The Old Course at St Andrews is one of the most sought-after tickets in golf. It has staged The Open, golf’s oldest Major, 30 times and it will return here in 2027.
It it the widely-accepted Home of Golf and features some of the most recognisable holes, bunkers and double greens in the game. It’s also, as you would expect, not easy to get on though it’s certainly more straightforward than many of its peers inside the top-10 courses on the planet.
1. Book a package
If you visit standrews.com you will be directed to advanced Old Course tee times and, for 2026, there is the Swilcan Package. In this you can play two rounds in St Andrews, one of which is on the Old, and this will cost you £700 in the high season and £530 in the low season. There is a four-golfer maximum per application and this opened in September 2025.
Your rounds have to be played over two consecutive days, there is a £65 food & beverage credit for dining at St Andrews Links, a £25 credit for any of the official retail outlets, plus free range balls.
The St Andrews Links Trust manages seven public golf courses in St Andrews; the Old Course, New Course, Jubilee, Castle, Eden, Strathtyrum and Balgove courses. As of this year 2026, the Duke’s Course (now the Craigtoun) has also been added to the portfolio.
A lottery is drawn to determine the order of allocation and not everyone will get a tee time.
2. The ballot
It’s hard to think of anywhere else that runs a similar ballot scheme? To be successful here is one of life’s great thrills and you will pay significantly less if you do get lucky.
The ballot is drawn 48 hours in advance of play and golfers provide their names, home club and handicaps either online, by phone or at one of the clubhouses before 2pm, two days before the day they wish to play. There must be a minimum of two and a maximum of four players.
In 2025 the green fee was £340, this year it’s been nudged up to £355.
3. The Drive
This is a cracker if your luck is really in. Last year a new initiative, launched by the St Andrews Links Trust, called The Drive was introduced to encourage Scots of all ages and skills to play the game.
Get this; 179 tees were made available between May and October and 44 golfers were lucky enough to play the Old Course for just £42.50! More tee times were made available on the other courses in the Trust.
4. The standby/singles list
For those missing out in the ballot you can put your name down the day before you’d like to play. It’s thought that they get 20+ players out day this way.
Before 2024 golfers would queue up overnight which was a romantic way to get a tee time but that’s now been done away with.
Around 7pm you’ll get a message and you can slot in with a group that isn’t full. There is also the possibility you can join a queue on the day by the 1st Tee Pavilion and you might get lucky if someone is unable to play.
5. The St Andrews Links ticket
The cost of a resident Links ticket in 2025 was £386! So, if you are a NE Fife resident and within the boundary, then you can play golf on all seven courses. Likewise if you are student at the town’s university but now only in term time.
6. The authorised providers
This is basically tour operators who will have a load of options for tee times in the high season – be aware that they should have an ‘Authorised Provider’ logo on their website/platforms.
Needless to say you will pay through the nose for this but you also won’t have to do anything for yourself other than turn up with your clubs.
To have an idea of prices you need to speak to the operator themselves. Clue: it will be a small fortune.
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Article Link: How golfers can book the Old Course at St Andrews in 2026