Caddie Golf Tours

The St Andrews Links Trust recently announced the green fee costs for a round of golf on the Old Course during the 2022 golf season. The first couple of weeks in April, called the 'Shoulder Season', there is a reduced fee of £ 137 British pounds ($180). This rises to £ 270 British pounds ($355) in the 'High Season' which lasts through to the middle of October when it will drop to £ 190 pounds ($250) for the final 2 weeks of that month. Winter golf on the Old Course, known as the 'Low Season' has been priced at £ 135 pounds ($178). There are a few restrictions on the Old Course with winter tee positions, a few bunkers under reconstruction and an astroturf golf mat is used when playing on the fairway. Contact Caddie Golf Tours to assist with your golf in St Andrews and Scotland...FORE!!!

The  First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced today, that from Friday 16th April travel across Scotland for non-essential purposes can resume for all areas, to allow outdoor socializing and recreation. The country will continue with significant easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the reopening of our tourism industry across all parts of Scotland on 26th April, with travel allowed from England and Wales. Caddie Golf Tours are ready to set up and organize your golf in Scotland this summer. Please do not hesitate to contact us for tee times at our many wonderful golf courses across the country...Fore!

The Old Course green keepers started and completed renovation work on the banking and drainage behind the 18th green during November and December. The ground work that is done during the Scottish winter, from these greenkeeping tough guys, will be appreciated by local and our visiting overseas golfers when they return in numbers during the summer, and beyond.  Please contact Caddie Golf Tours to assist with your golf trip to Scotland and St Andrews...Fore!

Dear golfers, During this Covid-19 pandemic our priority is the health and safety of our clients, community and the country. Following the direction given by government Caddie Golf Tours are accepting of the restrictions on daily movement and are continuing to work from our office, at home, here in the historic village of Kingsbarns, located 7 miles from St Andrews. We are here and available to discuss your g olf tour to Scotland and St Andrews, later this year, or through to next year 2021. Please contact us on +44 (0) 7967 345 969 or email at caddiegolftours@gmail.com We look forward to welcoming you to golf in Scotland as soon as we possibly can and hope that in the meantime you all stay safe, take no risks and look after your families. Yours sincerely, John Boyne.

Caddie Golf Tours, took some time out last Sunday from the ever threatening Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic to golf 9 holes on the Castle Course St Andrews. Little did I think that this would be the last round of golf I would play. Within a couple of days the St Andrews Links Trust had closed all their courses, including the Old Course, on the advice/orders from the British Government. The Castle Course was deserted with those few golfers that were in sight playing solo golf due to the Covid-19 virus, as was I. With the whole country now in an enforced shut down I will look back on these 9 holes with fondness and enjoy the images captured. It is beginning to look like it will be at least June before we get another opportunity to golf here in St Andrews and Scotland, a long layoff but hopefully the putting practice on the hall carpet will produce results...Fore!

Work on the restructuring of the infamous Old Course 17th Road hole bunker is well under way for this 2020 golf season.  17th Road hole bunker Old Course St Andrews We extend best wishes to our golfers tackling this iconic golf hole on their visit to the Old Course St Andrews, and Caddie Golf Tours are here to assist with your Scotland golf tour. We look forward to hearing from you...Fore!

A few images from the Old Course St Andrews when it was played in the 'reverse' route at the end of November 2019. The Old Course awoke to a frosty day and a delayed start to the 'Shotgun' start from the R&A cannon! The golfers began at 11:00 am, a few hours later than the original 08:40 start. The 1st hole on the reverse route is the 17th 'Road' hole as we know it now in the modern era. It was rather odd to see the white flag fly on the 17th green and then to move onto the 2nd hole, which is the normal 16th, and a white pin but it soon became acceptable to see the white flags and red flags fly...strangely. The above photographs show the iconic 1st green with a back nine 'red' flag signifying that it is the 17th on this reverse routing of the Old Course. The final 18th green remains the same on the Old Course reverse course but, even with a delayed start, the hard overnight frost refused to lift from this famous green and t...

There is a common misconception that little golf is played in St Andrews and Scotland during the winter months because of our extreme weather. May I assure you all that we are not buckled under a ton of snow, rain and howling arctic winds through our winter, well not all the time. LB and I are now in our 4th year living in the historic village of Kingsbarns, only 6 miles down the coast from St Andrews and  winter golf is very much apart of life for local St Andrews golfers. 1st tee Old Course St Andrews All the local golf clubs, including mine at the St Andrews Golf Club, have a full program of winter competitions from beginning of January through to the end of March that I can participate in, if the mood takes, as well as just playing some fun golf with family and friends. The winter astro turf mat at St Andrews The visiting golfer should be made aware that golf on the St Andrews Links courses during the winter months, November through to March, is played f...

A wonderful winter's golf on the Old Course this afternoon with our golfers from Sweden who were taken by surprise at the warmth, sunshine and little wind during their round. Driving from par 3, High In, 11 tee Old Course Putting out on Par 3 11th green Approaching the tough Par 4 13th green The drive from 18th tee Old Course St Andrews An excellent day with our golfer, Anders, who had a super round of golf on the Old Course, especially his 39 on the front 9 holes...Fore!

We are delighted to report that the wee ducklings are still with us on the Old Course at St Andrews. There have been a few casualties but the mother does have 3 little ducklings to guide and look after.

A wonderful sight of a mother with her 7 little ducklings crossing the exposed Par 3 8th green on the Old Course heading for the safety of the long grass and Eden Estuary. We are pleased to report that they did reach the quietness of the little pond at the far end of the Eden Course and Estuary.

The 2016 Old Course Caddies Professional Course Guide has been collated by our good friend and St Andrews Caddie David Coyne with the assistance of legendary St Andrews golf historian, artist, and actor David Joy. These great little Old Course books are used by the St Andrews caddies to assist guiding their man around the links and the good caddies will study them for run outs to rough, distances to bunkers, danger areas from the tees and the safe areas of the course for their golfer. They are an invaluable resource for the caddie/golfer and a super little gift to plan and play out your round to come or just golfed. The Old Course Caddie Course Guides are now available from local St Andrews golf shops, Guest Houses and unsurprisingly quite a few of the local pubs like the Dunvegan Bar and 1 Golf Place both located 120 yards from the Old Course 18th green.

October has been a delightful month with good sunny weather that many of our visiting golfers seem rather surprised to be enjoying. Our golfer Michael, pictured, from Minnesota has been taking advantage of the benign conditions enjoying his golf with 7 of his buddies and their golf tour of Scotland culminating with a final round on the Old Course St Andrews. Michael a 10 handicap managed to play his best round of the year on the Old Course St Andrews shooting a 38 + 38 = 76. A bogey at the first did not upset and steady golf followed until a blistering burst of 3,3,3 over 7th, 8th and 9th. No daft numbers on the back nine, which supplied one birdie on the 14th, brought his last round in Scotland to a fitting climax. 

Today I was called up to  1st tee of the  Old Course St Andrews, 12:20pm tee time, to caddie for Mr. D, an R&A member, playing in the E uropean Tour's annual staging of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship that is golfed on the great links golf courses of Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the Old Course and this was the final practice round for the golfers participating in the event. I had been in Mr D's company in past years through a few R&A matches so I was scratching around my head to remember a bit of his game and shape of shot. It turns out that he has a lovely 5-10 yard fade from the tee with a low penetrating ball flight and pretty much the same with his irons. This is roughly (in my dreams) a similar game to the one I currently possess...my golf does fluctuate a wee bit and the fade can get a little extreme! Mr D shot a 68. We had one slice of good fortune on the 1st after a decent drive the approach to the green hit the retaining wall of the Swilken B...

The remnants of the 2015 Open at St Andrews, won by Zach Johnson, are fast disappearing with the last of the grandstands (bleachers) finally dismantled. I managed a few last photographs from the grandstands on the 1st fairway and behind the 17th green. These are now gone. The seats are all gone and the St Andrews Old Course greenkeepers have begun work on resurrecting the links turf on the 1st fairway which is now roped off and is currently regarded as Ground Under Repair, GUR.