The Old Course (In) - St. Andrews

After heading out for the first nine holes, you turn around and head back in for the next nine.

Bobby Jones is the name of hole 10, a drivable par 4. At just over 300 yards, you have the option of laying up short of three bunkers on the right edge of the fairway or taking the driver straight at the hole. The tee box is offset to the left of the fairway, which makes the direct line all carry.

There are quite a few humps and hollows around the green, including the false front in the middle.

The view from the left shows how there's an upper and lower tier to the green. The false front is the darker depression to the right side of the photo.

Hole 11, High (In), is a par 3 that plays towards the Eden Estuary. When on the tee, you need to wait for players in the fairway on hole 7 that are playing to the green to the right.

The Strath bunker guards the front pin positions while to the left and hidden a bit by the mound is the Hill bunker. While the green is large, picking the correct club is necessary as the green is deeper directly behind the Strath bunker and narrower to the left and right.

Heathery (In), otherwise known as hole 12, tees off next to the Eden Estuary. It's the closest you'll get to the water on The Old Course.

The hole is a short par 4 of just over 300 yards. All of the danger is hidden as the Stroke bunker is in the dead center of the fairway about 160 yards out. Two other bunkers are further up, just over 200 yards from the tee where the fairway narrows. A lone bunker about 15 yards short of the putting surface protects the front section of the green.

When the pin is back, as it was in this photo, there's a tier about 20 yards deep in the green that needs to be dealt with. However, going too deep can be an issue as another tier falls off to the back.

Hole 13, Hole O'Cross (In), has a tee shot that's not well defined. The visible bunkers are The Coffins, which are just over 200 yards from the tee. There's a high patch of rough narrowing the right side the fairway and the Cat's Trap bunker cuts off the rest of it at around 270 yards. Playing just shot of the Cat's Trap will leave you about 140 yards to the green.

The green is wide and very deep, with the green at well over 60 yards from front to back. This view is from the right of the green, with the Hole O' Cross bunker in the foreground which is almost 30 yards from the front edge.

The second par 5 on the golf course is probably the most famous of the par 5s. The 530 yard Long has Hell Bunker looming on the second shot.

The line off the tee is the church tower, the tallest landmark to the left. If you carry The Beardies, you'll end up in the Elysian Fields. From that point, you have around 200 yards to carry Hell Bunker, which can be seen in the middle of the photo.

Short and right of the pin are more mounds you need to deal with but the green is large and relatively flat.

Cartgate (In), is hole 15. The drive is towards the church steeple in the background, in between the two mounds known as Miss Grainger's bosoms. The Sutherland bunker is to the left and lies in wait for a mishit pulled drive.

The view at the green shows the Cartgate bunker, which guards the pin position for hole 3, Cartgate (out). Once again, the green is rather large, with some undulations that might affect long putts.

Corner of the Dyke, hole 16, plays out towards the Old Course Hotel. The tee shot needs to avoid the Principal's Nose and Deacon Sime bunkers that are 215 to 260 yards away.

The approach also has a few bunkers to avoid, with Grant's and Wig bunkers guarding the left edge of the green.

The green has a big tier about 13 yards from the front edge, and the back of the green blends into the 17th tee. At 42 yards deep, there is plenty of room to avoid the slope if the pin's in back.

The 17th hole is probably the most famous on the course. Your drive needs to be aimed between the Old and Hotel of the Old Course Hotel.

If you pull that off, you'll land in the narrow strip of fairway left of the Road on the Road hole.


The approach needs to avoid the Road Bunker, which looms ominously to the left of the green. Bail out too far right and you'll have the following shot.

While this doesn't look too difficult, the Road Bunker is just beyond the pin.

Behind the green, workers were setting up bleachers for the Dunhill Links tournament. The front part of the 17th green is the safer play, however you'll need to traverse another steep slope while avoiding the looming crevasse.

The home hole is called Tom Morris as he created the green. It's also one of the prettiest tee shots you'll ever hit.

Stop by the Swilcan bridge for the obligatory photo.

Assuming your drive avoids pedestrians and the occasional car on Granny Clark's Wynd, you'll need to hit a precise approach over the Valley of Sin but short of the white OB fence.
The Valley of Sin is deep and wide with the left edge 17 yards from the front.

Back pin positions don't have much room before the OB fence comes into play. There weren't many tourists milling around on the day of my round, but Old Tom Morris's shop and house watched me tap in for a par.

The Old Course is an amazing experience. I'm glad my wife and I had a chance to make the pilgrimage and spend a few days in St. Andrews.

The Old Course - St. Andrews, Scotland (Out)

St. Andrews is a magical place. It has the ruins of St. Andrews Castle, which is set along the sea. Be sure to visit and see the mines dug by invaders and the counter mines, which were dug by the defenders. There's also the St. Andrews Cathedral, which is also in ruins, but has a graveyard filled with famous golfing names like Open Champion and St. Andrews native Willie Auchterlonie, and Old and Young Tom Morris. Some pay tribute to Old Tom Morris by leaving flowers or golf tees at his grave. You can also visit his house in St. Andrews proper, or his place of work, the Old Course. The R&A clubhouse sits directly behind the first tee. To the left, inside the green fencing is the putting green with the starter shack at the edge of the photo. As a single, I couldn't make a tee time but with the economy in a recession, open slots on the starter sheet were prevalent. When I showed up early in the morning, there were no open slots, however, by 9 am, an R&A four ball canceled, allowing me and a father and son to tee off. Some have said that the opening tee shot at the Old Course is the scariest in the world, with the public milling around. But if you play early in the morning on a weekday, with no one around except the starter, the tee shot isn't nearly as nerve wracking. With 100 yards of width and closely mown grass for 255 yards, it's a fairway even an Australian can hit (unless you're named Ian), although my drive ended up dangerously close to the Swilcan burn, which the hole is named after. The fairway is as flat as Kansas (which is actually been proven to be flatter than a pancake), with little to define the hole except the OB fence on the right and the Old Course Hotel in the background. Going far right or left brings the burn into play if you hit a driver. The view is a bit more intimidating from the edges as you'll hit your approach essentially along the length of the burn as it runs curves to the front edge of the green. This is the view of the first green from the second tee. It's from the right front corner and you can see the Road Hole bunker and the flagstick for the 17th in the background. The green is pretty flat in the front but much more sloped towards the back. As there's the burn short, your challenge is avoiding the water with front pin positions and for back pin positions, your approach is easier but your putt will be much more difficult. There's an additional 33 yards of putting surface behind the flag (and this is one of only three non-double greens) which gives you an idea of the size of the greens at the Old Course. While the opening hole is iconic, the second hole "Dyke", really is emblematic of the soul of the Old Course. Your tee shot is ill defined on this 400 yard hole, with the middle of the right rough being the ideal line. Hugging the right side of the fairway provides the best angle to the green but requires the most faith on the drive. Staying right also avoids the Cheape's bunker, which is blind from the tee and pretty close to the Old Course Hotel. The green is not particularly deep but is very wide. The mounds on the left are at the front of the green, which sounds particularly difficult, except that you're coming in with a short iron. Miss too far left, and you'll need to putt over a ridge. Hole 3, Cartgate (out), is a short par 4. The target line is down the path with a couple of bunkers about 200 yards right if push your shot. The Principal's Nose bunkers are far left and 170 yards out so they only come into play on the 16th hole. The fairway is bit more rumpled and your approach needs to miss the large Cartgate bunker left of the green. Two bunkers sit far right and short of the green but they're merely adornments. The bumps and hollows immediately to the front and right of the green will affect the player who gives too much respect to the Cartgate bunker. The putting surface is 50 yards deep, with more undulations at the back. Hole 4, Ginger Beer, is a longer par 4 with a good deal of blindness. The safest shot is to go left over the mounds, although the Sutherland and Cottage bunkers are hidden out there. The better angle to the green is to the right, which requires you to challenge the gorse. A big bunker left of the green is partially hidden and defines the left portion of the 4th green. A mound sits in front of the green and affects the approach shots. The green is fairly deep and rumpled. Hole 5 is the first of two par 5s. Hole O'Cross (Out) plays at just over 500 yards. Less renowned than the other par 5, Long, which runs directly to the left of this hole, your drive needs to be played a bit left of the gorse to avoid some pot bunkers on the right. The three closer bunkers start at 215 yards from the tee and two farther back are 255 to reach. The fairway is pretty wide up to the second set then quickly narrows. If you find this narrow stretch of fairway, you're in range to go at the green in two. The Spectacles (no, not the ones found on Carnoustie) are in the background and are 50 yards short of the putting surface. Three bunkers sit short left of the green. They're not really close to the surface, which is 85 yards deep. I wonder if anyone in the recorded history of golf has ever flown this green. Even a skulled wedge probably doesn't have enough carry to reach the back edge. Either you love it or you hate it. Hole 6, Heathery (out), is a shorter par 4 that has double blindness on the tee shot. The line is blind although there's a white pole to guide your way. The landing area is flanked by bunkers right and left. These are the right side bunkers and they extend to about 230 yards from the tee. On the left side are the Coffins. These are the two furthest of the three that can be death to making par. Also potentially harmful to your par chances is the putting surface. There's yet another mound before the putting surface and the first 11 yards are part of a false front. Short left also drops off and there's a mound back right that can be used to attack back right pin positions. The steepness of the false front is evident in this view of the green. Hole 7, High (out), is another tee shot with blindness. A caddy/ranger was near the tee box helping people with their lines and to also let people know when to hit as this is the first of the crossover holes (#11 tee is right of the gorse to the right and plays to the left half of the green). He told me to go further left with my tee shot to avoid the Shell bunker. I hit it on the line recommended, asked if that was ok, and he looked a little uncertain. The big bunker on the right is the Shell bunker. The Shell is about 285 to reach, and the Hill bunker, which is at the far left of the photo, is where my drive ended up. The Hill bunker is on the far left of the 11th green, which made my bunker shot about 60 yards. This is the view from my ball with the white flag as the pin. My second blast out of the bunker left me with a 100 foot par putt. While I two putted for bogey, I guess it was good that pin position wasn't further right. There was another 20 or so yards to go before the back right edge of the green. The Old Course is a bit of a right brain golf course. If you're methodical and aim left on every drive, you'll be fine as the trouble is almost always right. Also, if you look at the course map, you'll see a mirror image with 1 & 18, 2 & 17, 3 & 16, 4 & 15, 6 & 13, 7 & 12, and 9 & 10 as par 4s. The only two par 5s are 5 & 14 which leaves numbers 8 and 11 as the par 3s. The first of the par 3s is called Short, so named for the length of the hole as well as the Short Hole bunker that sits short of the hole. The pin position I faced had was directly behind the Short Hole bunker, which is raised and looms rather ominously. I smartly laid up short (okay, I chunked it), then wedged to about 5 feet for my easy par. But as you can see, the hole was actually about 20 yards deep on the green (the tee shot comes from the right), with about another 30 yards to reach the back which meant that you didn't have to flirt with the bunker to get it close. The green is also pretty flat, which means you have a good chance of sinking a 30-footer for birdie. This is the End, a drivable par 4. The two bunkers in the middle of the fairway are about 240 to carry. Kruger and Mrs. Kruger are also on this hole, but are pretty much hidden (Kreuger flanks the walking path to the fairway and Mrs. Kruger lies waiting to the left about 160 yards out). The two bunkers in the fairway, Boase's in the foreground and End Hole in back, forces you to decide to either challenge them with a driver or lay back with an iron. My playing partner split the fairway but came dangerously close to finding the sand. I, being the stupid American, pulled out the driver and ended up pin high, 25 feet away earning a round of applause from the group waiting on the 10th tee box. My eagle putt burned the edge, but I picked up my second, and final birdie, of the round. Once again, the green was very flat, which makes putting easier. After playing a quick outward nine, in probably around 1.5 hours, we stopped by the drink stand as we waited for the 10th fairway and green to clear. The delay unfortunately was a sign to come as the inward nine took a lot longer and we were waiting on every shot from this point onward.