One of the extraordinary facts about the Old Course at St Andrews - the Home of Golf, as it is known - is that it was not designed by an architect, but has evolved with time over six centuries.

Even more remarkable is that while the equipment and the standards of play have improved dramatically over the years, it remains a true test of championship golf. John Daly's winning score five years ago was just six under par.

The Old Course starts and finishes in the town centre. Originally it was played over 22 holes using the same 11 on the way out and in.

In 1764 it was reduced to 18, which came to be adopted as the standard number of holes for courses worldwide.

It was also played the wrong way round at first, golfers from the opening tee going to what is now the 17th green, then the 16th etc.

For a while in the 1860s players alternated between the left-hand and right-hand circuit on a weekly basis, but gradually the right-hand became the more popular.

The clockwise route was still used occasionally until as recently as the 1970s. This explains why so many of the bunkers are not visible from the tee.

The individual who played the most significant role in shaping the course was four-time champion Old Tom Morris, appointed by the Royal and Ancient Club as custodian of the links for nearly 40 years from 1865.

With the help of his assistant David Honeyman he widened the fairways and the greens and added sand to encourage the links grasses such as fescue and bent. He also built the first and 18th greens as they are today.

St Andrews has six public courses - five 18 holes and one nine-hole - and at over 660 acres is the largest golfing complex in Europe.

Over 200,000 rounds are played per annum, 42,000 of them on the Old Course. Tee-off times at all courses can be booked in advance.

There are five teams of greenkeepers, one for each 18-hole course and the management company, the St Andrews Links Trust, employs around 200 people in the high season.

A state-of-the-art £2.5million irrigation system is currently being installed.

In 1999 the Trust spent £90,000 maintaining coastal defence along the Eden Estuary.