse.
Alternatively contact competition organiser, John Matheson, Tel: 01334 466666, or email: j.matheson@standrews.org.uk.

Using Linksnet you can reserve and guarantee starting times
on three St Andrews Links courses,
the Jubilee, the Eden and the Strathtyrum.

Click here for Linksnet, the
St Andrews Links Trust online reservations service

www.linksnet.co.uk