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.