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Old Course Ballot

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How it works:

As golfers begin to prepare for their 2026 and 2027 Scotland golf tour many are going to be focusing their attention on the Old Course St Andrews in particular. The question arises: How do you golf the Old Course without an advanced and guaranteed tee time?

Answer: The Old Course Ballot

This is the historic Ballot (or lottery) held by the St Andrews Links Trust and drawn every day, Saturday - Thursday, for a number of unallocated tee times on the Old Course 2 days before you want to play. There is no draw on a Friday as there is no golf played on Sundays. We explain the procedure below: 

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  • Applications are made 48 hours before your day of play
  • Applications are accepted before 2:00 pm
  • Caddie Golf Tours or you can apply in person at the St Andrews Links Clubhouse or the Old Course Pavilion that is adjacent to Old Course 1st tee
  • Caddie Golf Tours or you can apply online 
  • The golfer submits at least 2 names and a maximum of 4
  • Home club membership and handicap details of all golfers are required
  • We suggest you choose 'play at anytime' option to increase the chances of success
  • The Ballot results are announced the same day after 4:00 pm and can be found at their web site, phoning reception, or visiting the Old Course Pavilion

The 2026 Old Course green fee is set at 355 Great British Pounds (GBP) which is approximately $480 US Dollars.
 

If the golfers are visiting St Andrews for a number of days the odds should favour success getting you out and golfing the ancient links by use of the Ballot. The official line is that 50% of tee times are available through the ballot every year, and this is true over a 12 month period. In our experience there are 30% of Old Course tee times accessable during April, May and this decreases through the High Season June, July & August going as low as 15 - 20% due to local competitions in these months.

Golfers should be aware that entering the Ballot over 4 or 5 consecutive days does not guarantee success but if you are not in it you are not going to win one of the covetted Old Course tee times. We believe that flexibility is the key and while waiting for your Old Course tee time we can organise golf at one or more of these compelling Scottish Links courses in the area of St Andrews:

New Course, Jubilee Course, Eden Course, Kingsbarns Golf Links, Dumbarnie Golf Links, Carnoustie, Crail Balcomie Links, Elie GC, Lundin GC, Leven GC, Scotscraig GC, Panmure GC and Monifieth GC.