The course is beside the town, but championship entrances and public access change during events.
Quick facts
- Competition dates
- The Open 2027 St Andrews: Tickets & Hotels: 15–18 July 2027; Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 2027: 30 September–3 October 2027
- Venue
- Old Course, St Andrews
- Full postal address
- Pilmour House, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9SF, United Kingdom (Links Trust postal office; not a spectator entrance) Source
- Nearest station
- Leuchars (for St Andrews); onward road connection Source
- Airport option
- Edinburgh Airport Source
- Town
- St Andrews Source
- Tickets
- The Open 2027: ballot closed; check official resale, Ticket Plus waiting list and packages. Dunhill Links: 2026 edition, for guidance — Thursday–Saturday free; Sunday at the Old Course requires an advance ticket; 2027 terms unpublished.
A course woven into the town
Confirmed: the R&A has selected St Andrews for The Open in 2027, with the championship week running from 11 to 18 July. It will be the thirty-first Open staged here. The Old Course also shares the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with Carnoustie and Kingsbarns. Those are different experiences: The Open concentrates the championship here, while the Dunhill spreads its early rounds across three courses. Start with the event you actually want to attend, then choose your nights around its published programme.
St Andrews feels unusual because golf meets everyday town life around the opening and closing holes. You can have breakfast in town, walk towards the links and see the skyline behind the eighteenth green without beginning a long rural journey. That proximity is a strong reason to pay attention to the location of a room, rather than searching only by the words “St Andrews” in a listing. Accommodation outside the centre can mean a separate morning transfer.
Our suggestion: allow an additional half-day away from your ticketed golf day. Seeing the town, walking beside the beach where conditions allow and exploring the streets gives the visit room to breathe. Trying to combine a full championship round, a museum visit, dinner and a long drive home makes an iconic destination feel like a checklist. A second evening is particularly valuable if part of your group enjoys golf less intensely than you do.
A view of the course
Character and holes worth understanding
Confirmed: St Andrews Links identifies the Swilcan Bridge, Road Hole and Hell Bunker among the Old Course's landmarks. Its course material is the best companion for learning their position before travelling. Shared greens, broad expanses of closely mown ground and deep hazards can be difficult to read from television alone. The interesting question is often where a player wants the ball to finish, rather than whether a tee shot simply finds grass.
Our suggestion: concentrate on the relationship between the seventeenth and the town-side finish. The Road Hole makes more sense when you can appreciate the approach and the space around the green. At the eighteenth, watch how the final approach changes the next putt. Familiarity with the Swilcan Bridge should not tempt you to enter playing ground for a photograph. Follow steward directions and keep the crossing clear when it is in use.
Hell Bunker is another useful lesson in strategy: a hazard can influence a decision long before a ball lands in it. Read the official hole guide before setting off, then notice the different lines taken by players in changing wind. You do not need to memorise yardages. Tournament tees, pins and weather change the shot considerably. Watching the flight, landing point and next position will tell you more than comparing every strike with a number you found months earlier.
Our suggestion: if you are comparing accommodation in St Andrews, ask for directions to the championship entrance rather than to the Swilcan Bridge. Town-side familiarity can create false confidence about event access. Keep a small arrival plan for the first morning: where to collect breakfast, where to meet anyone travelling separately and which route you will use if the nearest path is controlled. Sorting those details once lets later mornings become pleasantly routine.
Watching a championship here
Our suggestion: choose either a walking day or a watching day before you arrive. For the first, follow a group for a manageable stretch and pause somewhere quieter afterwards. For the second, choose an authorised viewing position early, let several groups pass and use a scoreboard to follow the wider competition. Combining both approaches is fine, but constantly chasing the leading group usually produces more walking than clear views.
The homeward holes are obvious attractions. They are also the places where many other spectators want to finish. Look at the current event map for grandstands, crossings, accessible platforms and routes back to the exit. A seat or bank that looks perfectly placed on a golf map may be closed, ticket restricted or screened by event infrastructure. Final 2027 spectator routes, gate arrangements and viewing access should be taken from the organiser when published.
Our suggestion for a first morning is to arrive with enough time to find the practice area if it is accessible, collect your bearings and watch several styles of play before choosing a favourite group. At the Old Course, distant flags and adjacent holes can confuse newcomers. Confirm the hole number on your map rather than assuming the nearest putting surface belongs to the group you followed. Keep your phone silent, stop moving when a player addresses the ball and put safety ahead of a photograph.
Getting to St Andrews
Confirmed: the university's travel guidance directs rail passengers to Leuchars, with an onward bus, taxi or car journey into St Andrews. National Rail calls the station “Leuchars (for St Andrews)”. St Andrews itself is not the station to enter as your final rail stop. Book a through itinerary to Leuchars and then work out the final leg separately, including how you will return after watching the final groups.
Our suggestion: compare the whole door-to-door trip from Edinburgh Airport or another arrival point. A flight landing late can leave you with fewer comfortable onward options than a slightly dearer daytime arrival. Travelling with golf clubs adds another consideration: the luggage that is sensible for a playing holiday is cumbersome on a crowded championship transfer. Keep your spectator day bag separate so you can leave the large luggage at your accommodation.
Driving can work well for an East Neuk base or a mixed holiday, but town-centre parking and event parking are different products. Follow the championship's signed approach and official parking instructions instead of navigating to the first tee. If your accommodation includes a parking space, ask whether that means a reserved space or simply nearby public parking. For an early start, agree breakfast arrangements and the route out of the property the evening before; discovering a locked gate or remote parking bay at dawn is an avoidable nuisance.
The R&A’s 2027 travel plan provides a Leuchars–course shuttle up to every five minutes at peak times. Public parking is through Park & Ride, with no public course-side parking. Pay-on-day car parking costs £20 on 11–12 July and £25 on 13–18 July; booking by 17:00 the previous day saves £7. Practice-day return buses finish at 20:00, Thursday–Friday at 22:00 and Saturday–Sunday at 21:00. Confirmed: The Open travel plan.
Choosing your overnight base
Our suggestion: St Andrews is the first choice for atmosphere and the least complicated evening. Choose the room by its walk to the relevant event entrance, not its straight-line distance to the clubhouse. Check steps, upper floors, breakfast times and where wet clothing can dry. For a family, a kitchen and a washing machine may be more useful than a view. A central address becomes especially valuable when some people want to return before the golf finishes.
Dundee suits a longer stay with restaurants and city activities between golf days. It needs a deliberate onward plan to St Andrews, particularly for a late finish. Cupar is an alternative Fife town base; compare its final transfer carefully before assuming the shorter map distance makes the day easy. These choices can broaden your accommodation search when the town is busy, but calculate the cost of transfers for every person and every day.
Anstruther and Crail suit visitors who want the East Neuk to be part of the holiday. They can be attractive choices for a slower evening and a coastal break, especially if you are visiting Kingsbarns as well. Their advantage is the kind of trip they create, not a promise of effortless championship transport. Check your route for each golf day and have a plan for the person who chooses to stay behind. Reserving several refundable options indefinitely is unhelpful; settle on the base that genuinely fits once your admission and transport are clear.
Food, evenings and a non-golf day
Our suggestion: keep the first evening in St Andrews simple. After travelling, choose dinner within a comfortable walk of your room, prepare the next day's bag and leave ambitious sightseeing for another afternoon. For a championship week, reserve any meal that matters to the group and ask how the restaurant handles a delayed arrival. An unpredictable finishing time and a strict dinner booking are awkward companions.
The town's compact streets make it easy to build an evening around a meal and a short walk rather than another drive. If you stay in Anstruther or Crail, enjoy that base instead of automatically returning to St Andrews every night. Dundee gives a different rhythm, with a city evening after the golf. Agree in advance whether the group wants lively conversation, an early night or separate plans; tired spectators are rarely improved by an hour of indecision outside a full restaurant.
For a quieter day, explore the town independently of the championship enclosure. A walk near West Sands can be a pleasant contrast to watching greens, but dress for the coast and respect any event restrictions. Visitors with limited energy should save it for the activity they most care about. You can enjoy St Andrews without adding another long walk simply because it appears on a suggested itinerary. Keep a wet-weather alternative and allow time to collect luggage without rushing the return connection.
Playing the Old Course and making the booking
Confirmed: the Links Trust runs an Old Course playing ballot and publishes separate booking information. A spectator ticket and a tee-time reservation are entirely separate. Consult the current official playing routes, eligibility and conditions before organising a round. Do not confuse the golf ballot with The Open's admission ballot: one allocates opportunities to play and the other concerns attendance at a championship.
Our suggestion: if playing is an important part of the holiday, arrange a realistic alternative course day alongside your Old Course ambitions. A trip that only feels successful if a ballot falls your way puts unnecessary pressure on everyone. Ask about handicap documentation, rental equipment, caddies, cancellation terms and course preparation closures before paying. A published visitor scheme does not mean tee times remain available during a major event's build-up.
Make your final accommodation comparison using the entire stay cost, the cancellation deadline and the actual morning journey. Check that every required night is included, especially when a late finish makes an extra night worthwhile. Save your official ticket confirmation, accommodation details and onward travel instructions where you can find them offline. For the event-specific ticket and transport plan, continue to The Open hub; compare the surrounding stops through our Dunhill Links guide and prepare your bag with the packing guide.
More help for your St Andrews trip
- St Andrews town guide for Open visitors
- Eating and drinking in St Andrews during The Open
- The Old Course: a spectator’s guide to all 18 holes
- A family day at The Open 2027
- Practice days at The Open 2027
- Getting around Fife during Open week
- Edinburgh to The Open: a day-trip guide
- Dundee as a base for The Open 2027
- Staying in the East Neuk for The Open
- Camping, caravans and motorhomes for The Open
- Things to do in St Andrews beyond the golf
- A day out from St Andrews during The Open
- The Open 2027 for international visitors
- The Open 2027 on a budget
- Watching The Open without a ticket
- St Andrews and the history of The Open
- The Old Course: an essential spectator glossary
- Accessibility at The Open 2027
- The Open 2027: frequently asked questions
- The Open on a budget: three days based in Dundee
- The Open from Edinburgh: a city break with two golf days
History
- A timeline of golf history
- Every Open champion, 1860–2026
- From the Dunhill Cup to the Dunhill Links
- St Andrews Old Course: a living history
- Every Open Venue: All 14 Courses and Host Counts
- Old Tom and Young Tom Morris: Golf’s First Family
- Seve Ballesteros in Britain and the Ryder Cup
- Scottish Golf’s Great Champions
- Seve’s fist pump at St Andrews, 1984
- Ten of the greatest Open finishes
- The Open Records: Wins, Scores, Ages and Play-offs
- Course records and notable championship scores
Watching an event here
St Andrews Old Course visitor guide — championship planning: tickets · hospitality and upgrades.
Find accommodation for your visit
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Course, rail and accommodation bases
- Course: St Andrews Old Course visitor guide
- Rail connection: Leuchars railway station
- Stay base: St Andrews, Fife
- Stay base: Dundee, Scotland
- Stay base: Cupar, Fife
- Stay base: Anstruther, Fife
- Stay base: Crail, Fife
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Rail connections may differ from the organiser’s event-day station; check the current travel plan. Numbered markers may be offset slightly, with a line showing their map position, to keep the key readable.