Great Golf Courses 3 - The Old Course, St Andrews

A faster tournament with no vacation, to celebrate the Home of Golf.

Actually, St Andrews gets this title because it is the headquarters of the Royal & Ancient Golf club, which organisation, along with the US Golf Association, is the world governing body for the sport. The first reference to golf as we know it was in Edinburgh, either at Bruntsfield Links or Leith Links, depending who you believe.

Nevertheless, the Old Course is one of the oldest courses in the world, and the most famous. The Open is held there every five years. It is owned by the town of St Andrews, so it is accessible to anyone although, naturally, demand to play exceeds capacity.

To modern golfers, it is an odd course. There are wide open spaces without much rough - indeed fairways lie side by side, and there are enormous "double" greens. There are many, many bunkers, some huge such as Hell, half an acre in size, and a multitude of small pot bunkers just big enough for an angry man and his sand wedge. Nine holes play away from the clubhouse, and nine back, the classic links course design.

The image shows Jack Nicklaus, the greatest golfer of the modern era, in his last Open championship, on the iconic bridge over the Swilken burn on the 18th fairway. Behind is the clubhouse of the Royal & Ancient.