| St Andrews Links Trust/Donald Ford |
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Singles should arrive no later than 5:45am to play
the most famous St. Andrews golf course.
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Any advice on getting a single tee time for the Old Course at St. Andrews? I know I can go to the starter first thing in the morning, but I don't know when to get there. Would I have to buy two tee times to get into the daily ballot?
You are correct in theory, Joe; a daily ballot entry to play the Old Course requires a minimum of two players, but we wouldn't recommend trying to "game" the system as the starter probably wouldn't take kindly to it. And if you've spent the time, money, and effort to fly to Scotland to play the most famous St. Andrews golf course, the starter is the last person you want to mess with.
The most common way for a single to access the Old Course is by showing up at the starter's shack on the day you wish to play, "as early as possible in the morning," according to the St. Andrews Links Trust website. The starter will then attempt to pair you up with the first available twosome or threesome.
I agree that, "as early as possible," is a bit vague, so I checked with the editors of our sister publication, Golf Odyssey, for more detail. They confirmed that the starter starts his shift 45 minutes prior to the first tee-time. In the summer, the first tee-time on the Old Course is 6:30am.
So, at a minimum, you'll want to arrive at this incredible St. Andrews golf course at the incredibly early hour of 5:45 am. We'd make it 5:30 just to be safe. At that hour, fifteen more minutes of sleep isn't going to make much of a difference, but it could get you out on the course before everyone else who reads this.
You can get a lot more insider info and advice like this each month in the pages of Golf Odyssey.
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