Is the Old Course at St Andrews, to adopt the title of this guide, ‘the best links in the British Isles’? Is it the finest course in the world? Those who rank golf courses must consider the claims of St Andrews more than any other. The reason is simple enough: St Andrews is the mother of all golf courses. It is the oldest links in the world – golf was being played there long before Christopher Columbus discovered America.
It is a mother in another sense. Historically, spiritually and architecturally, every golf course owes something, if not its very existence, to the Old Course at St Andrews. To a degree, it has inspired and influenced every course that has ever been built. So while there may be more beautiful courses, more difficult ones, and some that are deemed more interesting, or more stimulating to play, is there really a greater course than St Andrews?
St Andrews is incomparable.
It is often suggested that a good test of a golf course’s quality is the extent to which, after the first time of playing, you are able to remember each hole. This is not so easy at St Andrews given that the first time you visit the Old Course you are likely to be so overwhelmed by the sense of history that you play the links in a semi-trance. You will probably recall the outstanding features of the layout – the huge double greens, the myriad pot bunkers, the Swilcan Burn etc. – but with the exception of the 1st, the 17th and the 18th, it may prove difficult to recall or distinguish individual holes.
The 17th at St Andrews is perhaps the most famous and most feared par four in golf. ‘It’s never over’, commentators always remark, ‘until the Road Hole has been successfully negotiated.’

DIRECTIONS
From Edinburgh and the south:
Travel north on the M90 over the Forth Bridge. Leave the motorway at junction 3 and follow the A92 to its junction with the A914 north of Glenrothes. Take the A914 to the next roundabout, turn right and continue on the A91 through Cupar to St Andrews.
From Perth and the North: Travel south on the M90 and exit at junction 7. Drive through Milnathort and continue on the A91 through Auchtermuchty and Cuper to St Andrews.

		St Andrews (Old Course) is just one of the courses detailed in Golfing Guides of Britain& Ireland to order this book click here

		Accommodation near this course
	St Andrews Old Course Hotel Old Station Road, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SP Tel: 01334 474371 Email: sales@oldcoursehotel.co.uk Web: www.oldcoursehotel.co.uk
	Rusacks Hotel Rusacks Hotel, Pilmour Links, St Andrews KY16 9JQ Tel: 01334 474321 Fax: 01334 477896 Email: Web:
	Old Course Hotel Resort Reservations, Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SP Tel: 01334 474371 Fax: 01334 477668 Email: Web:
	Ardgowan Hotel 2 Playfair Terrace Tel: 01334 472970 Fax: 01334 478380 Email: info@ardgowanhotel.co.uk Web: www.ardgowanhotel.co.uk

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