Caddie Golf Tours

The "Flynn Party" of 12 Chicago golfers returned to Scotland after their 2013 St Andrews golf trip for a Highland golf tour last month, September. A true joy to work with the lead golfers, Mr Flynn and Mr Baker, and arrange the golf tour that they desired which we began putting together in September 2018. Rather than golf in and around St Andrews, which they had done on their previous visit with Caddie Golf Tours, it was the lure of golf in Highlands that excited them. The golf begins at the legendary Carnoustie Championship, recent host to 2018 Open won by Francisco Molinari, straight off the overnight flight from USA and a 2 hour transfer to Carnoustie. A lovely lunch then onto the golf course with a little Scottish rain to begin the tour. The rain stopped after an hour and did not return for the rest of the highland golf tour. A transfer to Inverness after golf at Carnoustie and a 2 night stay at Kingsmills Hotel with golf at Nairn and then a full day of...

18th green Old Course St Andrews.  The 2018 British Seniors Open , July 26-29, will not only be a joy but a wonderful opportunity to see this great event on the Old Course St Andrews. It begins the week immediately after the The Open Championship at Carnoustie with so many of our legendary golfers taking part.  The qualifiers will have options to golf their way into the tournament on our local courses at lovely Ladybank, super Scotscraig and the fabulous Fairmont Torrance, all were past previous Open Championship qualifying courses. Caddie Golf Tours 18th green Carnoustie.  Please contact Caddie Golf Tours to include these excellent Scottish links golf courses, and many others, in your trip to St Andrews and Scotland...Fore!

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 newly elected R&A Captain, Mr Gavin Caldwell, drove from the 1st tee of the Old Course at 8:00am as the ceremonial cannon was fired at the same time. My old friend and St Andrews caddie +Oliver Horovitz caught the Captain's golf ball as it slipped through the hands of numerous caddies on its way down the 1st fairway of the Old Course. Oliver receives a gold sovereign from the new Captain in exchange for his golf ball. This was the 3rd time that Oliver has managed to retrieve the Captain's golf ball and I may suggest to him to deliberately miss catching it next year! Oliver is the author of the book 'An American Caddie in St Andrews' that came out a few years ago detailing his growing up in St Andrews and at Harvard University while working as a caddie on the Old Course. The following link takes you to the R&A website for more details about the New Captain and the Drive In Ceremony: http://www.randa.org/en/RandA/News/News/2015/September/...

My Caddie pal, David Coyne, and I have been raising money for 18 months, with many other caddies from St Andrews, to purchase a powered mobility wheelchair to be presented to a local recipient at next months Open Championship here at the Old Course St Andrews. The Old Course at St Andrews closed on Saturday 20th June for final preparation for the Open beginning on 16th July. We have taken this opportunity of Caddie inactivity to embark on a walk across Scotland, west to east, following the Great Glen Way which links Fort William to Inverness in the stunningly beautiful Highlands of Scotland. The walk will be over 5 days and the first section leaves Inverness and follows the Caledonian Canal to our first overnight stop in a Bed & Breakfast, called Dalcomera run by the delightful Heather and husband Nick, in the wee village of Gairlochy. A total of 12 miles covered on the first leg. On our return from our evening meal we visited the truly atmospheric Commando...

St. Andrews Caddies at the Eden Course A great day of golf on the Eden Course with the St. Andrews Caddies annual 'Dinger Bell' and 'Stumpy Memorial' being played in wonderful late November weather here in St. Andrews. Scotty plays his approach at 1st hole Eden Course St. Andrews There was some good scoring from the caddies with Scotty B coming out on top in the Dinger Bell Trophy after tying with a net 65, gross 72, with yours truly, John Boyne, shooting a gross 73. A count back gave Scott a better outward nine with his 38 against my 39. A delighted Scotty with his prizes Scott also came out on top in the second playing of the Stumpy Memorial Trophy, instigated last year, managing to score 41 stableford points against my 40 points...runner-up again!

In the build-up to the 2015 Open Championship on the Old Course in St. Andrews the greenkeepers have been busy with their preparations for the tournament over the last couple of years and it will continue over this winter period. Hell bunker Old Course St. Andrews When golfing at St. Andrews last weekend I snapped this photograph of the gargantuan Hell bunker, on the 619 yard Par 5 14th (523 yard for the local golfers), that is being re-built using the revetting method employed by the greenkeepers. The bunker sits 115 yards short of the green's front edge with the town of St. Andrews as a backdrop.

The date has arrived when golfers from across the golfing world are able to begin the application process for a 2015 Old Course tee time here in St. Andrews. 'Abernathy Party May 2014 Old Course'. It should be noted that the Open Championship is being played on the Old Course, for the 29th time, in July 2015 and the course will close for final preparations from 20th June until the 21st July. Caddie Golf Tours have assisted hundreds of golfers access the Old Course over the last nine years with good forward planning put in place. The most affordable route to achieve a tee time is to use the Advance Reservation Process from the St. Andrews Links Trust who will accept applications over a two week period beginning at 14:00pm BST on Wednesday 27th August through to Monday 15th September, 2014. They have decided this year to introduce a Ballot (lottery) to determine those successful in applying for tee times thus stopping the allocation of tee times on a first come fi...

I did not realize that it has been a full month since I last posted a Blog on our site, goodness the month of May flew by quickly, with 6 Scotland and St. Andrews golf tours taking place and spilling over into the beginning of June. The office with a view There have been numerous posts and photographs placed on our  G+ page  and I shall look to compile a summary of a busy May to place here on Blogger now that I have returned to Caddie Golf Tours office for a couple of days.

A note to inform all that the majority of courses will be bringing to an end their reduced pricing structure that is in operation during the winter months and the first couple of weeks April. The High Season (full price) golf prices in Scotland will begin on Monday 13th April, 2014, though there will be a few exceptions. 18th tee New Course St. Andrews These photographs of the New Course, snapped yesterday, show just how good the weather has been this last week in St. Andrews, great conditions for links golf...there has been some wind! 18th fairway New Course St. Andrews Please remember to contact Caddie Golf Tours if you have any questions about golfing in Scotland this year or golf 2015. We will be happy to discuss and arrange your trip to the Home of Golf...Fore!

This morning we are booked on the Castle Course, opened in 2008, it is the most recent of the fantastic golf courses in the collection around the historic old town of St. Andrews. Castle Course St Andrews, 3rd green The Castle Course came in for some criticism when it was opened and this was primarily aimed at the greens which the golf course architect, David McLay Kidd and his DMK design company, 'over egged' with some rather severe contouring. Thankfully, as the course has matured, the St. Andrews Links Trust have listened to the feedback from the local and visiting golfers and in each of the last four years the greenkeeping staff have set about making those greens more playable during the winter maintenance period. 7th green Castle Course, St Andrews The spectacular cliff top setting of the golf course is inspiring with the ocean visible from every tee and the ancient spires of St. Andrews being used as a delightful backdrop. I really like the Castle Course. I...

For those golfers that desire to golf in Scotland next year, 2014, may I suggest that now would be an excellent time to confirm your travel dates, tee times and accommodation. Golf Guru Tony, 2nd tee of Old Course St Andrews, July 2013 The planning of the Scottish golf tour is always exciting and to arrive at the Home of Golf, St Andrews is rather special. There are so many astounding links courses to choose in Scotland that one can get giddy and gre edy! Please take the time to talk to Caddie Golf Tours and together we shall produce the golf trip you want. Kingsbarns Golf Links, Par5 12th, a tremendous golf hole

A quick update for golfers looking to play upon the Old Course next year, 2014, that the Advanced Application Form is available from the St. Andrews Links Trust web site and will be accepted this Wednesday 4th September at 10.00am British Standard Time. Information and the Advance Application Form can be found using the following links: http://www.standrews.org.uk/Play/Courses/Old-Course/Booking-the-Old-Course http://www.standrews.org.uk/getmedia/f36d4930-47ab-469c-a75c-569b895f49aa/Advance-Reservations-Form-2014.pdf If further information is required about golf in St. Andrews and Scotland please do not hesitate to contact me at caddiegolftours@gmail.com or via our Google+ page.

The legendary Scottish golf club maufacturer, John Letters, opened their store just up the road from the Old Course three years ago and has become one of the main golf retailers in the town. John Letters North Street St. Andrews Inside John Letters Scotty the manager works hard at developing relationships with local and overseas golfers alike and will happily chat away about all things golf until you purchase something! An excellent man, in the right job. LB & Scotty the Manager John Letters My wife, LB, and I popped in to purchase a couple of  'wonder hybrids' for her after she had been using mine to rather good effect over the last couple of weeks. Thank you for the encouragement and good humour Scotty, we shall see you soon. LB & her 'wonder hybrids' from John Letters

A short selection of photographs of the Sunday morning round on the Old Course taken during the Links Trophy. A tricky 13th green pin position My caddy pal Nick approaching the 13th green Out of Bounds wall 14th fairway, Old Course Tricky shot in one of Beardie Bunkers, 14th Old Course The Beardie Bunkers capture another golfer Putting out 14th green Old Course 15th fairway & St. Andrews as a backdrop Jigger Inn adjacent to 17th fairway Old Course Iconic view of Old Course St. Andrews Putting out on 17th green Old Course St. Andrews Walk towards Swilken Bridge Old Course St. Andrews