The Home of Golf

 Putting out on The Old Course 18th hole with Clubhouse and West Sands beach in the background

With a minimum handicap of 24 required, 130 pounds ($200 Cdn) plus caddie to play and a tee time lottery system, this could be my only chance to cross over the Swilken Burn Bridge at The Old Course

This tranquilspot has a very grissly past as it used to be called "Witches Lake" due to all the people that were pushed off the cliffs to a horrible death on suspicion of being witches

St. Salvator's College and Chapel (dating from 1450) with it's grass "quad" is the heart of St. Andrews University where graduation ceremonies are held every July

St. Andrews Castle was built in the late 12th century as a home for the powerful Cardinals of St. Andrews Cathedral and destroyed by Protestants during the Scottish Reformation

It was the arrival of the bones of St. Andrew the Apostle that gave the town it`s name and created large pilgrimages.  St. Andrew`s Cathedral, the largest in Scotland, was built to accommodate the increasing numbers of pilgrims.  It took 150 years to build and was consecrated in 1318  



After snapping pictures of Edinburgh showered in sunshine we headed out for St. Andrews, a 90 minute drive north of here.  It has an interesting history.  In the middle ages St. Andrews was the religious capital of the country and one of the most important pilgrimage sights in all Christondom.  In 1553 the first recorded game of golf was played on the Old Course and is now one of the most desirable pilgrimages a golfer can make. But first and foremost St. Andrews is a university town as it is home to  Scotlands most prestigious university, founded in 141, and attended by Prince William and Kate Middleton which generates the current mass pilgramage of Royal watchers we see today.  St. Andrews is a very pleasant, compact town that still retains is medieval street plan (all roads lead to the Cathedral) allowing all the sights to be within an easy walk of each other.  The Old Course and the 2 mile (3km) long West Sands beach are at one end of town with the Cathedral ruins at the other end leaving the charming village and university in the middle.  Being a golfer, we had to start our tour of St. Andrews at the Old Course.  Along with many other tourists we watched as the golfers teed-off from the 1st hole.    I could imagine the pressure these golfers must be under just before they hit their first drive onto the fabled Old Course not only because of its history but also due to all of us tourists watching them.  We waited between foursomes to cross the 1st and 18th fairways and watched as golfers chipped onto the green and then putted out to end their round on the Old Course.  I even managed to walk over the famous Swilken Burn Bridge halfway down the 18th fairway.  It was great to see and walk a tiny bit of the course that started it all.  One day it would be wonderful to come back and play it.  This took quite a bit of our time as we walked around quite a bit and I was taking lot's of pictures.  I was very impressed and thankful that Rita, who has absolutely no interest in golf, was so patient with me.  We finally moved onto touring the many other interesting sights that make up St. Andrews (including the dormitory where Prince William stayed during his university days).  As the hot temperatures and sunshine were staying with us, we decided to check out a little fishing village we had read about.