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 names,
00:11 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 Old Course
00:19 so famous. The Old Course at St Andrews is considered by many to be the home of golf
00:26 because the sport was first played on the links at St Andrews in the early 15th century. Golf
00:31 was becoming increasingly popular in Scotland until James II of Scotland banned the game in
00:36 1457 because he felt that young men were playing too much golf instead of practising their archery.
00:41 The ban was upheld by James III and remained in force until 1502 when James IV became a golfer
00:48 himself and removed the ban. In 1754, 22 noblemen, professors and landowners founded the Society of
00:55 St Andrews Golfers. This society would eventually become the precursor to the R&A, which is the
01:00 governing body of golf everywhere outside of the United States and Mexico. So from the birth of
01:05 the sport itself to the birth of the R&A, you can see why St Andrews is known as the home of golf.
01:11 How many courses are there at St Andrews Links? Today there are seven public golf courses in
01:15 total. 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. It's worth noting the new course isn't actually
01:27 that new, it's just newer than the old course. The new course was opened in 1895, 347 years later
01:34 than the old course. St Andrews Links takes up almost 300 hectares and the Castle Course almost
01:39 90 hectares. 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. St Andrews is owned by the local Fife
01:51 Council, with public ownership of the land enshrined in law to protect the land and make
01:55 sure it's only used for golf. Okay, so let's go through some quick facts about how the old course
02:00 is played. Firstly, it's played in an anti-clockwise direction after being primarily played clockwise
02:05 up until the 19th century. Clockwise play has been permitted once a year in modern times and
02:10 it's worth noting that the course is closed on Sundays. The front nine holes of the course have
02:14 white flags, while the back nine holes, except the 18th hole, have red flags. The 18th green has a
02:19 white flag so that it can be seen in front of the red Hamilton Grand building. No other golf course
02:24 has as many famous bunkers, roads and landmarks as the old course. It has 112 bunkers and countless
02:30 hills and hollows, each of which is surrounded by their own folklore and centuries of golfers
02:35 passing them by. Many have their own names and legends, so let's take a look at some of the most
02:39 famous examples on the old course. The Swilcombe Bridge is a 700-year-old bridge that spans the
02:44 Swilcombe Burn across the 1st and 18th fairway. It was originally built to help shepherds get
02:50 livestock across the Swilcombe Burn. Granny Clark's Wind is a one-lane paved public road
02:55 going across the 18th fairway. This was once used to haul boats from the town centre down to the
03:00 West Sands Beach and it is still used today to take people from the town to the beach. Hell
03:06 Bunker on the 14th hole does what it says on the tin really. It's one of the most notorious golfing
03:11 hazards. It covers an area of 300 square yards and is between 7 and 10 feet deep. Of course,
03:17 you've got the Road Hole Bunker 2 on the 17th hole, which is arguably an even more famous hazard
03:22 on the old course. Those are but a few of the hundreds of bunkers and other points of interest
03:26 on the old course. 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. The 1st and 18th holes have no bunkers
03:37 on them and they share one fairway that is 129 yards wide. All of the other holes have shared
03:43 greens and all of the holes that do share a green add up to 18. For example, holes 16 and 2 share a
03:49 green, 14 and 4, 15 and 3 and so on. The Open Championship has been played on the old course
03:55 29 times, more than any other venue. A study found that in 2015, the Open Championship generated more
04:01 than £140 million for the local economy. So there you have it. Hopefully you've learned a
04:07 little bit about the history, folklore and legend behind the old course and St Andrews.
04:12 However, what you've heard today is barely scratching the surface of the history of the
04:16 home of golf. So for even more info on the old course and other courses in Scotland,
04:20 head to the courses section on the Golf Monthly website.
