Playing the Old Course: Experience Begins Before the First Tee

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: July 26, 2010

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As I stood on the first tee waiting for my playing partner to tee off, I suppressed a chuckle. The man, I observed, was quivering over his golf ball—and by St. Andrews standards, it wasn't even that cold.

But the fickle Scottish weather wasn't the Texan's problem. Like countless others before him, the guy had waited years for this experience and here it was: He was on the first tee on the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, the home of golf and the fulfillment of every player's dreams.

This dream, however, was starting out as a bit of nightmare. An 18-handicap at best, a few minutes earlier the man had read the sign near the starter's shack which, among other things, informs players that slow play would not be tolerated and violators were subject to removal from the hallowed grounds of the world's oldest golf course.

Hence the knee-knocking. After several seconds, the Texan finally pulled the trigger and watched his ball fly on a right angle toward the North Sea.

My buddy survived the first hole—and the round—but playing ability aside, would have had a better time had he known more about what to expect than what he had seen on TV. The Old Course, understand, is an experience that begins even before you arrive in St. Andrews. That includes preparation for even getting on the Old Course, site of the recent Open Championship.

"Playing the Old Course completes many golfers’ personal bucket list, but getting to the first tee at St. Andrews takes careful planning and often a stroke of good fortune," says Gordon Dalgleish, co-founder and president of PerryGolf, a travel firm that has managed tours to Scotland and many of golf’s most popular destinations since 1984.

There are several ways to get on the world’s most prestigious public course, Dalgleish says, including applying for a tee time directly through the St. Andrews Links Trust’s advanced reservation pr...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

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