Facts About St. Andrews - video Dailymotion

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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]

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