Caddie Golf Tours

The Caddie Master at St Andrews has created a hardship fund to assist the Caddies who work here on the St Andrews golf courses, and because of the coronavirus Covid-19 will have no income this year, or very little. You can help the St Andrews Caddies by making a contribution, no matter how small, on the following GoFundMe page:  https://www.gofundme.com/f/st-andrews-caddies Thank you for reading and contributing...FORE!!!

Over the last couple of months of this horrendous Coronavirus Covid-19 and its sudden impact on the world, and in our case golf in particular, Caddie Golf Tours have been in constant communication with our golfers, home and overseas, about the various scenarios this will have on their 2020 Scotland Golf Tours. Carnoustie Championship 18th With the British government placing the whole country in a 'lockdown' on 24th March, the most disruptive for all would be to cancel and return money deposited or even fully paid. All terms and conditions about cancellation fees written into our contracts have been revisited and revised due to the horrendous nature of this virus. Kingsbarns Golf Links 12th tee The overriding thought has been to reschedule the golf tours to a later date. The difficulty doing it for later this year in 2020, is no one knows when the 'lockdown' will be lifted, our golf courses and accommodation opened and even if international travel would be...

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!

The Old Course and the other links courses in St Andrews have moved towards non gender specific tee markers for the 2020 season. No longer do they have a red disc for ladies, yellow for gents and white for the gents medal/competition on their tees. They have introduced green, blue and black to signify forward, middle and back respectively. Golfers are encouraged to play from the tee position that suits their game...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!

It was a delight this morning to receive an early Christmas present from the St Andrews Golf Club and my membership for the 2020 golf season. The 'Fixture List' for 2020 states an amazing number of competitions and I will have to look closely to arrange dates throughout the year, if allowed...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...

The St Andrews Links Trust officially announced last week that they are to reintroduce the reverse route on the Old Course for two days, 29th and 30th November. Golfers will have the opportunity to play the Old Course in the original clockwork direction, thus the infamous 17th Road hole now becomes the 1st, and then the 16th, as we know it now, will be the 2nd and so on. A red flag on 17th green "reverse" course If I remember correctly it was last played in reverse during April 2008, over an Easter weekend. A unique Ballot was held at the end of last week and those golfers who submitted an application have been informed if they were successful. The 1st green with red flag becomes the 17th green As it is the end of the year daylight hours are in short supply and tee times will be between 08:40 and 12 noon. Only 3 hours with 21 tee times adding up to 84 golfers. On Saturday 30th November a competition will be held for local golf clubs and is therefore limited...

The 2019 & 2020 winter green fees for the Old Course St Andrews have been published along with those for the full 2020 golf season. 1st tee Old Course St Andrews. 1st Jan - 31st March, low season, 95 British Pounds 1st - 19th April, shoulder season, 133 British Pounds 20th April - 18th October, high season, 195 British Pounds 19th - 31st October, shoulder season, 137 British Pounds 1st November - 31st December, low season, 98 British Pounds 18th tee Old Course St Andrews. Please contact Caddie Golf Tours to assist with your visit to golf Scotland and St Andrews, we look forward to hearing from you...Fore!

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...

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...

On Wednesday 21st August, 2019, at 10:00 am the St Andrews Links Trust will be accepting advance applications for guaranteed 2020 Old Course tee times. The application is open for 2 weeks closing on Wednesday 4th September 2019. The Golfers Bridge over Swilken Burn Old Course St Andrews Applications can be made using an online form that can be accessed from the St Andrews Links Trust website using the following link:  Private Advance Tee Times 2020   Tee times are not allocated on a first come basis they are picked using a ballot after the 2 week window has closed. 18th tee Old Course St Andrews A minimum of 2 and maximum of 8 golfers can make the application for a 2 course package which includes the Old Course and a choice of a second golf course at the St Andrews Links from the following amazing courses: New Course, Jubilee Course, Eden Course and Castle Course. Cost is  £ 340  for the High Season 14th April - 13th October 2020 Cost i...

Scotscraig GC is one of our great challenging links golf courses, located 20 minutes from St Andrews, it has been host to numerous final qualifying for The Open Championship when played on the Old Course and at Carnoustie. A testimont to the quality of this hybrid links-parkland course and an obvious choice for the Kingsbarns Golf Society annual golf outing. Scotscraid  Scotscraig is one of Scotland's older courses being founded 1817 and is much loved by local golfers and those from overseas. The sea may not be viewed from the course but the turf plays linksland due to the sand base and the golf holes genuinely test the golfer. Recent history brings the excellent former World No1, US Open Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist...Justin Rose to the fore. He played Scotscraig GC to gain entry to the Open, when younger,  and made such an impression that an Honorary Membership was bestowed. The annual Kingsbarns Golf Society, circa 1793, had this year's outing...

The 2019 Simpson Cup match was golfed on St Andrews Links, May 19-22, 2019, with the final singles round played over the Old Course St Andrews on Wednesday 22nd. I had the pleasure of caddying with David from GB&I team, a former Captain of the match, we were pitted against USA veteran Scott, giving him 5 shots on the Old Course, which he used to his advantage defeating us on the 16th green. We continued to golf the 17th and 18th enjoying the full experience on the legendary links with good company. The Simpson Cup is an annual Ryder Cup-style event between 13 UK and US injured Servicemen and Veterans. It is supported by On Course Foundation a 501(c)(3) Non-profit that supports the recovery of injured Service members and veterans via golf events and jobs in the golf industry.