Golf Tour to the Home of Golf
A trip to Scotland to play golf with mates.
By: Greg Kilfoil
Looking at the various player profiles and noting the number of players who mentioned the Old Course at St Andrews as their favourite course on TV, I decided to write this article giving some of my experiences in Scotland and some tips for those wanting to form a tour of their own.
There is no doubt this tour comes at a hefty cost, but with some planning many savings can be found, allowing for more pints of Guinness in the pub afterwards. Importantly, getting commitment from the lads and finalising numbers for your tour early will be crucial. We had eight touring members which worked out perfectly. Furthermore, it allowed us to share the costs of accommodation and food which was ideal. Interestingly we decided to rent a house in the town of St Andrews, which was within walking distance from the Old Course, 500m at most. This was by far the best deal we found and my tip for anyone, would be to do the same. The house cost each of us approximately R1000 for the week – an absolute steal!
There are a number of world class courses around St Andrews but booking well in advance (done online) is crucial. We booked rounds about 4-5 months in advance. Again easing the weight on the pocket as paying up front often comes with a discount. Courses such as: Carnoustie, Gleneagles and Kingsbarnes all offered such deals. That said, they don’t come cheap with Kingsbarnes (which is unbelievable) costing around R2500 for the round and it could be more now with the weakening of the Rand.
Getting onto the Old Course is somewhat trickier… There is the opportunity to apply for a reserved 4 ball. This requires upfront payment per application, which if unsuccessful is refunded. Should you not get allocated one of these spots, you will need to go to the course and put yourself in the draw. Draws are performed 1 day in advance so if you are drawn on the Monday evening, you play on the Wednesday. We were lucky enough to be allocated one early-bird booking and then got drawn in the main draw so both 4-balls got a round on the Holy Grail. I don’t have the stats on hand, but I would assume if you put your name into the draw on 3 occasions, you would be pretty much guaranteed to get on. There are plenty tee spots available each day as during June/July you can tee off at 5:30 in the evening and still finish comfortably. We did this at Cornoustie and it is an odd feeling finishing a round of golf at 10:30 at night.
The Old Course itself is a lot shorter than you would think. I think I hit driver on the par 5’s and maybe 2 of the par 4’s. Being on the fairway is crucial so safety off the tee is often the more practical approach. Huge shared greens provide ample opportunity to 3 and 4 putt so lots of fines and laughs to be had. The 17th is crazy tough and hitting your tee shot over a hotel is something you’ll never forget. A good drive will leave you a 6-8 iron into the green with the infamous Road Hole Bunker protecting the front left. I was happy with a 5 there. My moment of the round however was coming up 18 (pink ball in play) with a mob lining the road. Apparently you can play that hole at any time and people come out of their houses or pub to watch. Making par to a light applause from the gallery made it all the more surreal.
I hope I have managed to convince at least one of you to take the plunge and organise a trip. It is an incredible experience, something I hope I have the opportunity of doing again. Costs wise, it cost around R30k which included the flights, accommodation and travel. Expensive but not ridiculous! Make the decision and go, you will not regret it, and if you miss the fairway on 1 or 18 at the Old Course, you deserve a Crumbler!