Old Course overnight que

[Lefty Canuck]

I am headed to St Andrews in May, I don’t have a tee time for the Old course and am interested in knowing if anyone has had any success in lining up overnight. I thought that I had heard that they had eliminated the que but was not sure if that was correct or not, any information would be greatly appreciated. 

[hammergolf]

4 hours ago, Lefty Canuck said:

I am headed to St Andrews in May, I don’t have a tee time for the Old course and am interested in knowing if anyone has had any success in lining up overnight. I thought that I had heard that they had eliminated the que but was not sure if that was correct or not, any information would be greatly appreciated. 

The que has not been eliminated. As long as you get there early enough you should be able to get on. Go to the starter the day before you want to play and see how many spots are available for the following day. Based off that, I would recommend showing up around 10:00 pm and you should be close to the front of the que.

[scott_Donald]

The queue is a part of golf now; they will never get rid of it.

 

Good luck!

[italianstallion]

The day before I played in July 2023 I showed up at 6:00PM to check out the queue and found 9 other people in line. I got in line, two people ahead of me left, and ended up being the last in line to get out the next day with a guaranteed time. I still had to camp out overnight, but when 6:00am rolled around I was able to book a time for later that day, go back to my Airbnb, and get a solid 4 hour nap in. Everyone else who arrived after me had to wait around all the next day. When I teed off at 12:30 there was someone in the group in front of me who arrived around midnight...I felt bad for the guy knowing he wasn't operating on the same amount of sleep I was, but at least he got out.

 

You're not going to get much sleep between your excitement, the heaters which are brighter than 1,000 suns, and the mood and conversational camaraderie of everyone in line. If you do its not going to last very long. I even brought pillows, a couple blankets, and a sleeping bag and couldn't get a wink in. If you're someone who needs a good night's rest to function, I'd advise getting there as early as possible so you can book a guaranteed time when they open the next day so you can get a nap and come back rested and refreshed.

 

All that said, from the moment I started waiting in line until I putted out on 18 (and finished a pint at Dunvegan), it was the best 24 hours of golf of my life.

 

 

[Lefty Canuck]

Thank you very much for the information, keeping my fingers crossed that I will get on. 

[Chanceman]

On 1/16/2024 at 2:17 AM, italianstallion said:

The day before I played in July 2023 I showed up at 6:00PM to check out the queue and found 9 other people in line. I got in line, two people ahead of me left, and ended up being the last in line to get out the next day with a guaranteed time. I still had to camp out overnight, but when 6:00am rolled around I was able to book a time for later that day, go back to my Airbnb, and get a solid 4 hour nap in. Everyone else who arrived after me had to wait around all the next day. When I teed off at 12:30 there was someone in the group in front of me who arrived around midnight...I felt bad for the guy knowing he wasn't operating on the same amount of sleep I was, but at least he got out.

 

You're not going to get much sleep between your excitement, the heaters which are brighter than 1,000 suns, and the mood and conversational camaraderie of everyone in line. If you do its not going to last very long. I even brought pillows, a couple blankets, and a sleeping bag and couldn't get a wink in. If you're someone who needs a good night's rest to function, I'd advise getting there as early as possible so you can book a guaranteed time when they open the next day so you can get a nap and come back rested and refreshed.

 

All that said, from the moment I started waiting in line until I putted out on 18 (and finished a pint at Dunvegan), it was the best 24 hours of golf of my life.

 

 

Wonderful stuff. There is certainly something magical about St Andrews. It is bucket list item #1 for a golfer.

[Schley]

You can totally control whether you get on or not by when you queue, it is one of the great democratizations in golf. Anyone can get on almost any day they want, just show up early enough.  Did it twice myself and didn't sleep much of course, but who remembers that?

[sheppick.dan]

What’s the likely hood of a twosome getting on through the que at the same time?

[hammergolf]

21 minutes ago, sheppick.dan said:

What’s the likely hood of a twosome getting on through the que at the same time?

Very good if you are the first two in line. You can ask the starter if there is a time with two slots open. If you’re the first ones to ask for it, it’s yours.

[sheppick.dan]

9 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

Very good if you are the first two in line. You can ask the starter if there is a time with two slots open. If you’re the first ones to ask for it, it’s yours.

Great!

 

we plan on getting there around 10 the first night. Earlier the next if we don’t get on the first night!

[somerset]

On 2/10/2024 at 5:00 PM, sheppick.dan said:

What’s the likely hood of a twosome getting on through the que at the same time?

Make sure to show up the day before; the starter will show you the next day's tee sheet. That will give you an idea of how many two-somes are available. When we did the que May '23, there were two foursomes available the following day. We showed up around 10 PM to get in line and got a foursome around noon the following day.