Caddie Golf Tours

As we leave the month September and enter October many golfers will be turning their attention to a golf tour of Scotland next year, 2014. We here at Caddie Golf Tours are available to set up and advise about securing tee times, accommodation and travel arrangements throughout the Home of Golf, for real golfers. Old Course St. Andrews Many Scottish golf tours are built around acquiring an Old Course tee time and Caddie Golf Tours can assist your golf group in attaining this goal by you, the 'Lead Golfer', forwarding a few details of the proposed golf trip: number and names of golfers taking part handicaps of golfers golf club membership of each golfer preferred date of golf tour & an alternative date other courses to be played during the golf tour  Par 3 15th at Kingsbarns 'Rocky Ness' These simple details are required by the 9th October, 2014, to ensure we have an opportunity to attain your Old Course tee times. Please do not hesitate to c...

St. Andrews held the 100th playing of the Town Match on Saturday 14th September. This historic event is played between the local & international members of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club against the two main local golf clubs in the town: St. Andrews Golf Club and the New Club. 1st tee Old Course at St. Andrews Scotland There were 171 foursomes matches played over the Old Course, New Course, Jubilee Course and 1/2 dozen or so were even were golfed on the Strathtyrum Course. This amounts to 684 golfers in what must rank as one of the largest one day golf competitions in the world. The R&A Team view the 8th Jubilee Course Our match was played on the Jubilee Course at 3.20pm in great conditions as can be seen by the few photographs taken while we waited to tee off on the Par 4 8th. My playing partner Mr. Thomson The Par 4 8th fairway, Jubilee Course Putting out on the Par 4 8th green, Jubilee Course The game was played in good spirits, as it should be,...

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.

Now is the time for all golfers to look forward to the 2014 Golf Season and the organising of their golf trip to Scotland, the Home of Golf.  Iconic view towards Old Course 18th Green & R&A Clubhouse  With good forward planning tee times at the Old Course, Muirfield GC, Carnoustie, Royal Troon, Royal Dornoch and so many others can be secured in advance. Caddie Golf Tours are based in the beating heart of Scottish golf, St. Andrews, and invite all golfers to contact us for good honest advice on the best route for your 2014 golf tour to succeed. Applications for 2014 Old Course tee times will be made available from Wednesday 4th September from the St. Andrews Links Trust web site and the Official Form will be available from 19th August 2013. Information can be found at the following link: http://www.standrews.org.uk/getmedia/d9095e66-a3ac-454b-969e-2ab06c0de462/Advanced-Reservations-2013.pdf Caddie Golf Tours are here to assist with any questions you may ha...

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

The restored Hamilton Grand that sits behind the 18th green of the Old Course is nearing completion and last week the pub that has been built in the basement opened to the public. It has been named 'Ham's Hame'. Side view of Hamilton Grand Entrance to Ham's Hame pub The main lounge Ham's Hame The side snug at Ham's Hame I am sure I will be having a few post round beers in this newest addition to the many bars in St. Andrews though it will take a lot for it to take the place of the Dunvegan Hotel's bar, situated 120 yards up the street.

I have over the years seen, in competition golf and fun bounce games, that it is really important to have a clear unique identification on your golf ball. I played in a wee competition a few weeks ago and all three golfers had one red dot marked next to the Titliest brand name! What are the chances? Boyne's identifying mark. After a wee think that evening I decided to go for a four dot two colour combination. The reasoning was that no other golfer is going to be this anal to sit for an hour and put a mark like it on his golf balls. I may need to get a life?!?

As we approach the longest day 21st/22nd June the available tee times at St. Andrews begin to stretch out. The following link shows the tee times for the Old Course today, beginning at 06.30am and last tee off from the 1st at 18.20pm. http://www.standrews.org.uk/Ballot/Ballot-Results The 1st fairway of the Old Course, St. Andrews

View across to the 18th green at Kingsbarns Golf Links A couple of days ago I was fortunate to be at the wonderful Kingsbarns Golf Links, located seven miles south of St. Andrews, waiting to pick up my wife LB from her round over this great links course. Putting practice at Kingsbarns Golf Links So what better way to kill some time but to make use of the Practice Green at Kingsbarns. What an inspiring backdrop to enjoy while hitting a wee white ball around.

The St. Andrews Ladies Putting Club have a regular contest on the Bruce Embankment adjacent to the Old Course. This is usually a 'Shotgun Start' in groups of three each armed with their trusty blade and a scorecard. Wonderful stuff and a joy to behold. Bruce Embankment Putting Green

View over 13th green New Course Well this is an unexpected event for our own Caddie Golf Tours founder Boyne. I have managed to get through two qualifying rounds over the Eden & New courses at St. Andrews to reach the last sixteen of the St. Andrews Club Championship, second tier handicap players 11-17, and it now becomes Head to Head match play. The true golf game. The first round is played over the New Course on Tuesday at 17.44pm. 

18th green Old Course St. Andrews The leaderboard of the Links Trophy as posted by the St. Andrews Links Trust. http://www.standrews.org.uk/Tournaments/St-Andrews-Links-Trophy/Live-Scoring Congratulations to Neil Raymond from England and his victory with some steady scoring over all four rounds that included one over the Jubilee Course and the remaining three on the Old Course.

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

My two golfing guests, Andy & David, duly arrived from Glasgow this morning at the St. Andrews Links Clubhouse where I was waiting to inform that we were teeing off from on New Course at 10.24am. Plenty of time to enjoy a bacon sandwich, coffee and tea before hitting the astounding New Course. Post bacon sandwich at St. Andrews Links Clubhouse  A wee bit cold with cloud cover and winds from the east that eventually burned off and the second nine was bathed in sunshine that progressively warmer as our round continued, excellent. Par 3 ninth tee & scores are checked while we wait to tee off A Stableford Competition was played today: 1point Bogey, 2 points Par, 3 points Birdie, 4 points eagle. I played rather poorly today and only hit 24 points but David and Andy shot 32 & 31 respectively in tricky windy conditions. Good putting from both...and they lost less golf balls than I!!! Andy and  David in front of the St. Andrews Golf Club After our lunch ...

A collection of photographs taken today around the first tee and 18th green of the Old Course here at St. Andrews. Today was the official practice round over the Old Course for the top amateurs from across the world participating in the prestigious Links Trophy. 1st tee Old Course St. Andrews 18th green Old Course St. Andrews View taking in 18th green & 1st tee Old Course St. Andrews The Links Tournament Scoreboard Starters Box at the Old Course St. Andrews This will be the first year that I will not be caddying in the tournament due to an unfortunate clash of dates. This is a great contest with 144 international players who are a minimum +3 handicap golfing across the 'toughened up' Jubilee Course and Old Course with the top 40 & ties qualifying for two rounds on the Old Course on Sunday. I will miss being involved this year but should have an opportunity to watch some play on final day Sunday.

Two of my golfing friends, Gary & Matt, from the USA have returned to St. Andrews this week and will be staying in the town for the next 4-6 weeks, playing golf on the links most days. Gary & Mark walking past Caddie Pavilion on route to New Course Like returning migratory birds these two golfers have been arriving in St. Andrews at the end of May or beginning of June for the 12 seasons that I have been caddying here at St. Andrews. Matt always travelled with his father, the legendary Jinx who sadly passed away a couple of years ago, for their stay in the town and it is great that he has continued to visit his second home. Gary a retired pilot is involved with the St. Andrews Golf Club and assists with the prestigious top amateur event held on the Old Course at this time called the Links Trophy. Marvelous.

I have just had a look at the Ballot results for tomorrow, Monday 3rd June, and the Chinese golfers have arrived and in big numbers. Old Course 1st fairway getting a trim. I wonder how they managed to secure eight consecutive tee times upon the Old Course from 09.10 - 10.20am? Extraordinary. http://www.standrews.org.uk/Ballot/Ballot-Results?date=03/06/2013 I do hope that they will respect the venerable links and maintain a decent pace of play though recent history tells me it will be a tough gig for the caddies.

View towards 1st tee of Old Course, St Andrews The tee times upon the Old Course are now posted 48 hours prior to play and when you visit the web site it now gives you an opportunity to organise another venue if unsuccessful in getting a tee time slot. Here is the link to Friday's tee times: http://www.standrews.org.uk/Ballot/Ballot-Results?date=31/05/2013 This is one of the golf world's most visited web pages. It gives up a lot of information that the discerning single golfer can use to their advantage by looking at the two & three ball slots and picking his time to talk to the Old Course Starter to be added to them, if accepted.

The Coffey golfers from Boston, USA, arrived at Edinburgh Airport this afternoon and after picking up their car from the ever reliable Arnold Clark they followed me up the road to St. Andrews, stop at a very sunny Jigger Inn to chat about the golfing week to come over a deserved beer and enjoy the iconic view across the Old Course. Alongside 1st fairway of Old Course at St. Andrews It was then onward and a 5 minute journey to their accommodation at the Fairmont Hotel where Caddie Golf Tours job is done for today. Time to let the couples have some relax time, acclimatise and look forward to their stay in Scotland.  1st tee Eden Course St. Andrews The boys golf tomorrow on the Eden Course here in St. Andrews which will be perfect for their 'warm-up' round before tackling the adjacent Old Course on Monday 27th and New Course on Tuesday. I do hope this lovely change in the weather continues and the Coffey's enjoy a sparkling St. Andrews and Scotland.