How to Play the Old Course at St Andrews

This guide is for the trip captain working out how to play the Old Course at St Andrews with a group, usually on a first trip to Scotland. It sets out every route to a tee time and how far ahead each one works, the handicap rule, the 2027 dates when the course is shut or the ballot doesn't run, a backup plan for the days the ballot misses you, and what a caddie costs.

How to play the Old Course at St Andrews: the five routes in

St Andrews Links publishes five routes for visitors. Three are packages booked months ahead, though two of those have closed for 2027, and two are decided a day or two before you play. Which one suits you depends on how fixed your dates are and how much of the trip rests on this one round.

The Swilcan Package is St Andrews Links' own guaranteed route: an Old Course time plus a round on one other Links course. Its 2027 application window has closed, and so has the 2026/27 Winter Package. For a 2027 trip, that leaves the ballot, the singles draw, and the Authorised Providers.

Authorised Provider packages

St Andrews Links appoints Authorised Providers, which are golf tour operators and local accommodation providers, to sell packages that include guaranteed Old Course tee times from April to October. You can recognize one by the official Authorised Provider logo on its website. The Links describes these as packages that include the tee time, so expect to buy it together with other parts of the trip.

Our travel partner is a St Andrews Links Authorised Provider, so it can include a guaranteed Old Course tee time in your trip package, from April to October. Slots are limited, so booking early is advised. Our travel partner has no Old Course times during the 2027 Open closure, 19 June to 19 July.

How the Old Course ballot works

The ballot (you'll also hear it called the lottery) is how most visitors get on. St Andrews Links draws it two days before play, every day except Sundays and tournament days, to keep tee times open to golfers who are in town. It costs nothing to enter, and you only pay if you play.

1. 1

   Make up a group of two to four

   Single golfers can't enter the ballot. Every entry needs each player's name, home club and handicap, and only the named players can play.

2. 2

   Enter by 14:00 two days before

   Online, by phone on +44 (0)1334 466666, or in person at the Old Pavilion or a Links clubhouse. Entries open the day before the draw, once that day's ballot has closed at about 14:15.

3. 3

   Check the results after 16:30

   Results go up on the ballot results page that afternoon, or you can phone. There's no Friday ballot, because the course is closed on Sundays.

4. 4

   Bring certificates and the green fee

   Show every player's handicap certificate to the Starter and pay the green fee on the day. Check in at the Old Pavilion at least 20 minutes before your time.

St Andrews Links says a group that can play at any time of day has the best chance. Duplicate entries are disqualified, so enter each group once per day.

The Old Course handicap requirement

The Old Course is the only St Andrews Links course that asks for a handicap certificate. The maximum is 36, for men and women. Each player shows the Starter a current official handicap record or certificate, from a club affiliated to a golf union or association, on paper or on a phone. A letter of introduction from your club professional isn't accepted.

Settle this before anyone books flights. If one of your group plays off more than 36, or has no official handicap, they can't play the Old Course however the tee time was secured. They can still play the other Links courses, which don't ask for a certificate.

When the Old Course is closed: Sundays, winter Mondays and The Open

Plan the trip around three kinds of closure.

• Sundays. The Old Course is closed to visitor play every Sunday, all year.
• Winter Mondays. The Links closes the course for maintenance on Mondays in winter: every Monday in November 2026, 22 February and 1, 8, 15 and 22 March 2027, and every Monday in November 2027. From 1 November 2026 to 31 March 2027, fairway shots are played from mats.
• Tournament days. Club meetings and events take out single days through the season. In 2027 the ballot doesn't run on 3–6 May, 5 June or 12 June, which the Links marks as Open Championship closures, or for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, 27 September to 4 October.

St Andrews Links published that closure in its notice on The 155th Open, and its 2027 busy-dates calendar shows no ballot for the same days. The Open itself is on 11–18 July 2027. Because 19 July is a Monday and visitors can't play on Sundays, the earliest visitor round after The Open is Tuesday 20 July, and the calendar shows no ballot on Saturday 24 July either. From 1 April 2027 the Links will also mark protected areas with paint and mats, and warns of extra noise and diversions while grandstands go up.

If the Old Course is the reason for the trip, I'd check every day you might play against the St Andrews Links busy-dates calendar before you fix flights, because September 2027 also has several no-ballot days for club meetings. The Old Course visitor rules page has the rest of the course's details. For the championship itself, the guide to The Open 2027 at St Andrews covers tickets and the other Links courses that close that fortnight.

Your backup plan for ballot days

The ballot gives you no tee time until two days before, so treat it as one option among several. Enter for every day you're in St Andrews, and keep a confirmed round elsewhere for each of those days. If the ballot comes through, you'll usually be giving up a booked round, so check its cancellation terms before you book it.

Two courses with their own pages here are under an hour away, and both take visitor bookings in advance:

• 

  Kingsbarns

  25 min

  Daily in season, 27 March to 7 November 2027, with no handicap certificate needed. 2027 tee times opened on 1 June 2026, by phone or email.

  View Kingsbarns →
• 

  Carnoustie

  50 min

  Book online, by phone or by email. The club's maximum handicap is 28 for men and 36 for women.

  View Carnoustie →

St Andrews Links runs seven other courses besides the Old Course, and none of them asks for a handicap certificate. golftripbuilder.com has visitor rules and drive times for the rest of the county in the Fife golf guide, and every green fee in the county is on the Scotland green fees page.

Single golfers have one more route. If you're traveling alone, or your group misses the ballot, the Singles Daily Draw allocates any on-the-day gaps on the Old Course. You enter in person the day before, from 09:00, at the Old Pavilion or a Links clubhouse.

Old Course green fees and caddies

The green fee depends on the season, and ballot players pay it to the Starter on the day. These are St Andrews Links' published 2027 adult rates for April to October.

Winter rounds to 31 March 2027 are £180, played from fairway mats. The Links hasn't published fees for November and December 2027 yet.

St Andrews Links says its caddies matter most to golfers playing the Links for the first time. They give you the lines off the tees and exact yardages, read the greens, and know the course's history. The 2026 fee is £80, paid to the caddie in sterling after the round, and St Andrews Links suggests a tip starting at £35. The caddie season runs from 1 April to 31 October, and you request one through the Links.

Once you know your dates and your group's handicaps, you can build a St Andrews golf trip in the trip planner, with the Old Course, a backup round for each ballot day and the drive times between them.

Sources: St Andrews Links' own pages on the Old Course (ways to book, Authorised Providers and green fees), the Old Course ballot, its course-closure notice for The 155th Open, the Old Course busy-dates calendar for 2027, "Before your round" (handicap certificates and check-in), and caddie services. All checked 3 Nov 2026.