Scotland Trip 2010, getting on the Old Course

dehjr · September 13, 2010

Links to course photos and Google map, info on accommodations

Just returned from 11 days and 14 rounds in Scotland. Three of us went, and planned the trip ourselves, saving several thousand dollars over the tour operators. It was pretty easy to do, and I learned a lot more about the courses and the country doing it myself. We did not use caddies, but they could have been helpful in some places. Definitely buy the "stroke saver" yardage books if you don't take caddies -- many of these courses include them in the price. The courses we played, in rough order of my initial assessment of my enjoyment of playing them, were:

Royal Dornoch, Chamionship -- a great layout with great scenery, great variety, interesting strategic choices, right along the ocean
Kingsbarns -- another great layout with great scenery, right on the ocean -- reminiscent of Pebble (or so they say)
Cruden Bay -- a little quirky, and it was very windy, but a very fun course
Old Course, St Andrews -- got to play it, rating is definitely influenced by the historical nature
North Berwick, West Links -- not the toughest track, but again beautiful scenery, and some interesting quirks (hitting over a stone wall right by the green on approach)
Royal Aberdeen -- tough track, it was very windy (35-40 MPH) and forget about finding your ball if you miss the fairway by much. But very nice
Brora -- not a tough course, but interesting -- cows and sheep roam the course, and the greens are protected by electric fenced -- you don't see that often!
Jubilee, St Andrews -- my favorite course that we played at St Andrews, the Old Course history not withstanding. Some interesting holes. More ocean views than other courses there.
Carnoustie -- one you should play, but not my favorite. The back nine seemed like one 425 yd + par 4 after another, and was a bit monotonous. Closing holes are great.
The Dukes -- parkland course owned by Herb Keller (of Whistling Straights). Very nice course, but not what you go to Scotland for, and a bit pricey (110 lbs)
Nairn -- nice course, worth playing if you are in the area, but not worth driving out of your way for. We played this the same day we played Brora. There's a second course here called Nairn Dunbar that is supposed to be almost as good (according to the locals) and less expensive. There's also a discount card that covers this and some of the other courses in the area that would be worth it if you are playing more than one.
New Course, St Andrews -- Solid course, worth playing if you are in St Andrews anyway. Supposed to be the hardest of the SA courses. But a bit boring compared to the others
Edens Course, St Andrews -- easy, open course. a few interesting holes. We played this when we got off the plane and it was a good warm-up
Royal Dornoch, Struie Course -- another easy, open, unremarkable course, but you can play it for 15 lbs if you are also playing the Championship course

You can see pictures that I took of these courses at golf photos (dhouggy.fotki.com). You can get see a Google Map that I made of these and other courses, along with the places we stayed at Scotland Golf Map (http://maps.google.c...dd8bfcb2226&z=7). The places we stayed were:

St Andrews (5 nights) -- 11 Queens Gardens (Jenny, proprietor) -- highly recommended. Very friendly and helpful (she entered us in the ballot each day) and fantastic breakfast. Great location near restaurants and the Tescos, and walkable to the courses
Cruden Bay (2 nights) -- Kilmarnock Arms -- recommended. Helpful (laundry 5 lbs/load) and good food
Nairn (1 night) -- Braeval Hotel -- recommended. Right in town
Dornoch (2 nights) -- Auchlea House (Fiona, proprietor) -- recommended. A modern house outside of town. Friendly and helpful, but not especially hip or full of character
Edinburgh (1 night) -- Apex City Hotel, Grassmarket -- great location (across from the castle and near lots of restaurants), but small rooms. Functional.

Getting on the Old Course
The SA Links and Trust website has info about getting on the Old Course -- write 12-15 months in advance (didn't do that), enter the daily ballot (tried that) or walk on (success!). I couldn't find much detailed info about the last process anywhere, so here's how it works.

We tried the daily ballot four days in a row, and didn't get on. Our hostess says this was very unusual. Part of the issue was that the R&A was holding qualifiers for a Medal event the next week, so had taken more slots than usual. They usually get the slots from 9 to 10:30 each day (or so), but also had a block in the afternoon for a few hours each day. Also, there were 3 of us, which I think is an awkward number, and probably the more you have the harder it is (you can't enter the ballot as a single). The two-some we eventually played with had arrived the day before and gotten on through the ballot -- so it is possible. So, on the last day, a Saturday, we decided to try the early-morning walk-on. This wasn't as painful as it might sound, and is definitely worth it if you don't otherwise get on.

When the daily ballot times are released (at 4PM for the following day's times), you can see how many open slots there are. The R&A times just show up as a block without names. Supposedly the starter will also put walk-ons in with those players if the players are willing to accommodate them. I'm not sure if this actually happened. Also, someone in line said that the day before they had released three more flights (foursomes) at the end of the day after the official "dark" time -- these people still were able to finish just as darkness was closing in. For the Saturday that we were trying to get on, there were 26 open slots on the ballot sheet. The ballot sheet is posted both on-line the day before and at the starters shack in the morning.

We got to the starter house at 5:30 am. The line forms at the starter house to the left of the R&A Clubhouse (behind the 1st tee) as you are facing the clubhouse. We were numbers 23, 24 and 25 in line, so we figured we'd just get on in the late afternoon. Supposedly people start arriving at 4 or so, so if you really want to get on, get there by then, depending on how many open slots there are. At 6:30 AM the starter shows up and starts checking people in. He will take your name and check your handicap documents. They will check! There was a group of 8 Japanese tourists in front of us who were turned away, we think because they didn't have handicap cards. Sucks for them, but this moved us up the list and got us out before noon instead of at the end of the day. I had a Chicago District Golf Association card with a current handicap rating sticker on the back and this was fine. One of our group had a printout of the GHIN website showing his stats -- this was also fine. I think you could show them anything official-looking and you'd probably be OK (i.e., you could fabricate somethings ) but I wouldn't leave it to chance. Anyway, the starter puts you on the list in order that you were in line, and will either tell you to stick around, or tell you to come back after noon or so. Once you are on the list, you don't lose your position for that day. So if you get on with a low number, you can go play another course and come back, and if your name had come up, the starter will have skipped over you but left you at the top of the list. When you come back, you are first out. Two people ahead of us got their name on the list then went to play Kingsbarns and came back to play in the afternoon. I'd check with the starter to make sure this is OK, but it seems to work. This is good, because you don't have to stand there all day if you're not going to get out until, say, 3 PM.

We got on the list and were told to hang around, in case some of the ballot people or R&A members didn't show. We asked if it was OK if we went to the range (by the Eden clubhouse) for an hour and a half and them came back, and the starter said that was fine. At this point, if you want a caddy, you should also put the request into the caddymaster (at the caddy shack behind the practice green). They'll try to accommodate you, but when we were there they were scraping the bottom of the barrel. One of our group played with some people who had caddies, and the quality of the caddy's wasn't great (reading puts the wrong direction, not forecaddying off the tee, etc.). They don't release trolleys (pull carts) before noon normally, but since they didn't have enough caddies, they let trolleys go out before noon on this day -- this was good as it saved my back. They seem reasonable to deal with in general, so worth asking if you want a trolley even if it's before noon. You get your trolley from the caddymaster also, a few minutes before you tee off -- 4 pounds.

So we went to the range, and came back around 8:30 or 9. Waited on the benches, practiced putting, talked to others waiting, and watched people teeing off -- very entertaining in some cases, and it's comforting to know that people are hooking and shanking balls off the first tee ahead of you! Around 10:30 the starter called us over to work out a tee time. He had a single at 11 am and a two-some at 11:40 am -- perfect! So then we were locked in, and good to go.

Overall, they try to make the process as transparent and painless as possible. They do their best to get as many people on as they can. The people in line were very civilized and honest. No fighting or pushing, once you got there and established who you were in line after, you could leave for a few minutes to putt or go to the bathroom. Rumor is that one guy once tried to bribe the starter to get a better position in line. The starter asked for his handicap card, then told him he was going to report him to his home club and banned him from playing any of the St Andrews courses. Not sure if that's true, but I'd believe it.

We knew there was a chance we wouldn't get on at the Old Course without a guaranteed tee time. But is wasn't worth the $1000 or so that you end up paying a tour operator for a guaranteed tee time, and the walk-on process was pretty easy. If you're going, take your handicap card and give it a try -- it's only one morning that you have to get up early.

falken19150 · September 13, 2010

Wow. Incredible pics and thanks for the information.

wtoomey · September 28, 2010

So I am still in Scotland, Edinburgh right now, and I too felt obligated to give some first hand info on how to play the Old Course.

I was a single golfer and the ballot was not an option. I figure if you can make friends with another single at the pub or at your guest house you might try the ballot.

The key to walking on is checking the ballot the day before, Saturday for Monday. There is no golf on the Old Course on Sunday. You can play the other courses, but not the Old. Even better though is the fact that the Old is open as a park. You can walk the course right down the fairway and take pictures all over the place.

Anyway, back to walkin on...check to see how many spots are open on the ballot. On Monday there were only FIVE open spots for the entire day. I knew that getting to the front of the line was key. I had an early dinner, got into bed early and couldn't fall asleep. The idea of playing the Old Course had me tossing and turning. I had my alarm set for 4am. At 3:15 my body had enough, I was awake and heading out.

When I got to the starter shack I found out there was only one other guy crazier than me, my new friend Brad, for the record he got there at 2:30 am. Only ten minutes after me came the slow trickle of golfers from around the world. It was a casual process we just let the next person who came up what number they were. People took little strolls to explore the immediate area, but no one took off to get food or go back to sleep (there is nothing open around the course until 6:30-7:00). By 5:00 the line was at 25. Remeber there were only five open spots.

First tee time was at 7:30. The starter got there at 7:00 and opened for business. You gave your name and proof of handicap (yes they check). We, Brad and I, had to rent clubs. We hustled to the Links clubhouse, about two holes down the course, and rented clubs. You don't have much of a choice in clubs, but who cares I was going to play the Old Course. By the time we got back to shack our names had already been called. We walked up and payed the starter the greens fees. We had the 7:40 tee time, second off on the course!

We didn't get much of a warm up, didn't get to putt a few times or hit a bucket of balls, and of course didn't have much sleep, but who cares when you are playing the Old Course without paying through nose to a tour operator.

It was awsome. I had a blast. Brad and I became friend sharing this event.

As for the "R&A" times on the ballot...they used some of them and gave some back to the public. You can try to walk on as a pair, I saw one couple succeed with that. And the cool part is that the starter will take your info and then give you a time to come back and check to see if you are going to make it on. In the end I think that up to number 10 made it on what everyone in St. Andrews called the busiest day they had seen since the weeks surrounding The Open.

I loved the town and the entire expirence. If anyone has any specific questions send me a PM and I'll be happy to help. This was one of those life experiences I loved and would be happy to make a reality for others

Bill: #2 in line on Monday, Septmeber 27, 2010.

Pictures once I get home.