There are at last count, seven courses in St Andrews. The old course is pretty busy.

http://www.standrews.org.uk/welcome/st_andrews_links_trust/interactive_links_map.html

This lists the main 6.

you can book online from the main page.

This link lists some courses in FIFE all within about 25 miles of St A's

http://www.standrews.org.uk/your_visit/golf_courses_in_fife/index.html

If this doesnt take your fancy there is always Carnoustie, another Open venue, about 15 miles away.

You will never be short of a round of golf in this part of the world.

Cant stand the game myself though.

Re Norad - Odds of playing St Andrews.

There are currently 6 golf courses at St Andrews. The most famous course is called the Old course.



The old course is very popular

For full booking information click here

To get a round on the old course is a bit of a lottery as 50% of all the rounds played each day are allocated from a hat with the results being published publically around St Andrews town for the next day. The other 50% is allocated to pre bookings which I think is now has a waiting list time around 2 years. Also to qualify for a round the player must have a handicap of 24 for men and 36 for women. It is not impossible to get a round on the old course especially earlier and later on in the season but the months June, July and August are pretty difficult to get a round depending on your luck of course. If you play singly then a few rounds are available very early on in the morning. You will have to enquire very early on in the morning with the starter.
Golf is not played on a Sunday on the old course.
The old course is managed by the St Andrews Links Trust and is actually publicly owned land. The Residents of St Andrews still have certain rights such as they can still hang out clothes washing on the land although this is not generally done nowadays.
The general public has the right to walk the course on Sundays.
The old course is a bit ancient and old fashioned and expensive to play. Last time I looked up the cost it was from £80 for a round. Way to expensive in my opinion - Average cost for a round would be £20-30 at so called lesser courses in the area. But I suppose you have go to say you played the old course just once in your life.

If you wanted to play a more demanding course then Carnoustie Championship course would be a better bet. This course is quite probably one of the most difficult in the world. Again there are three courses at Carnoustie.

There is probably the highest number of links golf courses anywhere in the world in such a small area. Other notable courses would be Muirfield (Outside Edinburgh) , Panmuir (near Carnoustie) , Kingsbarns (near St Andrews), Elie (South of St Andrews)

Here is a Link showing the golf courses within about 30-40 miles of where I live.

I'm pleasantly surprised! From the sounds of it the Old Course is relatively inexpensive. Difficult to get on maybe but not impossible. I don't consider myself much of a golfer but I play when I can. If I ever visited I'd love to shoot a round at such a historic course.

Ordinarily I wouldn't but this would be sort of a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Plus, believe it or not, that's a lot less expensive than some of the high-end courses here in the States.

Re Norad45 - Did I mention there was a castle five minutes walk away from the old course in St Andrews. Those Castles just seem to pop up all over the place in Scotland.


Re NightHiker - If you think the golf is expensive, then you are going to fall over when you find out the price for a US Gallon of petrol (Gas). It is now currently $6.69 / US Gallon in the United Kingdom.

That's some spectaular scenery!

Ben, you forget the strangley named Golf Course Number 7, not yet finished and the Dukes course on the way to Craigton Park.

Then of course there is Drumoig, which has a St Andrews address and the two Courses (Torrence and Devlin) at the St Andrews Bay Hotel. I guess that makes 11 golf courses in total. Also on the TV news this evening there was an American with a strange hair cut wanting to build another 4 golf courses at the links north of Aberdeen. Apparently he wants to spend $1000,000,000 to make them the 4 greatest golf courses in the world. No thats completely insane - in Aberdeen. Apparently he is referred to in America as The Donald!!



Anyway I have this theory that most political and business psychopaths ultimate aim is to own their own golf course because of the sheer frustration and of the lack of control the wee white ball can cause in these individuals when they play. If they can't master the golf they have to own it. This guy wants to own 4.

Wow. You have posted such beautiful photos on this thread. What ever drove you to post that one? It would be nice if I could go one day without seeing his face. Too much to ask for I suppose. Next time crop out about 50% from the left.

Thanks, Bentirran, for making me feel even worse that I'm missing my long-time friend's wedding in Scotland April 1st!

I'm hoping to visit her eventually, when money isn't so tight, and your lovely photos are only hardening my resolve. It is no wonder my friend fell in love with the country (of course her husband-to-be played no small part in this) and couldn't wait to become an ex-pat!

You and Aloha, with his pics of Hawaii, are two very lucky guys.