Caddie Golf Tours

For all the golfers out there considering golfing at St. Andrews next year, 2015, it should be noted that the grand Old Course will be closed for one month beginning 20th June - 21st July for the final preparations and playing of the 144th Open Championship, and the 29th upon the Old Course at St. Andrews. Iconic 'Golfer's Bridge' Old Course St. Andrews. There are plenty of opportunities to golf this legendary links before and after the Open Championship but we would advise missing the most awkward month to just turn up and play...September . This month has no tee times via the Advanced Booking Process and  very few tee times available via the Ballot/Lottery system, that is used throughout the year for those golfers turning up on speculation. This is  due to the R&A Golf Club's annual Autumn Meeting and the European Golf Tour's Dunhill Links Championship who both dominate the month of September in 2015. Old Course 18th green at St. Andrews.  Fr...

A couple of years ago we had a good bunch of golfers over from North Carolina, USA, and as so often happens when the guys stay in town and are playing the courses of the St. Andrews links a rapport builds up between the caddies and their respective golfer. On the third day of the tour and playing the Old for the second time the golfers had reached the 6 th , Heathery, a 374 yard par 4 that requires a blind tee shot over intimidating gorse bushes to the safety of the fairway. Doug, alias Stitch, a big powerful man who could hit the golf ball a country mile fairly crushed his drive and though it flew left of the intended target we caddies knew that the sanctuary of the 13 th fairway, which runs parallel to the 6 th , would give him a comfortable approach into the green. The pathway from the 6th tee to the fairway ahead. T he remaining golfers had all hit successful drives over the gorse bushes and as we discussed our respective approaches, from the centre of the 6 th fairway, to the ...

There are so many interesting, astonishing and curious facts related to the golf links of St. Andrews that one has great difficulty in believing them to be true. I suspended my belief long ago having witnessed some incredible incidents first hand through caddying upon the Old Course. The stories/articles that I will be posting under the title Tales from the Old Course have either been viewed by myself and fellow caddies or have been well documented in the annals of golf at St. Andrews. I hope you all enjoy reading them. The Burn A couple of years ago I invited couple of friends to play their first game over the Old Course. We were fortunate and got a picture postcard day, light wind blue skies and a warm sun. I was really pleased to see that they both held their nerves on the first tee and hit super drives down the fairway. Well done indeed but it is the second shot to the first green that poses the difficulty with the infamous Swilcan Burn (stream) running directly in front of the gr...

On the 19th November 1932 , R.S. Little and K.G. Sherriff, students at St. Andrews University, played a cross country match from Ceres, an inland Fifeshire village, to the 18th home hole at St. Andrews Old Course. The conditions were that each was to use one club, they were allowed to tee the ball up on each shot, and to hole out in less than 300 strokes. The distance was nine miles and they took eight hours. Mr. Little holed out in 236 strokes against Mr. Sherriff's 238.

The Dod Stewart Memorial Trophy is played for once every year in a golf match between the St. Andrews Caddies and the St. Andrews Links Trust Staff. The St. Andrews Links Trust staff failed to win the Spring match so they challenged the St. Andrews Caddies to a return game at the end of the year. Therefore the second golf match of 2008 between the St. Andrews Caddies v Staff of the Links Trust was held on Friday 28th November at the Eden Course in St. Andrews. Due to a cold snap, with frost covering the golf course, the start was delayed by a couple of hours this resulted in the first two matches being played over eighteen holes and the remaining four games being played over nine holes. The games were in the 'fourball' matchplay format which means that two teams of two golfers play against each other with the lowest score from one of the golfers winning the hole. Another tense golf day ensued. My match was the first one out and Eck, playing partner, and I found ourselves 3 h...

From time to time I'll be posting my musings on golf and playing golf in Scotland. I hope the few that read will find it informative. Further detailed information about travelling and golfing in Scotland can be found on my web site - www.caddiegolftours.com. Cheers for now.