Facts About St. Andrews
Transcript
00:00 The 150th Open is taking place this year at the home of golf, the Old Course at St Andrews.
00:06 While you're watching the TV coverage, you'll no doubt hear commentators reference bunker
00:10 names, building names and various other pieces of folklore that surround the Old Course.
00:15 In this video we're going to take a look at some of the unique elements that make the
00:18 Old Course so famous.
00:21 The Old Course at St Andrews is considered by many to be the home of golf because the
00:26 sport was first played on the links at St Andrews in the early 15th century.
00:30 Golf was becoming increasingly popular in Scotland until James II of Scotland banned
00:35 the game in 1457 because he felt that young men were playing too much golf instead of
00:40 practising their archery.
00:41 The ban was upheld by James III and remained in force until 1502 when James IV became a
00:47 golfer himself and removed the ban.
00:50 In 1754, 22 noblemen, professors and landowners founded the Society of St Andrews Golfers.
00:57 This society would eventually become the precursor to the R&A, which is the governing body of
01:01 golf everywhere outside of the United States and Mexico.
01:04 So from the birth of the sport itself to the birth of the R&A, you can see why St Andrews
01:09 is known as the home of golf.
01:11 How many courses are there at St Andrews Links?
01:13 Today there are seven public golf courses in total.
01:16 The Balgove, Eden, Jubilee, Strathtyrum, New, Old and the Castle Course, which is sited
01:23 on the cliffs a mile to the east of St Andrews.
01:25 It's worth noting the New Course isn't actually that new, it's just newer than the Old Course.
01:29 The New Course was opened in 1895, 347 years later than the Old Course.
01:35 St Andrews Links takes up almost 300 hectares and the Castle Course almost 90 hectares.
01:40 Overall, more than 230,000 rounds of golf are played on the seven courses each year
01:45 with around 45,000 being played on the Old Course alone.
01:48 St Andrews is owned by the local Fife Council with public ownership of the land enshrined
01:53 in law to protect the land and make sure it's only used for golf.
01:57 Okay, so let's go through some quick facts about how the Old Course is played.
02:00 Firstly, it's played in an anti-clockwise direction after being primarily played clockwise
02:05 up until the 19th century.
02:07 Clockwise play has been permitted once a year in modern times and it's worth noting that
02:10 the course is closed on Sundays.
02:12 The front nine holes of the course have white flags while the back nine holes, except the
02:17 18th hole, have red flags.
02:19 The 18th green has a white flag so that it can be seen in front of the red Hamilton Grand
02:23 Building.
02:24 No other golf course has as many famous bunkers, roads and landmarks as the Old Course.
02:28 It has 112 bunkers and countless hills and hollows, each of which is surrounded by their
02:33 own folklore and centuries of golfers passing them by.
02:36 Many have their own names and legends, so let's take a look at some of the most famous
02:39 examples on the Old Course.
02:41 The Swilcombe Bridge is a 700-year-old bridge that spans the Swilcombe Burn across the 1st
02:46 and 18th fairway.
02:47 It was originally built to help shepherds get livestock across the Swilcombe Burn.
02:52 Granny Clark's Wind is a one-lane paved public road going across the 18th fairway.
02:57 This was once used to haul boats from the town centre down to the West Sands Beach and
03:01 it is still used today to take people from the town to the beach.
03:05 Hell Bunker on the 14th hole does what it says on the tin, really.
03:09 It's one of the most notorious golfing hazards.
03:12 It covers an area of 300 square yards and is between 7 and 10 feet deep.
03:17 Of course, you've got the Road Hole Bunker 2 on the 17th hole, which is arguably an even
03:21 more famous hazard on the Old Course.
03:23 Those are but a few of the hundreds of bunkers and other points of interest on the Old Course.
03:27 See if you can spot them whilst you're watching the television coverage.
03:30 The 1st, 9th, 17th and 18th holes all have their own greens.
03:35 The 1st and 18th holes have no bunkers on them and they share one fairway that is 129
03:40 yards wide.
03:41 All of the other holes have shared greens and all of the holes that do share a green
03:45 add up to 18.
03:47 For example, holes 16 and 2 share a green, 14 and 4, 15 and 3 and so on.
03:52 The Open Championship has been played on the Old Course 29 times, more than any other venue.
03:58 A study found that in 2015, the Open Championship generated more than £140 million for the
04:03 local economy.
04:05 So there you have it.
04:06 Hopefully you've learned a little bit about the history, folklore and legend behind the
04:10 Old Course and St Andrews.
04:12 However, what you've heard today is barely scratching the surface of the history of the
04:15 home of golf.
04:16 So for even more info on the Old Course and other courses in Scotland, head to the courses
04:21 section on the Golf Monthly website.
04:23 [Music]