The Old Course at St. Andrews is one of the oldest and most prestigious golf courses in the world. Golfers from not just the United States, but Australia and Europe, all have this course on their bucket list. The course has held several major championships, and is consistently ranked in the top 100 golf courses in the entire world. St. Andrews is possibly the most famous and important golf course in the history of the sport because golf was first played on this course. During the mid-1400s, many people started to play golf, but the sport was actually banned by the king because he wanted the younger people to practice fighting. Later, the sport was reinstated and people began playing the Old Course again. The course has held The Open Championship several times which is arguably one of the most important majors in the professional tournament season. The championship features golfers from all over the world and they compete for the “champion golfer of the year.” The Open Championship is actually the oldest golf tournament in the world and has gained a reputation of being one of the most prestigious. The Old Course has held the Open Championship 29 times since 1873. The course has a very rich history and it would be very interesting to learn how the course came to be one of the most famous in the world.

The course itself has a very different layout than courses that we would normally see here in the United States. In the United States, the courses have a much different layout. Depending on the geographic location, you will see water features, treelines, and bent grass. However, in Europe the course design is much different. The Old Course of St. Andrews has a “links” style. This means that the course has no trees and is rather open. Now, to most golfers this would be a good sign. However, the lack of trees on the course means that the winds will affect the golfers much more. On courses where there are many trees, they mostly block the winds from having extreme effects on the golf ball. However, when there are no trees around, the wind can really affect the golf ball. The Old Course is famous for being extremely difficult due to the cold and the wind. Another feature of the course is very sloping greens. Putting and short game on these courses are especially tested as certain layouts and formations can cause golfers to take many strokes to complete a hole. But even though the course is very difficult to play, it is definitely on my bucket list. As someone who has never played a links style course, I would love to experience that. Links style courses play very differently and I believe that playing them can elevate skills. Golfers will learn how to cope with the wind or cold conditions while playing.