Just back from 7 nights in St Andrews (8/4-11)

[dcmidnight]

The Kittocks Course at the Fairmont was - IMO - a great course to warmup on. After the red eye to Edinburgh, waiting in Customs, dragging your bags to the bus and then the ride there - it was nice to have a somewhat wide open course to open with. Wouldn't have wanted to get off the plane and say drive straight to Carnoustie.

 

Rooms werent ready when we got there so we ended up grabbing stuff as quick as we could and getting out there, didnt have the camera so just cell phone shots.

 

I would definitely play there again though as an opener.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dcmidnight]

Sunday afternoon had a chance to walk around town a bit. Took in the Himalayas Putting Course, which pound for pound, was the best money we spent all trip. Had a good skins game going although still had 5 outstanding.

 

 

 

18th green on the New Course

 

 

 

[ceejay81]

Fantastic so far, DC!

[eagle1997]

those ecco hybrid 3s look like sharkskin. love it!

[buckeye88us]

Thanks for sharing. I’m going over next year in July. Can’t wait !

[dcmidnight]

Jubilee Course - had a tee time for Monday afternoon. Lunch at the Links Clubhouse - which is a great spot for food/drinks. Also a really good locker room on the ground floor. Lockers for storing your stuff and can fit your clubs if you need to leave them somewhere.

 

Maybe the most underrated course I've played. Its usually the third or fourth course people talk about when they talk about the courses in St Andrews but it is so much fun to play. Its the course that the caddies most often recommended other than the Old Course.

 

When the course turns out by the water, its just beautiful but difficult with the wind howling off the water. But when the course turns, the holes play back towards the city. Just awesome.

 

Definitely recommended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dcmidnight]

those ecco hybrid 3s look like sharkskin. love it!

 

Hands down the most comfortable walking shoe I've ever had.

 

I was on a run of good "cheaper" shoes the last couple seasons but the Eccos were really eye opening.

[fredstar]

those ecco hybrid 3s look like sharkskin. love it!

 

Hands down the most comfortable walking shoe I've ever had.

 

I was on a run of good "cheaper" shoes the last couple seasons but the Eccos were really eye opening.

 

I am up to my 9th round walking in 10 days here in Scotland and my Ecco Hybrid 3's have my feet feeling fine. The best shoe out there.

[dcmidnight]

Tuesday - Kingsbarns

 

We were staying at the Fairmont so it was really @ a 5 minute drive, couldnt have been easier to get to. Property is just...stunning. Its incredible. The clubhouse is built up on top of the hill and looks out over the 18th hole and the water. One of the nicest spots we spent having food drinks afterwards. Range is less than a minute walk from the bag drop.

 

The interesting thing is that one of the starters told me that so many people come in on buses and just rush in and out of there that a lot of people dont spend time there after enjoying the space. When we were done, we were the only people that were there eating and having drinks. So glad that we scheduled the rides the way we did and left ourselves a couple hours after we were finished. One of the bonuses of not rushing off to the next town/course.

 

Course itself was just so much fun to play. Looks visually intimidating on a lot of holes but so many options of shots to play both off the tee and coming into the greens. And if you missed off the tee - you could really still go and play it from most spots. If you didnt know this course was 20 years old, I think you could be convinced it was 100. I love how almost every hole was designed so that you can see/watch multiple holes from every spot on the property.

 

IMO this course was a 10 out of 10 in every way. Played my arse off, 39-37 // 76 on a perfect weather day. 65* and sunny with winds @ 15 mph all day. As cloudy and overcast as it looks, we didnt see rain in 7 days on the course. It poured for @ 15 minutes on Friday after we finished playing the Old Course - but that was it.

 

This is an absolute must play if you are going to St Andrews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fredstar]

Played there today and had a great lunch and drinks afterwards. Beautiful location and excellent layout.

[dcmidnight]

Wednesday - New Course

 

After not getting onto the Old in the early morning, we decided to head over and get on the New. Cant make an advanced tee time - I think unless you get on the Old through the advanced ballot and are required to book a second course - so its mostly walkups. Got there around 7, tee time for 9. Went upstairs and had breakfast in the clubhouse restaurant. Good spot, I think we ate here three times, service was slow but the food was decent and its got pretty great views.

 

This course was so much fun to play - in fact I barely took any pictures bc I was just having a great time out there. It looks dark and cloudy in the pics but in reality it was low 60s with a good 15-20 wind, very fun playing conditions. Had a chance for a really low round, still ended up 39-39 // 78.

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, when you hear about the bacon rolls, you really cant appreciate how good it is. The "breakfast bacon roll" is what we would consider a hamburger bun in the US. Just coated in butter and with slabs of thick cut bacon.

 

Pro tip - order one bacon roll and one egg roll - then just mix them together. Not really sure why you cant just order a bacon and egg roll lol.

 

[dcmidnight]

Thursday - Carnoustie

 

Man its going to be hard to rate the courses in terms of which one I enjoyed more or less than the others. But Carnoustie is in one of the top spots. Weather wise it was sunny, 15-20 mph winds all day but at times the winds got down below 10. The infrastructure was still up from the Open so we got a little delayed getting to the course because - I guess - the driver was going to a different parking lot. But we eventually made it.

 

One cool thing was that their "range" is a set of indoor simulators just off the pro shop. A half hour before your tee time you are allowed to go in and hit some warm up shots.

 

 

 

BTW if you've never been to an outdoor shooting range, you cant be prepared for how loud the automatic gunfire sounds are out there. Especially out on the edge nearest the range, its almost unnerving when you are in your backswing and it starts up. If there's one "negative" to the course, that would be it. There were a couple of shots on 6/7 I definitely rushed on because I was afraid of it starting up in the middle of my swing.

 

Otherwise, man what a course. It had greened up a bit but the turf was still solid as a rock. I had 3 irons off the tee that were getting 75 yards of roll on them and just running through places I wouldn't ordinarily hit driver. In fact I dont think I hit driver more than a couple times all day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[davep043]

By the way, when you hear about the bacon rolls, you really cant appreciate how good it is. The "breakfast bacon roll" is what we would consider a hamburger bun in the US. Just coated in butter and with slabs of thick cut bacon.

 

Pro tip - order one bacon roll and one egg roll - then just mix them together. Not really sure why you cant just order a bacon and egg roll lol.

 

When I was in St Andrews, I would walk through the town each morning before breakfast. and every day, I would stop at a little place called MUNCH in South Street and get a bacon roll and a coffee. I think the total price was under 2 pounds in 2012. The coffee I would drink while I took my walk. The bacon roll went into my golf bag, to be snacked on later during the round of golf. There aren't halfway houses, you're on your own on most of the courses. And as the signboard outside Munch said, those were "probably the best bacon rolls in the world".

[North Butte]

I played in an Open event at a non-famous course in England. Walked up, paid my 15 quid and was paired with the two members who were due to tee off shortly. Somehow I was playing a couple shots better than my handicap when we reached the caterer’s hut between the 10th and 11th holes.

 

There was a guy with a two burner Coleman stove (you know, like you use when camping). One burner was heating water for tea and in the other he would fry you up a thick slab of locally sourced uncurled bacon. There was a bag of baps to put the bacon.

 

What a wonderful greasy snack that was. Absolutely delicious and we sat on folding chairs under a tree and chatted for 20-25 minutes. Then we saw a group finishing 10 and decide to head on to 11th tee.

 

Something about that huge bonus of tasty baconand a couple cups of hot tea started doing a number on me. First my stomach then generally. I did not make a par on the last eight holes and finished with a net 75 after my good start. Good for about 10th place out of 60-70 entries.

 

But it was some good tasting bacon, I’ll grant. The two members were great company, too. A fine day.

[Hawkeye77]

Had a steak pie (at least that's what I think it was called, maybe just called a "meat" pie) at the "turn" on the Old Course and it was awesome, tender chunks of beef in what I would describe as guilty pleasure gravy in a savory, flaky crust.

 

If my caddie hadn't called my name and said "time to get back to work", I'd have had at least one more (he had been there 50 years and because I was having a really good round he was being quite the taskmaster, lol - and I'm known to get distracted and start chatting up just about anyone)!

[dcmidnight]

Had a steak pie (at least that's what I think it was called, maybe just called a "meat" pie) at the "turn" on the Old Course and it was awesome, tender chunks of beef in what I would describe as guilty pleasure gravy in a savory, flaky crust.

 

If my caddie hadn't called my name and said "time to get back to work", I'd have had at least one more (he had been there 50 years and because I was having a really good round he was being quite the taskmaster, lol - and I'm known to get distracted and start chatting up just about anyone)!

 

Those were damn delicious, two of the caddies got them too.The ones at Carnoustie were not as good but the soup is what the caddies got there.

 

Usually thats my sign as to whats the best in the halfway house, no one has been through there more.

[Hawkeye77]

DC - can you give some insight into how your resize your photos?

 

I shoot in JPEG fine, plenty large enough files 12-15 MB, but when I resize to less than 500 kb to upload here, I lose a lot of sharpness, and I notice yours are particularly sharp. I look at my photos of my trip in my thread and they just look bad (to my eye, which is picky when it comes to photography), but I'm no master of the resizing process.

[dcmidnight]

Actually uploading large files to WRX is a massive pain in the butt and doesnt seem to work right half the time and I've stopped asking why lol - so for me I try to avoid it if I can. IE I am supposed to be able to upload files up to 10MB but I cannot even get 4-5MB pics to work right.

 

I just use imgur to host and use the full size JPEGs which in my case were mostly ~ 20 megapixel / 8MB files. I tried using the RAW files but the JPEGs seem easier to upload. Then I click 'get share links' and I think its the bottom left choice, click copy - and then just paste the link directly into my post.

 

I have the most success dragging 5 pics to one imgur post at once, doing the share links, and then restarting the process if I need to post more than five.

 

Uploading files to WRX is a massive pain in the butt and doesnt seem to work right half the time.

[eagle1997]

this is a glorious read and visually stunning to boot. thanks for taking the time to share.

[rkristopheranderson]

Most comprehensive writeup I've seen, great job!

 

Any insights on the 48 hour ballot? I put in for the annual lottery on more of a hopeful whim last year and we got lucky, so we went this year! In the future if we want to go I figure I'll put in the the annual ballot and if unsuccessful, just make the decision whether St. Andrews would be part of the trip (loved the Dornoch area and would love to explore more from Inverness along the coast to Aberdeen and the courses along the southwest coast, but love St. Andrews so much) and if it is, then try the 48 hour ballot.

 

I get the feeling there were very few daily ballot slots - especially this time of year. Between blocks of time for tournaments or the R&A times, then annual ballot winners and then the guaranteed slots they sell - not a ton of slots left. I would still enter it though, cant hurt!

 

This probably got said between this post and now, but YES.

 

Dad and I went three years ago in early August. Lost out on the 1yr. ballot (no surprise there). We planned to stay in St. Andrews for four days but did not want to pony up extra cash for guaranteed slots through the trip providers.

 

So...we went with no tee times in advance at all in St. Andrews and it all worked out. We started entering the 48hr. ballot while in route to Scotland. Missed our first try. We landed, played Balgrove to stay awake, and on the first night there I went down at 4am on a Monday as was #9 in line. No luck. And as OP says, the guys in the starter's shack are awesome and straight forward. We *could* have sat there and hoped for a time (if we got to day 4 that was our plan), but the starter said not to waste our time so we just got a tee time at nearby Scottscraig instead and were on the tee within 3 hours. We also entered the 48 hour ballot again that day and good for us, we got in for a Wed. PM tee time. So, we played the New on Tuesday, Old on Wed. and took off on Thursday for points north.

 

Another tactic: if you stay in a locally-owned B&B for a week or so and make buddies with the proprietor, they can *might* take you out with them on one of the local slots. It is one of those things you can't really ask for, but you might have offered up if you play your cards right. Our host had a great place and kept tabs on our progress because she knew our situation. Most locals told us that with three days we would be unlucky to not get the Old. But I had the idea our host would have helped us on the last day if necessary.

 

Also, to echo OP: do yourself a favor and just set up shop in one place for a week. Ours wasn't too bad. Those four days in Fife, then up to Carnoustie for a night, then two nights in Dornoch while playing coming and going. I don't regret it, but if I had to do it again, I'd have stayed in St. Andrews for the ambiance and then stayed Carnoustie for longer. I loved the drive up to Dornoch and paying up there, but it was a long drive back down to catch a flight out of Glasgow. Next time I go I'll likely set up shop in Carnoustie for a week (less touristy, less expensive) because you can make easy day trips up to Aberdeen and south to St. Andrews.

[dcmidnight]

Next time I go I'll likely set up shop in Carnoustie for a week (less touristy, less expensive) because you can make easy day trips up to Aberdeen and south to St. Andrews.

 

Yeah I dont know about that, you had me up until there!!! It took us 45 mnutes to get from St Andrews to Carnoustie on what our driver called a good day. He said with traffic or even an accident it could be twice that. And he drives that route multiple times a week.

 

Besides after hearing the caddies at Carnoustie - who lived in Carnoustie - talk about how bad all the food options were in town, I wont spend much time there the next time we go.

 

To save some money we'll look at some of the larger rental house options in town and work with a travel company like St Andrews Executive Travel to do the driving. They were our provider a couple of days and we noticed their vans all around town.

[CDM]

those ecco hybrid 3s look like sharkskin. love it!

 

Hands down the most comfortable walking shoe I've ever had.

 

I was on a run of good "cheaper" shoes the last couple seasons but the Eccos were really eye opening.

 

Awesome thread!! On Ecco”s I bought a pair off amazon on a super sale... have never looked back. Have 3 pairs now LOL. Taken care of them and they last forever!!!!

[krtgolfing]

Great pictures. I need to get over there to play before I get to old.

 

Would going as a single be a terrible time over there? I know none of my golf buds could afford this and I know my dad would not be able to play this much golf.

[dcmidnight]

Great pictures. I need to get over there to play before I get to old.

 

Would going as a single be a terrible time over there? I know none of my golf buds could afford this and I know my dad would not be able to play this much golf.

 

I think it would be great and IMO it would be worlds better than never doing the trip at all. You'll be paired up with groups who are just as excited as you are to be there. If I was in that situation I would absolutely go.

[North Butte]

Great pictures. I need to get over there to play before I get to old.

 

Would going as a single be a terrible time over there? I know none of my golf buds could afford this and I know my dad would not be able to play this much golf.

 

If I ever make it to St Andrews it will be as a single. Always figured I’d just pitch up in a B&B, buy the 5-days Links Trust pass and play golf on whatever mix of the courses are available. Fit in a round at TOC at some point while there.

 

Sounds like fun to me!

[dcmidnight]

Friday - Old Course

 

Covered the ballot information / waiting in line stuff already.

 

Anyone that says the Old Course is just another course or you only play the Old Course to play 1/17/18 - and there are a lot of people who think that- sorry but those people are idiots. I never want to play golf with these people. The sense of history you get standing there on the first tee is just...absolutely overwhelming. Its incredible. 1-3 are really good warmup holes, definitely lets you catch your breath. You get the view of the Old Course Hotel on the way out and start to get a look at the water and rest of the course. Once you get out to the peninsula - its like a glorified demolition derby. 7-8-9-10-11 are all *right* there. You can see/hear so much golf going on at once. Its such a cool scene, I cant really describe it in good words. Plus, its beautiful. 12 is a great hole. 14 is a great hole. 16-18 speak for themselves.

 

So gtfo with that "its not that great a course" garbage.

 

My brother had finished up his round somewhere @ when I was on 10 or so. He grabbed our two buddies and met me on the 16th tee. That was just awesome. And really, it *is* a public park. People can walk along with you, walk through your group, cross the fairway on the hole you are playing on - its actually borderline anarchy lol.

 

The wind made it more difficult than I think it really is. If you have a good caddie - I had a great one - he will put you in a good spot off the tee and tell you exactly where to hit or miss it on your approach shot. I went out in 39 and came in with another 39 - including a double.

 

BTW, for a tee shot that is as nervwracking as #1, at least you have a fairway thats 150 yards wide. Now that being said, I watched tee shots for @ 4 straight hours and I'd say 1 in 8 people missed the fairway. Saw misses on both sides. Saw topped balls. Saw R&A members miss the fairway. Everything from top to bottom. Seriously nothing eases your mind more than watching guys hit tee shots for four hours and realizing that no matter what you do...these people have definitely seen worse lol.

 

Overall, I dont see how you could do this trip and not play the OC.

[therealsneek]

This is such an awesome thread. Your pictures turned out great and made my itch even bigger to get over there. I am hoping to make it happen for my 30th birthday in 2020.

[rkristopheranderson]

Next time I go I'll likely set up shop in Carnoustie for a week (less touristy, less expensive) because you can make easy day trips up to Aberdeen and south to St. Andrews.

 

Yeah I dont know about that, you had me up until there!!! It took us 45 mnutes to get from St Andrews to Carnoustie on what our driver called a good day. He said with traffic or even an accident it could be twice that. And he drives that route multiple times a week.

 

Besides after hearing the caddies at Carnoustie - who lived in Carnoustie - talk about how bad all the food options were in town, I wont spend much time there the next time we go.

 

To save some money we'll look at some of the larger rental house options in town and work with a travel company like St Andrews Executive Travel to do the driving. They were our provider a couple of days and we noticed their vans all around town.

 

:) Yeah, I think its a red wine vs. white wine situation. You're right the drive could be in excess of 45 mins. and its similar heading north. And you have to assume you are not working the daily ballot for the OLD.

 

BUT. For us, we drove ourselves bc there were two of us and we wanted to save money on things like drivers. Also, we wanted the freedom of driving ourselves--next time I'd imagine taking, say, a day trip to Aberdeen to play and get a meal there before coming back to Carnoustie and beers in the pub. And there isn't "great food" in Carnoustie, but there is good pub fare and curry take out. We didn't put a lot of value in great meals--we were happy with a big breakfast and a bite after the round, followed by drinks in a local pub (found a great one in Carnoustie).

[Hawkeye77]

Friday - Old Course

 

Covered the ballot information / waiting in line stuff already.

 

Anyone that says the Old Course is just another course or you only play the Old Course to play 1/17/18 - and there are a lot of people who think that- sorry but those people are idiots. I never want to play golf with these people. The sense of history you get standing there on the first tee is just...absolutely overwhelming. Its incredible. 1-3 are really good warmup holes, definitely lets you catch your breath. You get the view of the Old Course Hotel on the way out and start to get a look at the water and rest of the course. Once you get out to the peninsula - its like a glorified demolition derby. 7-8-9-10-11 are all *right* there. You can see/hear so much golf going on at once. Its such a cool scene, I cant really describe it in good words. Plus, its beautiful. 12 is a great hole. 14 is a great hole. 16-18 speak for themselves.

 

So gtfo with that "its not that great a course" garbage.

 

My brother had finished up his round somewhere @ when I was on 10 or so. He grabbed our two buddies and met me on the 16th tee. That was just awesome. And really, it *is* a public park. People can walk along with you, walk through your group, cross the fairway on the hole you are playing on - its actually borderline anarchy lol.

 

The wind made it more difficult than I think it really is. If you have a good caddie - I had a great one - he will put you in a good spot off the tee and tell you exactly where to hit or miss it on your approach shot. I went out in 39 and came in with another 39 - including a double.

 

BTW, for a tee shot that is as nervwracking as #1, at least you have a fairway thats 150 yards wide. Now that being said, I watched tee shots for @ 4 straight hours and I'd say 1 in 8 people missed the fairway. Saw misses on both sides. Saw topped balls. Saw R&A members miss the fairway. Everything from top to bottom. Seriously nothing eases your mind more than watching guys hit tee shots for four hours and realizing that no matter what you do...these people have definitely seen worse lol.

 

Overall, I dont see how you could do this trip and not play the OC.

 

+100,000

 

And yes, I'm quoting it.

[dcmidnight]

Some misc shots from the Old Course. Just had a beautiful weather day out there.

 

There is nothing like this view though, standing on the first tee, just taking it all in. You sort of zone out and then you're like wait, wtf, why am I inside the fenceline, what is going on?