A recent round at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia (https://bit.ly/2B2p8ib) inspired me to…read morewrite this Yelp review for my experience at the Home of Golf: St Andrews Links in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Why? Because the rounds felt similar, walking with caddies and all, on a historic course. I'm an avid golfer and to date, the round with my father on the Old Course remains the most memorable round of golf I've played. It was like a dream or fantasy round to me. I'll remember it for the rest of my life. We played both the Old Course and the New Course. We played the New Course first on Sunday morning, July 1, 2007 and then the Old Course the next day, Monday morning, July 2, 2007. Yep, I'm writing a review in 2018 for rounds of golf I played over 11 years ago. I didn't have a Yelp account back then and Yelp didn't exist in Scotland yet either. I write this review and post these photos for posterity. The Old Course is the oldest golf course in the world. The first rounds were played on the course in the 1400s. The New Course isn't all that new, but compared to the Old Course, it's roughly 400 years newer; it opened for play in 1895. My sister and I thought playing golf at St Andrews would be a great birthday present for my dad, so that's how this golf trip came to be. My sister, through a coworker, found the perfect accommodations for us. It was a bed and breakfast located walking within distance of the Old Course's first tee, on a road called The Scores. In addition to being mere minutes walk away from the Old Course, the house had an incredible view of the North Sea. The house belonged to Anne Marie Hippisley. She was a wonderful host who treated our family like her own. I was in charge of booking the rounds and the caddies. I booked everything online through St Andrews Links' website (https://www.standrews.com/) and via email. I had to print, complete, sign, scan, and attach forms to emails to St Andrews. This included a "Provisional Tee Reservation" form dated September 21, 2006 with two rounds, total payment due November 30, 2006, and signed by Nicola Galloway: 1. July 1, 2007 at 7:36 AM on New Course - £130 for 2 golfers 2. July 2, 2007 at 7:50 AM on Old Course - £250 for 2 golfers The British pound was quite strong in 2007. £1.00 was equivalent to about $2.00 (today £1 is only about $1.30). So at the time, the rounds on the New Course cost me about £65 (or about $130) per person and on the Old Course, about £125 (or about $250) per person. Compare that to prices today (in 2018) where a round on the Old Course currently runs £180 (or about $230) per person. For an American, it's less expensive to play St Andrews now than when I played 11 years ago. Note we played during the high season, April-October, when prices are the highest. If you play at St Andrews during the winter, you have to carry around a mat and you are supposed to hit all of your fairway shots off of the mat and not off the actual course. It's lame, but it's needed to protect the course during the winter months. According to St Andrews Links, about 45,000 rounds are played on the Old Course annually (https://bit.ly/2RM2QrZ). That is insane. I can't remember if I was required to book a round on one of St Andrews Links' other courses if I wanted to book a round on the Old Course. I remember we had to do that when we played at Pebble Beach. To play Pebble Beach, not only did we have to book a round on another course at Pebble Beach Resorts (we picked Spyglass Hill - to date, the toughest course I've played), but we also had to stay one night at the Lodge at Pebble Beach. St Andrews Links has seven courses. In addition to the Old and New Courses, there are the Castle, Jubilee, Eden, Strathtyrum, and Balgove Courses. I emailed my caddie request form on January 6, 2007 and received a response in less than 24 hours. I was told the caddie manager would do his best to fulfill my request, but "as caddies are self employed, they cannot be guaranteed." At the time, caddies cost £40 per round (not including gratuity) and trainee caddies cost £25 per round. Today, those prices are £50 and £35, respectively. I was paired up with an American caddie named Oliver Horovitz. He was an undergrad at Harvard at the time. He ended up writing a New York Times bestseller entitled "An American Caddie in St. Andrews: Growing Up, Girls, and Looping on the Old Course," released in 2014 (https://amzn.to/2QIvMnF). My dad had an English caddie named Ben. They were our caddies for both rounds. My caddie at East Lake, Jerry Rodger, who is from St Andrews, is actually friends with Ollie. What a coincidence and a small world. Ollie asked me what my 150-yard club was and he took it from there. I hit a decent drive off the first tee on the Old Course - the most pressure-packed of my life with so many people watching - and recall the fairways being thin. I ended up shooting a 101 (with 2 pars) on the New Course and a 97 (with 5 pars) on the Old Course.

Still in awe of this property while writing this review! As two (very bad) golfers, we loved…read morelearning about the rich history of this course and the evolution over the years. Our Guide was armed with so many cool facts about specific tournaments and how players approached the holes. Highly recommend this for anyone passing through St Andrews but especially golfers!

Beautiful store with a real Scotland feel to it. Original and unique to "Old Golf" and Scotland…read more Explicitly branded due to the historical significance.

This is a small shop with good prices. As you walk nearer to St Andrew's Links, it seems the…read moreprices go up. Not an extensive selection of merchandise but some of everything. A good place to visit if you need to buy souvenirs for your friends and family.

Really cool to wander around some of the paths along the old golf course and see what I've seen so…read moremany times on television in the past. More signage for visitors who are only interested in looking around would have been helpful. As it was, we walked from the cathedral on a windy and stormy day. We lucked out and missed the rain completely, but you'll want to be prepared if you visit and have an umbrella handy (or better yet, a raincoat, as umbrellas are usually useless in the wind here). The club restaurant was packed, people were playing all of the courses. There was a small putting green but we weren't interesting in that. Nice to see once and take some pics. But no reason to really hang around. Most of the shops surrounding the course were closed as well. There were one or two small restaurants nearby open but we didn't bother to stop as they were all quite busy. This is one of those places you can see once, take some pics, and be satisfied.

I don't play golf, but went for a dog walk here and the course looks incredible. I know we have the…read morebest courses in the world, and St Andrew's is the pinnacle. Gorgeous space and beautiful views in a lovely town.

Awesome golf links with great views! Let me start with, the practice putting green has a full ocean…read moreview & the views only got better with each hole. Everyone on staff was so friendly, helpful, & professional every step of the way! The replay rate of 50% off next day green fees was a no-brainer! We stocked up at the pro shop both days.

As good as it gets. Great service from the top on down. Great Caddy (Graham)!!!! What a great…read moreexperience. I was treated like a member. Great condition and worth every Pound! Loved the rental clubs and the beer after was great. All of the employees loved their job and were so friendly. All of the locals said it was the best and I agree. The service made it awesome from the starter to the hostess. Keep it up.

3.5 stars The Castle Course is a beautiful course with many…read morescenic views. It's not an easy course by any means, but 5 sets of tees attempts to make it playable for many different levels of ability. The 17th hole lives up to the hype and probably is one of the best par 3s in the world. That said, the greens come close to ruining the entire experience and should include a clown's mouth, windmill and other things you might find at a putt putt golf.

Great golf course that demands a good shot. No mercy for a bad shot, but that's the same with…read moreall courses in Scotland. Lunch. I had the ham and cheese sandwich with fries. The cheese in the sandwich was excellent.

We played Jubilee in St. Andrews and Western Gailes outside Glasgow during a Scotland trip and Elie…read morewas very easily our favorite course. The staff were great, but probably more importantly the course was amazing and didn't have to rely solely on being narrow to make it challenging. If your thing is having a great view of the coast, this is also your jam. This is the easily the best course we played in Scotland and one of the best courses we've played in any country. They do an excellent job of using elevation change, bunkers, and undulations to make the course extremely interesting. We will absolutely be back.

4.5 stars If I…read moreremember correctly, this was the first course I ever played in Scotland. I was a wee bit nervous and excited -- and the first tee didn't help. It's a blind shot and am sure more than one person has hit the starter's quarters off the tee. Fortunately I did not add my name to that list. The first Club The Elie and Earlsferry Golf Club was formed in 1832. A clubhouse or what was known as a golf house was built in 1875, and the opportunity was taken to use this name to form a new club in the same year, The Golf House Club. By 1896 more land had been leased enabling an 18 hole course to be laid out, which bar a few minor alterations is the course played today. It's a very fun course and a great layout -- a little tight in a few areas with good exposure to the elements -- the wind certainly does blow. Our last trip to Scotland included another visit to Elie and it proved to be just as enjoyable (even if it poured for half of the round). A good value as well. Hope to return.

4.5 stars Lundin was…read morefounded in 1868, on a Tom Morris course and redesigned in 1908-09 by five times Open Champion James Braid. I loved this course. Great layout with some very interesting holes. Very scenic and beautiful. The first 6 holes are probably the strongest on the course -- but all of us agreed this was a tremendous course and a must play. All in all a very memorable and enjoyable day at a historic and treasured place. Hope to return!

For the record, I shot a bogey on 18th better than Jean Van de Velde! I can't believe they've…read moreetched is name into the cement where he hit it into the water known as Barry Burn. Amazing course with stunning views of the coast. Expect to play in the wind and hail at times even in April. We were worried when it snowed the night before but the course told us to come out anyways and would wait until the weather improved which it did. The temperature was 38 degrees when we started and ended at 45 degrees. It was still one of the greatest days of golf that I could remember.

By far, the best all around experience our group had over 5 rounds of golf. The guys who helped us…read morewere so fun and I had a good score. Thank you.