00:00The 150th Open is taking place this year at the home of golf, the Old Course at St Andrews.
00:06While you're watching the TV coverage you'll no doubt hear commentators reference bunker names,
00:11building names and various other pieces of folklore that surround the Old Course.
00:15In this video we're going to take a look at some of the unique elements that make the Old Course
00:19so famous. The Old Course at St Andrews is considered by many to be the home of golf
00:26because the sport was first played on the links at St Andrews in the early 15th century. Golf
00:31was becoming increasingly popular in Scotland until James II of Scotland banned the game in
00:361457 because he felt that young men were playing too much golf instead of practising their archery.
00:41The ban was upheld by James III and remained in force until 1502, when James IV became a
00:48golfer himself and removed the ban. In 1754 22 noblemen, professors and landowners founded
00:54the Society of St Andrews Golfers. This society would eventually become the precursor to the R&A
01:00which is the governing body of golf everywhere outside of the United States and Mexico. So from
01:05the birth of the sport itself to the birth of the R&A you can see why St Andrews is known as the
01:10home of golf. How many courses are there at St Andrews Links? Today there are seven public golf
01:15courses in total. The Balgove, Eden, Jubilee, Strath Tyrone, New, Old and the Castle Course
01:22which is sited on the cliffs a mile to the east of St Andrews. It's worth noting the new
01:26course isn't actually that new, it's just newer than the old course. The new course was opened
01:31in 1895, 347 years later than the old course. St Andrews Links takes up almost 300 hectares
01:38and the Castle Course almost 90 hectares. Overall more than 230,000 rounds of golf are played on
01:44the seven courses each year with around 45,000 being played on the old course alone. St Andrews
01:49is owned by the local Fife Council with public ownership of the land enshrined in law to protect
01:54the land and make sure it's only used for golf. Okay so let's go through some quick facts about
01:59how the old course is played. Firstly it's played in an anti-clockwise direction after being
02:04primarily played clockwise up until the 19th century. Clockwise play has been permitted once
02:08a year in modern times and it's worth noting that the course is closed on Sundays. The front nine
02:13holes of the course have white flags while the back nine holes except the 18th hole have red
02:18flags. The 18th green has a white flag so that it could be seen in front of the red Hamilton Grand
02:23Building. No other golf course has as many famous bunkers, roads and landmarks as the old course.
02:28It has 112 bunkers and countless hills and hollows each of which is surrounded by their own folklore
02:34and centuries of golfers passing them by. Many have their own names and legends so let's take
02:39a look at some of the most famous examples on the old course. The Swilcombe Bridge is a 700
02:43year old bridge that spans the Swilcombe Burn across the 1st and 18th fairway. It was originally
02:48built to help shepherds get livestock across the Swilcombe Burn. Granny Clark's Wind is a one lane
02:54paved public road going across the 18th fairway. This was once used to haul boats from the town
02:59centre down to the West Sands Beach and it is still used today to take people from the town
03:04to the beach. Hell Bunker on the 14th hole does what it says on the tin really. It's one of the
03:10most notorious golfing hazards. It covers an area of 300 square yards and is between 7 and 10 feet
03:16deep. Of course you've got the Road Hole Bunker 2 on the 17th hole which is arguably an even more
03:21famous hazard on the old course. Those are but a few of the hundreds of bunkers and other points
03:25of interest on the old course. See if you can spot them whilst you're watching the television coverage.
03:30The 1st, 9th, 17th and 18th holes all have their own greens. The 1st and 18th holes have no bunkers
03:37on them and they share one fairway that is 129 yards wide. All of the other holes have shared
03:43greens and all of the holes that do share a green add up to 18. For example holes 16 and 2 share a
03:49green, 14 and 4, 15 and 3 and so on. The Open Championship has been played on the old course 29
03:55times more than any other venue. A study found that in 2015 the Open Championship generated more
04:01than £140 million for the local economy. So there you have it, hopefully you've learned a
04:07little bit about the history, folklore and legend behind the old course at St Andrews.
04:12However what you've heard today is barely scratching the surface of the history of the
04:16home of golf so for even more info on the old course and other courses in Scotland
04:20head to the courses section on the Golf Monthly website.
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