The Old Course at St. Andrews is considered the home of golf. Golf has been played here since the 14th century, and the home of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club is located just behind the first tee. Even though there is no real date for when the course opened, we do know that the course had 22 holes until 1764, when the R&A suggested that the first four holes should become two, thus converting the four holes on the way home into two. Since then 18 holes has been the norm for courses throughout the world.
The original course played the same fairways and greens, meaning golfers played the first 11 holes out to the end before turning and playing the same 11 holes in reverse coming home. With the increase of play, the rulers of St. Andrews realized that the fairways would have to be separate. They were able to cut two holes apiece on seven of the huge greens, with one side of the green being used for the holes going out and the other side used for the holes coming in. The numbers of the holes sharing greens always add up to 18, as follows: 2 & 16 share a green, 3 & 15, 4 & 14, 5 & 13, 6 & 12, 7 & 11, and 8 & 10. Because of the double greens, golfers can sometimes be faced with putts of 100 feet or more. Four holes (1, 9, 17, and 18) have their own greens Since this change took place, the layout of the holes hasn't been altered, and the course has played to a par of 72 (36-36) with two par 3s, two par 5s, and 14 par 4s.
In the beginning, there were close to 500 bunkers, but hundreds of them have been removed over the years. The Old Course now has 112 bunkers, some of which are especially famous: "Hell" on the long 14th, "Strath" on the short 11th, and "Road" at what is probably the most famous golf hole in the world, the 17th or Road Hole (so called because a road -- off which the ball must be played -- runs hard against the back edge of the green).
The course has been lengthened 182 yards since the 1995 Open was played here, from 6,933 yards to 7,115 yards. Some holes have been lengthened only a handful of yards (and some shortened a wee bit), but four holes have been lengthened significantly:
Hole
1995
yardage
2000
yardage
Additional
yards
3
371
397
26
10
342
379
37
15
413
456
43
16
382
424
42
At its previous length of 6,933 yards, the course record was 62 by Curtis Strange in the 1989 Dunhill Cup. The changes were made in 1997, and the new tees were first used in the Dunhill Cup in October 1997. The course record for the 7,115-yard layout is 65, first set by Jesper Parnevik and Justin Leonard in the 1997 Dunhill Cup and matched twice by Carlos Franco in the 1999 Dunhill Cup.
Grasses:
Greens: Chewings/slendere creeping red fescue & colonial bent Tees: Chewings/slendere creeping red fescue & colonial bent Fairways: Chewings/slendere creeping red fescue & colonial bent Rough: Tall fescue, sheep fescue & highland bentgrass
The Old Course is also unusual in that it starts and finishes in the town. What is truly remarkable is that a course which has evolved over six centuries and was not designed by an architect remains a true test of championship golf today.
The British Open was first played in Prestwick, Scotland in 1860, and this will be the 129th playing. It will be the 26th Open played at the Old Course at St. Andrews. Here is a list of the years the Open was held at St. Andrews with the winners:
1873 Tom Kidd
1876 Bob Martin
1879 Jamie Anderson
1882 Robert Ferguson
1885 Bob Martin
1888 Jack Burns
1891 Hugh Kirkaldy
1895 J.H. Taylor
1900 J.H. Taylor
1905 James Braid
1910 James Braid
1921 Jock Hutchison*
1927 Bobby Jones
1933 Denny Shute*
1939 Richard Burton
1946 Sam Snead
1955 Peter Thomson
1957 Bobby Locke
1960 Kel Nagle
1964 Tony Lema
1970 Jack Nicklaus*
1978 Jack Nicklaus
1984 Seve Ballesteros
1990 Nick Faldo
1995 John Daly*
*won in playoff
