My St Andrews trip 2019

[Superbrit]

Thought i would do a little review/rundown of my latest trip to my favourite place in the world, been many times before but actually took some pics this time!

 

So whole trip was from Saturday 19th October, coming home on the 24th October, i live in Cheshire, so its only about a 270 mile drive for me.

 

Stayed at the Scores hotel in a junior suite for the whole duration - Very traditional, unbelievably helpful staff, perfect location, great breakfast!

 

Got there Saturday afternoon and basically did all the touristy stuff Saturday afternoon and Sunday (had to butter the wife up for the upcoming week of golf)

Golf Museum - definitely worth it, even the wife liked it

Castle & Abbey - worth going once i suppose, wife likes that sort of thing, i was bored after an hour or 2

Aquarium - again kills an hour or 2

 

Places we ate and drank -

Jigger inn - good to have a quick drink, but way to busy for how small it is, didn't eat in there as no tables free, would only go back for a quick drink after a round

Whey pat - good place for a drink, nice atmosphere, have eaten in there before but would probably only have a quick lunch if i had to.

The saint - probably our fave place for eating & drinking in the evening, nice food and a little bit more "upmarket" than the standard pubs

Ziggy's - Was alright, i thought a bit on the expensive side for the quality of food.

The Rule - good for a cheap drink to start the night, food not great.

Little Italy - nice place, good food, book in advance!

Mozza - Cant beat it for a quick lunch (if you like pizza)

VIC - went Saturday night as they had a live band, who were really good, really enjoyed it, and surprisingly cheap.

Keys bar - great atmosphere

St Andrews Brewing co. - basic but lively, some interesting beers

 

So from Monday morning it was golf time.

 

Monday - New Course - went to queue up at the old pavilion to try and get on the Old (i had no reserved tee times at all for any courses, registered on ballotbuddy to enter the ballot, we tried 3 times and never got in)

There was already 13 people in the queue at 4.30am so went back to bed, at 7.30am went to the New course and played with a really nice guy i'd got talking to on ballotbuddy

New Course - played it before but still a really nice course, played terrible for about 6/7 holes, shot 84.

 

Tuesday - Old Course - went to queue at the old pavilion at 4.30am again, this time i was 8th in line so decided to stay, got talking to some Americans and had a great laugh, the 3 hours went pretty quick, 4 guys got tee times, i was 4th reserve, i didn't think i would get on but a lot of reserves do, more than i thought, reserves got to told to come back at 8am and basically wait, thankfully you can get a coffee and something to eat.

2 of the reserves went out by 9am, then luckily 2 people in a fourball just didn't turn up for a 11.15 tee time (still don't understand why you would book and not turn up) so me and the 7th reserve had literally 2 mins to get to the Tee, 2 guys had caddies (definitely recommend if you haven't played it before) this was my second time so decided to give it the caddie a miss

I just love this course, just something about it, but by god was it windy, 25 - 30 mph winds, which made it bloomin cold as well, i played really well considering the conditions and shot 82, i was a happy boy!

 

Wednesday - castle course - literally turned up at 7.45, got a tee time at 8.20 and went off, i'd heard good and bad reviews about the castle course, i loved it, views were amazing, course was really good, greens..wow i'd never come across such funky undulating greens before, i really struggled with my putting hitting 43 putts! ended up shooting 86, i played well tee to green lol!

 

I love St Andrews, this was probably my 7th or 8th trip there since i first went there 5 years ago, and i've not always gone to play either, just hanging round the town and the beach makes it worth visiting

 

Worth noting of other hotels ive stayed at before

Rusacks - my favourite hotel in the town

Premier inn - great hotel if your going for quite a few days, a lot cheaper than other places and pretty new

Fairmont - lovely hotel, but too many children and too far out of town for me.

 

I'll add some pics below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Superbrit]

Old course!

 

Not my golf bag :-)

[Superbrit]

Castle Course!

The view when we got there at 7.45am

 

[golfortennis]

Nice. Only thing I would question is who told you 4:30 for the queue. If you are going to do it, don't take any chances. It was May when I was there, I was #5 arriving shortly after 2. I got a guaranteed time, but I also was ready to go an hour earlier but my wife talked me into staying.

 

Glad you got on. And yes the museum is worth it. Quite interesting.

[Superbrit]

> @Bluefan75 said:

> Nice. Only thing I would question is who told you 4:30 for the queue. If you are going to do it, don't take any chances. It was May when I was there, I was #5 arriving shortly after 2. I got a guaranteed time, but I also was ready to go an hour earlier but my wife talked me into staying.

>

> Glad you got on. And yes the museum is worth it. Quite interesting.

 

 

Because there was no way i was going to queue any earlier :)

 

when we were out and about on the Sunday night we actually seen 2 guys in the queue at 8.30!!

 

Also on the Monday after i had played the New Course i was speaking to a couple of guys in the old pavilion that they managed to get the 17th reserve out, obviously there would have been no shows but i heard it was 12, in October i would have been unlucky not to get out queuing at that time, in the summer it would have been a very different story

 

[dcmidnight]

Couldnt agree more with your comments on the town, I loved it so much. Spent 8 days there and it was not enough for me. I've said this before but I really do feel that people are making a huge mistake when they come to town to play and dont even spend one night there, they just rush on to the next course to check off their list. Huge mistake.

[golfortennis]

> @Superbrit said:

> > @Bluefan75 said:

> > Nice. Only thing I would question is who told you 4:30 for the queue. If you are going to do it, don't take any chances. It was May when I was there, I was #5 arriving shortly after 2. I got a guaranteed time, but I also was ready to go an hour earlier but my wife talked me into staying.

> >

> > Glad you got on. And yes the museum is worth it. Quite interesting.

>

>

> Because there was no was i going to queue any earlier :)

>

> when we were out and about on the Sunday night we actually seen 2 guys in the queue at 8.30!!

>

> Also on the Monday after i had played the New Course i was speaking to a couple of guys in the old pavilion that they managed to get the 17th reserve out, obviously there would have been no shows but i heard it was 12, in October i would have been unlucky not to get out queuing at that time, in the summer it would have been a very different story

>

 

Lol. Ok, if 4:30 is the earliest...... I suppose I will always be "scarred" by the knowledge about 2 weeks before we went 24 Chinese tourists arrived at 3:30 am to queue. No one is getting in after them, not with a group that size.

 

Trick I found was to look at the tee sheet that gets posted for the ballot winners. The more empty spots in the open ballot times, the better. They have to take you in their group. Local ballot and lottery times do not. So that helps with things as well.

 

Also you said it wasn;t your first time playing it? That would make a difference. I did the queue once, I won't be teeing it up there again without a reserved time. Loved the whole experience, but.... kinda like the guy who asks you to help him move, and you say no, I can afford to buy my own beer and pizza...

 

 

[Superbrit]

> @Bluefan75 said:

> > @Superbrit said:

> > > @Bluefan75 said:

> > > Nice. Only thing I would question is who told you 4:30 for the queue. If you are going to do it, don't take any chances. It was May when I was there, I was #5 arriving shortly after 2. I got a guaranteed time, but I also was ready to go an hour earlier but my wife talked me into staying.

> > >

> > > Glad you got on. And yes the museum is worth it. Quite interesting.

> >

> >

> > Because there was no was i going to queue any earlier :)

> >

> > when we were out and about on the Sunday night we actually seen 2 guys in the queue at 8.30!!

> >

> > Also on the Monday after i had played the New Course i was speaking to a couple of guys in the old pavilion that they managed to get the 17th reserve out, obviously there would have been no shows but i heard it was 12, in October i would have been unlucky not to get out queuing at that time, in the summer it would have been a very different story

> >

>

> Lol. Ok, if 4:30 is the earliest...... I suppose I will always be "scarred" by the knowledge about 2 weeks before we went 24 Chinese tourists arrived at 3:30 am to queue. No one is getting in after them, not with a group that size.

>

> Trick I found was to look at the tee sheet that gets posted for the ballot winners. The more empty spots in the open ballot times, the better. They have to take you in their group. Local ballot and lottery times do not. So that helps with things as well.

>

> Also you said it wasn;t your first time playing it? That would make a difference. I did the queue once, I won't be teeing it up there again without a reserved time. Loved the whole experience, but.... kinda like the guy who asks you to help him move, and you say no, I can afford to buy my own beer and pizza...

>

>

 

Well the first year i went, again the middle of October i queued at 5am, think it was closer to 5.10, and when i arrived there was 1 guy, 1 guy!! a youngish American guy, and thats all that turned up till 7.30, i thought whats all the fuss about? so when me and my dad went last year we got a rude awakening when we turned up at 5am and there was about 15 guys, we thought sod it we will go and play the New instead

[Superbrit]

> @dcmidnight said:

> Couldnt agree more with your comments on the town, I loved it so much. Spent 8 days there and it was not enough for me. I've said this before but I really do feel that people are making a huge mistake when they come to town to play and dont even spend one night there, they just rush on to the next course to check off their list. Huge mistake.

 

 

Don't think i've ever been to a town that is so clean, so free of any trouble, even on a Saturday night! and where people are so friendly and welcoming, could go on a pub crawl till 2 in the morning with the wife and you wont even hear an argument

[golfortennis]

> @Superbrit said:

> > @dcmidnight said:

> > Couldnt agree more with your comments on the town, I loved it so much. Spent 8 days there and it was not enough for me. I've said this before but I really do feel that people are making a huge mistake when they come to town to play and dont even spend one night there, they just rush on to the next course to check off their list. Huge mistake.

>

>

> Don't think i've ever been to a town that is so clean, so free of any trouble, even on a Saturday night! and where people are so friendly and welcoming, could go on a pub crawl till 2 in the morning with the wife and you wont even hear an argument

 

To borrow a phrase from the UK, you have to be a real tosser to get into an argument over just about anything when you are there.

[scott_Donald]

Great writeup, glad you had fun!

 

I was there two times in August and September and had a great time both times, the atmosphere is just awesome around the town.

[hammergolf]

GREAT TRIP! My golf group was there last year and we will be back in 2022. We did play the New, but played The Old, The Jubilee, and the Castle. Loved them all, and can't wait to be back in St. Andrews. Just a special place. Loved the greens at The Castle, but thank god I took a caddie, because you have to know where to hit is to get it close. I remember on the first par 3 he told me to hit it 10yds left of the green. It kicks dead right, and rolls all the way to the right side of the green about 20yds to a gimme. One of my buddies almost made a double eagle on a par 5 hitting a similar type shot.

[Hawkeye77]

> @dcmidnight said:

> Couldnt agree more with your comments on the town, I loved it so much. Spent 8 days there and it was not enough for me. I've said this before but I really do feel that people are making a huge mistake when they come to town to play and dont even spend one night there, they just rush on to the next course to check off their list. Huge mistake.

 

Gigantic mistake! Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, but so many Scotland golf trips I see described seem like check the box endurance tests. Not my thing, but again may be someone else's and they should do as they like. But they are making a gigantic mistake!!!!!