St. Andrews Links - Old Course

If you're a serious golfer and you have the opportunity to play here, you had better take it. The history of the place demands it. It overwhelmed me on the first tee when I was thinking more about where I was than hitting my golf ball. It was a dead shank that drew a few chuckles from my playing companions. After those first tee jitters though the game got much better.
The course itself is like nothing you will find here in the States. From blind shots to bunkers that you could hide a small house in, to the double greens, one of which is almost an acre square this will be a round that you will never forget.
There is also the added bonus that when your sitting with your buddies in the 19th no golf story will cause more envy than when you casually mention that you've played the Old Course.

The Old Course is, indisputably, the most unique links course in Scotland, and an absolute hoot to play.

Seven massive double-greens steal the show here, where putts can be well over 100 feet long, and the short game is severely tested. The routing, which is a counter-clockwise direction with a most unusual loop around the back of the course, means pulling most tee shots left will find you in good shape, while pushes to the right could find you out of bounds.

There are a lot of reasons why St. Andrews is such a favorite: the town itself is the best golf town in Scotland and probably the world. But the design is ingenious after all these years because changing wind directions make the course play entirely different on a day-to-day basis (I realized this the second time I played the course in a different wind). New bunkers come into play, some par 4s go from brawny to drivable. It's an extremely complicated golf course.

That said, it's still quite playable for the average player (particularly compared to say, Carnoustie up the road). It's tough to not get goosebumps when playing the 17th & 18th holes.

Enjoy the ride, and be aggressive off the tee.

The experience of playing the Old Course starts long before you step upon the first tee at the venerable “Home of Golf.”  Propriety saw it’s original 22 holes reduced to 18 and the template was forever more.  Interestingly, if one is not otherwise swept up inexorably in the significance of what the Old Course represents, many depart a maiden tour more bewildered than enraptured.  give it time, as time is one of the Old Course’s greatest assets.  You simply must play the Old Course, but strive for more than once and give it time for it’s nuances to be revealed, as time is one of the Old Course’s greatest assets.