Taylor Alison Golf - Golf breaks, golfing holidays and golfing tours in the UK

The Golf

St Andrews Links is recognised the around the world as the golfing mecca. All the courses are public and there are five 18 hole courses to suit golfers of all abilities. The sixth course, The Balgove, is a nine-hole course primarily aimed at children and beginners. The trust is also in the process of adding a seventh course to the links.

The Old Course
Regarded as The Home of Golf and venue for the Open Championship 26 times. The Old Course attracts thousands of golfers from all over the world every year. As the oldest golf course in the world it was here, around 600 years ago where golf was first played and has many remarkable features which help make it so special to every golfer who plays it.

The course has evolved over time and is known for its particular physical features including 112 bunkers, some of which are especially famous e.g. 'Hell' on the long 14th, 'Strath' on the short 11th and the Road Bunker at what is probably the most famous golf hole in the world, the 17th or ‘Road Hole’ (so called because the road which is in play and runs against the back edge of the green.

Another peculiar feature of the Old Course is the double greens where the outward and inward holes are cut on the same putting surface. These greens are large and golfers can be faced with some putts of almost 100 yards. The Old Course is also unusual in that it starts and finishes in the town, but it’s truly remarkable feature is that in today's modern golfing world, a course which has evolved over six centuries still remains a true test of championship golf. It is host to the Amateur Championship this year and the Open Championship next year.

New Course
Opened in April 1895, the course was built in response to increasing demand for golf at St Andrews, both from locals and from the visitors who were flocking to the town in increasing numbers on the recently constructed railway.

The construction of the New Course was paid for by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club as part of an arrangement under which the club was allocated the right to certain starting times on the Old Course. These arrangements were enshrined in the first Act of Parliament concerning the Links which was passed in 1894 and was the forerunner of the current Act of 1974 which specifies how the links are to be run.

The R&A engaged W Hall Blyth, an Edinburgh civil engineer, to design the New Course, and entrusted the layout to "Old" Tom Morris and his right-hand man David Honeyman. The result is a classic links course which uses the natural features of the land to create a first class golfing challenge. The course has the traditional out and back layout, with the 18th green just to the right of the first tee. It also has, in the great St Andrews tradition, shared fairways and even a double green at the 3rd and 15th holes. It has frequently been said that if the New Course were not situated next to the Old, then it would have shone with a far greater degree of brilliance.

Located as it is in the shadow of its illustrious neighbour, the New Course can be considered one of St Andrews' best kept secrets.

Jubilee Course
This was created on a narrow strip of land between the New Course and the sea and was originally a 12 hole course intended for ladies and beginners. On Sunday 22 June 1997, the Jubilee Course celebrated its centenary and in the space of 100 years it had developed from a 12-hole basic layout into one of the toughest tests of golf at St Andrews.

Around 1902 David Honeyman, Tom Morris' right hand man, suggested that it was possible to extend the course to 18 holes. This was done in 1905 at a cost of £150, but only after an agreement had been reached with the local Rifle and Artillery Volunteers to regulate play when target shooting was in progress at the rifle butts at the far end of the course. In 1938 the Council decided to make further improvements. They entrusted the supervision to the 1893 Open Champion, Willie Auchterlonie, who by then was honorary professional to the R&A. The war years of 1939 to 1945, with shortages of men and materials, progress slowed to a crawl. It was finally completed in June 1946 when Willie Auchterlonie struck a ball from the first tee to open it.

The Jubilee was now 6,020 yards long and in 1988 Donald Steel re-designed the course to championship standard. The teeing grounds were raised, not only providing wonderful views of the Links, but also exposing the golfers to the winds which sweep in from the bay. The course is now 6,805 yards and a real test for all golfers.

The course was officially opened when Curtis Strange, the US Open champion, drove a ball from the first tee in September 1989.

Eden Course
By the year 1913 the demand for play on the Old, New and Jubilee courses was so high that a fourth course was required. Opened for play in 1914, the Eden course was designed by Harry S. Colt, internationally renowned for his course design skills. His use of the natural features and of the partially buried field boundary walls gives the course an entirely natural feel.

Alterations were completed in 1989 and the result is a course of character but slightly less testing and more forgiving than the three courses lying on the seaward side.

The Eden Tournament, inaugurated in 1919, remains one of the major amateur British golfing events. Every year over 250 golfers play for the Eden trophy in the second week of August.

Strathtyrum Course
On 1 July 1993, the Strathtyrum Course became the first new 18 hole course at St Andrews for almost 80 years. It takes its name from the adjacent Strathtyrum Estate, from which the land was purchased. Designed by Donald Steel to offer enjoyable golf, the course complements the other tougher championship layouts. It is shorter and with only 15 bunkers, a relatively sand-free environment by St Andrews' usual standards.

The course still requires, however, a considerable level of skill if it is to be played successfully. The bunkers are shrewdly placed the greens themselves have slopes and borrows which can make taking more than the regulation two putts all too easy and give a links-like feel to the layout.

Laid out in two loops of nine it is one of only three courses at St Andrews Links where the use of buggies is permitted (the others are the New Course and the Balgove Course).

Balgove Course
This 1520 yard, par 30 nine-hole course offers a real golfing experience to children and beginners. Originally opened in February 1972, it was remodelled when the Eden course was built and still proves popular with adult beginners who use the course as practice but to children it is a real course with proper tees, greens and two greenside bunkers.