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Old Course, St Andrews

St Andrews, Scotland

Capacity: 35000

Golf

Complete venue guide for sports travelers — capacity, transportation, hotels, and match day tips for your trip to St Andrews.

Old Course, St Andrews in St Andrews — seating, transport and Scotland sports travel venue guide

Venue Overview

The Old Course at St Andrews Links, universally known simply as the Old Course, is the Home of Golf — the oldest, most revered, most photographed, and most culturally significant golf course on Earth, and the spiritual, architectural, and rule-making home of the Royal and Ancient Game. Golf has been played over the dunes, scrub, gorse, burns, and beach grass of St Andrews Links since at least the early 1400s, with the first written record of the town's love of the game appearing in a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament banning golf because it was distracting young men from mandatory archery practice. The current 18-hole par-72 links routing, which plays 7,313 yards from the championship tees and 6,721 from the everyday white tees, is defined by seven shared double greens, the legendary Swilcan Burn crossing the fairways on the 1st and 18th holes, the infamous Hell Bunker on the par-5 14th, the Railway Sheds and the Road Bunker guarding the approach to the par-4 17th Road Hole, the Valley of Sin chipping hollow in front of the 18th green, the iconic white facade of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews clubhouse anchoring the 18th green, and the seaside breeze off the North Sea that makes the Old Course play three to six clubs longer on any given afternoon even in mid-summer. The Open Championship, the oldest of golf's four men's major championships, has been hosted at St Andrews 30 times since the first professional Open at Prestwick in 1860, crowning legends including Old Tom Morris, Young Tom Morris, J.H. Taylor, James Braid, Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Peter Thomson, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson, and, most recently, Cameron Smith at the 150th Open in 2022.

The Old Course at St Andrews is the oldest continuously played golf course in the world. Its 18-hole routing was formally fixed by Act of the St Andrews Town Council in 1764 (reduced from 22 holes), with Old Tom Morris extending the 1st and 18th fairways, adding the current greensite on the Road Hole 17th, and establishing the iconic double greens shared across each outward and inward nine hole pairing. The 2015 Hawtree restoration returned 112 original revetted bunkers to their traditional shapes after a decade of modern tournament lengthening.

Location & Capacity

Capacity 35000
City St Andrews
Country Scotland
Opened 1552
Architect Natural links terrain; formal routing shaped by Old Tom Morris (1865-1873), Allan Robertson (1842-1858), Martin Hawtree (2015 bunker restoration)
Sports Golf

The Old Course sits at the northern end of the town of St Andrews, a compact coastal university market town in the Kingdom of Fife on the east coast of Scotland, roughly 50 miles north of Edinburgh and 90 miles northeast of Glasgow. The official postal address of the St Andrews Links Trust headquarters is Pilmour House, St Andrews KY16 9SF, with the Links Clubhouse and the Old Course first tee located directly behind it on The Links road that runs parallel to the West Sands beach. The main pedestrian entrance is via the historic Links Gateway arch beside the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse and the British Golf Museum, a five-minute walk south from the center of St Andrews on Market Street and the Scores. Edinburgh Airport (EDI) is the nearest major international gateway, a 1 hour 20 minute drive south across the Forth Road Bridge. Dundee Airport (DND) is 21 miles northeast and handles regional services to London City and Belfast. Leuchars (pronounced 'Look-ers') railway station is 6 miles from the center of St Andrews and receives hourly ScotRail services from Edinburgh Waverley in 1 hour 15 minutes, followed by a short local taxi or bus ride into town. The immediate neighborhood around the Old Course is dominated by five-star luxury hotels, Georgian townhouse guesthouses, the St Andrews University hall of residence buildings, historic stone ruins of the town's 12th-century cathedral and castle, and a handful of public car parks that fill to capacity by 8 a.m. every day from May through September.

Event History

The Open Championship, the oldest men's major golf championship in professional golf, was first played in 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland, over three rounds of the 12-hole links course. The R&A took over co-staging duties of the Championship in 1873, and the Old Course at St Andrews hosted its first Open Championship the same year with Tom Kidd winning the Challenge Belt after a 36-hole playoff. The Old Course has since hosted 30 Open Championships (as of the 150th Open in 2022), more than any other venue on the current Open rota. Memorable St Andrews Opens include Bobby Jones completing the Grand Slam at the 1930 Amateur Championship and then retiring from competitive golf by lifting the Claret Jug at the 1930 Open at St Andrews; Jack Nicklaus claiming his historic 18th and final major at the 1978 Open; Seve Ballesteros holding off the field with a magic two-iron into the 18th at the 1984 Open; Tiger Woods winning his first Open and the second leg of the 2000 Tiger Slam by eight shots with a 19-under total of 269; Jack Nicklaus's emotional farewell across the Swilcan Bridge at the 2005 Open; and Cameron Smith shooting a final-round 64 at the 150th Open in 2022 to edge out Cameron Young and Rory McIlroy by one stroke and etch his name on the most famous trophy in golf. The 155th Open Championship returns to the Old Course at St Andrews in July 2027, the fifth championship hosted in St Andrews since the turn of the century.

Where to Sit: Seating Guide

Spectator seating for The Open Championship at the Old Course is organized around six primary grandstands, dozens of themed hospitality enclosures, and miles of roped-off gallery walking routes that follow the fairway ropes. Grandstand A runs the full length of the 18th green with direct views of the Swilcan Bridge approach, the 18th green, the 1st tee grandstand, and the R&A clubhouse. Grandstand B wraps around the 17th Road Hole green and Road Bunker, the most popular grandstand on the course for sheer championship drama. Grandstand C sits behind the 16th green and overlooks the long par-3 11th play-across tee, offering views of two simultaneous holes. Grandstand D is positioned at the 9th green and 10th tee shared double green at the far end of the course, while Grandstand E covers the par-5 14th approach and the infamous Hell Bunker. Hospitality suites include the Claret Jug Pavilion behind the 1st tee, the Swilcan Pavilion, the Champions Club beside the 18th green, and the 155th Open Clubhouse on the grounds of the old St Andrews Links Clubhouse. General admission gallery tickets provide access to all walking routes along every fairway rope line, the British Golf Museum viewing terrace, and the Tented Village merchandise and food halls behind the 1st tee.

Premium Seats

The Champions Club and the Claret Jug Pavilion hospitality packages are the two top premium ticket categories at a St Andrews Open. Champions Club offers fine dining with paired wines, access to a private enclosed grandstand behind the 18th green, on-course transportation buggy service, a welcome gift pack, and a reserved balcony spot for the official trophy presentation. Claret Jug Pavilion offers similar amenities but overlooks the 1st tee, with guaranteed front-row seats for each day's opening tee shots.

Best Views

Grandstand B along the 17th Road Hole delivers the most consistent drama: every contender in the field must clear the Old Course Hotel, avoid the out-of-bounds railway sheds on the right, and carry the Road Bunker guarding the front of the green. Grandstand A at the 18th green offers the iconic finish, the Champion's trophy ceremony, and unobstructed views of every player's walk across the Swilcan Bridge.

Best Value

General admission gallery tickets (sometimes called Grounds or Practice Day tickets) are the most affordable entry to The Open, granting full access to the entire walking rope line, the Tented Village merchandise halls, all food and beverage outlets, the British Golf Museum viewing terrace, and the north grandstand standing-room viewing platforms along the 9th green.

Getting to Old Course, St Andrews

Edinburgh Airport Private Transfer

Most international visitors travelling to St Andrews for The Open fly into Edinburgh Airport (EDI) and pre-book a private sedan or estate transfer for the 72-mile drive north across the Forth Road Bridge and the M90 motorway. Journey time runs 1 hour 20 minutes in light traffic and 2 hours during Friday evening rush hour or on Open Championship Saturday, with typical advance fares between 110 and 160 GBP one-way depending on vehicle size.

Leuchars Railway Station + St Andrews Stagecoach Bus 99

ScotRail operates hourly direct services between Edinburgh Waverley and Leuchars, the nearest station to St Andrews, in roughly 1 hour 10 minutes. From Leuchars station forecourt, Stagecoach East Scotland Bus 99 runs a frequent 10-minute local service to St Andrews Bus Station, a 3-minute walk from the Old Course first tee, at 5.20 GBP single per adult or 9.50 GBP same-day return.

The Open 2027 Official Park & Ride

For The Open Championship, the R&A operates two 8,000-space park-and-ride sites for general admission ticketholders — one on the eastern edge of Cupar five miles inland on the A91 and one at Elmwood College campus on the south side of St Andrews. Fully accessible shuttle buses run every 5 minutes from 6 a.m. through 9 p.m. and drop off at the dedicated Grandstand Gate on the 16th hole side of the Old Course.

St Andrews Coastal Walkway from City Centre

For day trippers staying in central St Andrews bed and breakfasts or university accommodation, the most scenic walk to the Old Course follows the 0.7-mile pedestrian coastal path along the Scores from St Andrews Cathedral past the Castle ruins, the East Sands beach, the St Andrews Aquarium, and the R&A clubhouse, ending directly beside the 18th green grandstand entrances for The Open.

Parking

Public parking in the town of St Andrews itself is extremely limited for The Open week and almost entirely restricted to local residents with parking permits. The R&A operates two official park-and-ride sites for general admission ticketholders during the Championship: the Cupar site on the A91 five miles west of St Andrews, and the Elmwood College south site on the edge of town. Both park-and-ride lots charge 20 GBP per car per day when booked in advance, or 30 GBP on the day of arrival, with fully accessible shuttle buses running to the 16th hole grandstand gate every five minutes from 6 a.m. until two hours after play finishes each day. Official accessible blue-badge parking is available in a dedicated section of the north car park behind Pilmour House, but must be booked in advance through the R&A ticketing website and is allocated on a priority basis. Privately operated overflow parking is also available on farmland around the town, generally at 15 to 25 GBP per car, with walk times ranging from 10 to 30 minutes to the nearest spectator entrances.

Match Day Experience

A final-round Sunday at The Open on the Old Course at St Andrews moves with a slow, reverent rhythm that feels less like a modern sports event and more like a royal procession across 600 years of Scottish golfing history. Spectators start queueing at the Grandstand Gate from 5:30 a.m. for the 7:30 a.m. first tee times, and the first 1,000 gallery members through the gate each morning traditionally rush for the prime rope-line positions along the 1st fairway and the 17th Road Hole. The field plays off two tees for the first two days of the championship (1st and 10th) before reverting to a single 1st tee start for the weekend, and each two- or three-ball takes roughly 4 hours 45 minutes to complete the 18-hole round. The mid-day sun lifts the mist off the North Sea, the coastal breeze builds through the afternoon, and as the final pairing reaches the 16th tee around 6:30 p.m. the entire 40,000-strong gallery converges along the ropes of the 17th and 18th holes, ten-deep in places, to watch the final group cross the Swilcan Bridge and play up to the 18th green. The trophy presentation on the 18th green, in front of the R&A clubhouse with the Claret Jug handed over by the R&A Captain, is followed by the new Champion Golfer of the Year walking alone with the Jug back across the Swilcan Bridge and up the 18th fairway towards the media centre and the Champions Club dinner — a simple, iconic closing ritual that has remained largely unchanged since Bobby Jones retired here in 1930.

Match Day Timeline

  1. 05:30 a.m.

    Grandstand Gate Queue Begins

    Spectators begin lining up at the 16th Hole Grandstand Gate from 5:30 a.m. on Championship Sunday. Coffee kiosks and breakfast rolls are already available for purchase at the Tented Village entrances from 5 a.m.

  2. 07:30 a.m.

    First Final Round Tee Time

    The final round of The Open uses a standard single-tee start from the 1st hole, with pairings going off in reverse order of the 54-hole leaderboard every 9 minutes starting at 7:30 a.m. and the lead group teeing off at roughly 2:10 p.m.

  3. 01:00 p.m.

    Moving Day Gallery Converges on Back Nine

    By early afternoon the gallery flows have shifted almost entirely to the back nine holes, with the 17th Road Hole and 18th green rope lines already five and six deep with spectators staking out spots for the final groups.

  4. 06:45 p.m.

    Final Group on the 18th Green

    The final pairing walks across the Swilcan Bridge at roughly 6:35 p.m. and reaches the 18th green approximately 15 minutes later. The R&A holds a 2-minute silence before the final putt is struck to decide the Open champion.

  5. 07:15 p.m.

    Claret Jug Trophy Presentation

    The new Champion Golfer of the Year receives the Claret Jug from the Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club on a temporary stage behind the 18th green, then walks alone across the Swilcan Bridge with the Jug before attending the Champions Dinner at the R&A Clubhouse that evening.

Food & Drink

The Open Championship Tented Village Food Halls

The R&A-operated tented village behind the 1st tee hosts 14 Scottish and British food vendors for every Open, including fresh Arbroath smokies from the Anstruther Fish Bar, Stornoway black pudding stacks, Perthshire-raised haggis bon bons, shortbread biscuits from the Shortbread House of Edinburgh, Highland venison burgers, hand-cut Ayrshire bacon rolls, and craft draught beer from Edinburgh's Stewart Brewing Co.

Rusacks Hotel 18th Terrace Champagne Bar

The rooftop viewing terrace of the Rusacks Hotel overlooking the 18th green and the R&A Clubhouse operates a champagne and shellfish bar during The Open, serving Laurent-Perrier Brut magnums, Lindisfarne oysters, dressed Cromer crab, and smoked salmon blinis while offering premium standing-room views of the final approach on every group in the field.

Jigger Inn Pub at Old Course Hotel

The famously historic Jigger Inn public house dating back to 1852 on the grounds of the Old Course Hotel, directly adjacent to the 17th Road Hole tee box, serves fish and chips, cask ale, stovies, Cullen skink, homemade steak pies, and an open turf fire patio where players, caddies, and spectators mingle after the Open evening finishes.

Nearby Hotels

Places to stay within easy reach of Old Course, St Andrews. We may earn a small commission when you book through our links.

Old Course Hotel St Andrews

The iconic five-star Old Course Hotel overlooking the 17th Road Hole and the 18th fairway of the Old Course itself, with 144 guest rooms, the Road Hole rooftop bar with panoramic Old Course and North Sea views, the Kohler Waters Spa, two on-site restaurants, and direct privileged access to the Old Course first tee advanced tee time ballot for booked hotel guests.

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Rusacks St Andrews Hotel

Four-star luxury Rusacks St Andrews perched directly above the 18th green with a rooftop beer garden and open-air viewing terrace during The Open, offering three-night minimum championship packages including a dedicated Open Championship concierge desk, early morning rounds on the Balgove Links or New Course, and a complimentary club storage room.

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Premier Inn St Andrews Town Centre

Affordable chain-operated Premier Inn on Market Street in the center of St Andrews, a 10-minute walk from the Old Course and St Andrews Bus Station. Rooms sleep up to two adults and two children and include a full breakfast buffet on championship mornings, making it the most popular mid-range option for golfers on a tighter Open week budget.

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What's Nearby

The town of St Andrews itself is a 30-minute walk end-to-end and is rich with medieval, academic, and golf history long before you set foot on the Old Course. St Andrews Cathedral, a ruin dating back to 1158, was once the largest church in medieval Scotland and is the burial place of dozens of Bishops of St Andrews and the religious heart of the town. St Andrews Castle, perched on the rocky cliffs above the North Sea beside the West Sands, was the residence of the Bishops of St Andrews for five centuries and houses a visitor centre with a guided tour through the castle's famous siege mine and countermine tunnels. St Andrews University, founded in 1413, is the third oldest university in the English-speaking world and the alma mater of Prince William and Catherine Middleton; its St Salvator's Chapel, St Mary's College quadrangle, and the famous 'Sallies Quad' lawn are all open to visitors. The St Andrews Botanic Garden, the British Golf Museum, the Fisheries Museum of the East Neuk of Fife, and the Crail and Anstruther fishing villages are all a short 10 to 20 minute drive or local bus ride outside of St Andrews town centre. The wider Kingdom of Fife also features several other top-100 UK golf courses including Kingsbarns, the Duke's Course, St Andrews Bay (Torrance Course), Crail Balcomie Links, Lundin Links, Ladybank Golf Club, and the Balgove and New courses run by the St Andrews Links Trust, all of which are accessible by car or the local Stagecoach East Scotland bus network and are crowded to capacity throughout the weeks of The Open each year.

Match Day Tips

  1. For The Open Championship, arrive through the Grandstand Gate beside the 16th hole rather than the main Links arch entrance, which is reserved for members and Open hospitality guests. Grandstand Gate opens at 6 a.m. each day of the tournament and the R&A recommends arriving no later than 9 a.m. for Thursday and Friday opening tee times and no later than 7:30 a.m. for the weekend rounds.
  2. Wear layered waterproof clothing, trail shoes or spiked golf shoes with good grip, a small foldable umbrella, and nothing with wheels larger than a standard golf trolley. The dune slopes around the Old Course get muddy after any rain, and the R&A strictly enforces a no-large-backpacks rule with a 40cm x 30cm x 20cm size limit on all bags.
  3. Book a St Andrews Links caddie at least 8 to 12 weeks in advance for any Old Course tee time, especially if visiting during the Open warm-up weeks. Standard green fee caddie rates are 100 GBP for 18 holes plus a customary 20 to 30 GBP gratuity, and the Links Trust only assigns caddies who have logged a minimum of 1,500 rounds on the Old Course.
  4. The Old Course weekly advanced tee time lottery opens on the St Andrews Links website every Monday 28 days before the round date, and is your best shot at securing a tee time without being a member of a club with reciprocal playing privileges. Same-day 'standby and swap' tee times are also posted on the electronic notice board outside Pilmour House at 2 p.m. every afternoon for the next day.
  5. Cross the Swilcan Bridge on the 18th hole, stop for a photograph, and keep moving. The bridge itself is only 30 feet long and eight feet wide, and marshalls on The Open championship week actively curtail long photo shoots because the entire field plays through the 18th fairway on Sunday afternoon.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get a tee time on the Old Course at St Andrews?

The three most reliable ways are: (1) enter the weekly St Andrews Links advanced ballot on the Monday 28 days before your target date; (2) book an Old Course Hotel or Rusacks Hotel championship stay-and-play package that includes a guaranteed tee time; or (3) arrive in person at Pilmour House by 3:30 p.m. the day before and join the standby swap list for any last-minute cancellations or single-player slots.

What should I wear for The Open at St Andrews?

Layered, waterproof, breathable clothing: a base layer, a mid-layer fleece or jacket, a full waterproof shell top and bottoms, a woolly hat, a foldable umbrella, and comfortable waterproof trail shoes with deep grip. Wind off the North Sea on the Old Course regularly gusts to 30 mph even in mid-July, and rain showers can move in and out in 15 minutes without warning.

Is the Old Course open for general visitors to walk around when it's not The Open?

Yes, the Old Course is open every day (except Christmas Day, New Year's Day, and the days of The Open) for the general public to walk the fairways when the course is closed to play after 6 p.m. each evening and on Sundays, when golf is not traditionally played on the St Andrews Links by local custom.

Where is the best place to stand to watch The Open at St Andrews?

Gallery purists favour the rope line behind the 17th Road Hole green, next to the Road Bunker, because every championship contender must par the 17th on Sunday to stay in contention. The hillside beside the 14th Hell Bunker offers views of long par-5 second shots, and the grandstand at the 18th green delivers the iconic Swilcan Bridge walk view for every pairing.

Can I bring a camera or phone into The Open?

Yes, compact digital cameras and camera phones are permitted for personal, non-commercial photography on all practice days and all four championship rounds. Professional cameras with detachable lenses over 6 inches, tripods, selfie sticks, drones, and any live streaming equipment are strictly prohibited by the R&A spectator code.

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