Here's your chance to play St Andrews for as little as £7.50

Scottish Golfers get all the luck, don't they?

With the tourism to Scotland's best golf courses at an all-time high, a natural trade-off with this upswell of interest is that locals all-too-often find it hard to get a round on some of the best courses in their own country.

To combat this, the most historic links of all, St Andrews, has opened up a number of initiatives aimed at keeping locals at the very beating heart of their playing core. 

In addition to the Links Pass made available to residents of the St Andrews area, last year The Home of Golf launched The Drive, a Scotland-wide ballot system that allows nationals to submit applications for heavily discounted tee times at its stable of links courses, the highlight of course being a chance to get on at The Old Course itself.

"Through The Drive, we are aiming to widen access to not just our world-famous courses, but to the sport of golf to people of all ages, backgrounds and experiences," says Sandra Tuddenham, Chair of Trustees at the St Andrews Links Trust.

The ballot, which has already seen over 20,000 people enter, offers discounted tee times at five of St Andrews' seven links courses, with the prices to get on reduced by almost 90% in some cases.

An entire day of play in July has been reserved for ballot winners of the Old Course, who will get to tee off on one of the world's greatest courses for just £45 (reduced from £355). Naturally, 12,000 people have already thrown their hat in the ring ahead of the ballot's closure this weekend.

“The first year of the initiative was a huge success and we are already seeing huge numbers of golfers applying to take part this year too. Whether this is providing a bucket-list experience or supporting people into the sport, we continue to build on the momentum of last year with significant investment.

“Over the next few months, we will welcome nearly 2,000 golfers to our courses, a tripling of the number of opportunities from 2025.

In addiiton to the July date on the Old Course, the ballot will offer tee times on designated dates throughout July, August and September on St Andrews' Eden, Craigtoun, Jubilee and Castle courses. The cheapest tee times offered as part of the promotion will set players back just £7.50.

“The Home of Golf is open to all, and The Drive is part of our commitment to ensure anyone who wants to play golf can do so.”

Applications to play the Old Course close on May 24. You can put your name in the running now at St Andrews' website.