£42.50 to play Old Course - Scottish golfers set for St Andrews steal

Well, well, well! A Scottish golf venue has launched an exciting new initiative that will see green fees slashed for Scottish golfers and guess what? It is providing the chance to play what is arguably the world’s most-famous course for just over £40.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That’s how much it will cost some lucky Scots to tee it up on the Old Course at St Andrews, venue of a record 31 Open Championships, as part of Drive, which has been unveiled by St Andrews Links Trust to “widen access to its iconic courses”.

Between May and October this year, a total of 179 tee times on offer through the Links Trust’s booking process are being made available at a reduced rate for “golf enthusiasts who live in Scotland” and aimed at people who “love golf, play golf and haven’t had the chance to play golf in St Andrews”.

A golfer tees off on the 18th on the Old Course, where a few lucky people will be playing for just £42.50 this year | St Andrews Links Trust

It means that 716 golfers will get the opportunity to play four of the Links Trust’s seven courses - the Old, Castle, Jubilee and Eden - at a staggering 87.5 per cent reduction on the regular high-season green fees.

So, instead of £340 for the Old Course, it will be £42.50 while the cost for the Castle Course will be £22.50 as opposed to £180 for an adult and £90 for someone under 16. Instead of £150 for an adult and £75 for under-16s, it will be just £18.75 for the Jubilee Course and £9.50 for the Eden Course rather than £75 and £38.

“As the Home of Golf, St Andrews Links Trust takes its responsibility to the sport incredibly seriously,” said chief executive Neil Coulson of what is one of the most eye-catching announcements in the game in terms of green fees being reduced for a long time.

“That is why we are so excited to launch a new initiative offering golfers across Scotland the opportunity to play our historic and iconic courses at a lower price. Widening access to golf is a key objective for us, and over the coming years we hope we can continue to provide opportunities to golfers of all ages and abilities.”

Make no mistake, this really is something that should be applauded, especially for those who will get the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the game’s greats on the Old Course, with the first stage of the project seeing 11 tee times made available for it on 21 May.

Just think about it. Someone who previously might have had to be content with a game of putting on the Himalayas, home of the St Andrews Ladies Putting Club, because of the normal cost for the Old Course and also, of course, the huge demand for tee times on it will now enjoy a fairytale experience at one of the sport’s cathedrals.

“Golf has become increasingly popular in recent years and with this demand for our courses has surged to unprecedented levels,” added Coulson, who took up the reins of the charitable trust in 2021 and has certainly put his own stamp on the post. “We will continue to ensure that our ticket holders (locals gain access to all seven of the Links Trust’s courses for just £386 through an annual ticket) and visitors have the best experience possible, while ensuring that one of the country’s most precious golfing assets is available for the public, too.”

Scottish-based golfers are being offered the opportunity to putt out on the 18th green on the Old Course for the first time through the Drive initiative launched by St Andrews Links Trust | St Andrews Links Trust

It has to be pointed out, of course, that the Links Trust can afford to offer discounted rounds. In 2023, it brought in an all-time high total incoming of £43.8 million, with net income of £11.4m whereas the corresponding figure a decade earlier had been a modest £900,000. Though helped by an increase in merchandising sales, the main factor for that huge upturn is the sheer number of rounds rising from 213,086 to 283,032 in that period.

In short, golf is booming in St Andrews, though not everyone is happy. As highlighted in ‘Scorecard: The Business of Golf’, The Scotsman’s recent series scrutinising the finances underpinning the game, a newly-formed group known as the St Andrews Resident Golf Association (STARGA) has expressed concern that an emphasis on increasing revenues may be subverting the original intention of the legislation for the Links Trust being established in 1974.

Its members believe the total number of visitor rounds increasing by 49 per cent from 2009 to 2023 is disproportionate and that the courses are “overplayed”, but no-one can surely voice any discontent about the Links Trust trying to “buck the trend” when it comes to green fees, albeit for a limited number, and, moreover, allowing Scottish golfers to be the beneficiaries.

According to a study conducted by UK Golf Guy, a popular account on X, the average green fee at a selection of top 20 venues in the UK has increased by 105 per cent between 2015 and 2025. The figure was £182 in 2015, but, a decade later, that has jumped to £374.

At North Berwick, for example, the cost of a green fee has risen by 185 per cent from £100 to £285 while other big jumps were highlighted at Royal Dornoch (167 per cent from £120 to £320, Trump Turnberry (120 per cent from £250 to £600) and Trump International Golf Links (130 per cent from £215 to £495). At Trump Turnberry, meanwhile, a round on the Ailsa Course has been hiked to £1,000 this year for non-hotel residents before 1pm.

Let’s not beat about the bush. Some of those figures are eye-watering, but, in fairness, they’ve been set due to the fact most foreign visitors here expect to pay that sort of money at top-class venues around the world and they’d be wary if Scottish courses were considerably cheaper.

It also should be noted, of course, that lots of the top venues around the country offer local resident and/or Scottish resident rates, so what the Links Trust is doing isn’t necessarily a ground-breaking step.

But, at a time when the spotlight is well and truly on the sport after Rory McIlroy became just the sixth player to complete a career grand slam after landing his dramatic Masters win, hats off to St Andrews for doing something that shows Scots still matter and rightly so.