The World famous Jigger Inn next to the 17th of the Old Course.
A gallery of old golf photos adorn the
wall at Pilmour Hotel.
Golfers drink under the eye of Old Tom Morris.
In one of the cosy booths we get chatting with David
Williams, Hugh Grant’s caddie at the Alfred Dunhill Links
Championship a few years ago. “He’s a nice bloke, just
how he appears in the movies, and not a bad golfer
either,” he tells us, as we enjoy our pints watched over by
an impressive black-and -white photograph of Old Tom
Morris.
We ask David about the 19th hole and what it means
to him. “Every golfer understands the tradition and
importance of the 19th hole, it’s all about fellowship and
camaraderie. After your round you go there to socialise
with friends, perhaps celebrate your best ever round,
or more likely drown your sorrows after a poor one,” he
says. “Golf is a common language and it’s easy to chat to
the people at the next table about the course you played
that day or team up with new golfing friends for a round
the next. It just snowballs from there and before you
know it everyone is talking to each other.”
St Andrews has several other golfer-friendly taverns
including the Scorecards Bar (near the Old Course’s
18th green), where the walls are lined with scorecards
from the British Open and Dunhill Cup Championship
including some historic final rounds. There’s also the
Pilmour Hotel (just up the road from the Dunvegan),
Whey Pat Tavern and Ma Bells (inside the St Andrews
8
Golfers passing by Scores Hotel.
Golf Hotel), a regular hangout for Prince William during
his university days.
But the 19th hole just wouldn’t be the same without
playing the eighteen holes before it, and St Andrews is
known as the Home of Golf for good reason. Not only
is this game’s hallowed birthplace – ‘On May 14 1754,
twenty-two” Gentlemen of honour, skillful in the ancient
and healthy exercise of Golf,” founded the Royal and
Ancient Golf Club of St.Andrews,’ but today’s golfers have
a choice of around 20 courses to play within a short
drive of town. Although the venerated Old Course is
the best known here’s six others to test your game…
Kingsbarns: Designed by leading golf architect Kyle
Phillips, Kingsbarns (used as one of the venues for
the Dunhill Links Championship) is a tribute to classic
Scottish links and has come on in leaps and bounds
since opening in 2000. The course meanders along
more than one-and-a-half miles of rugged seashore
offering ocean views from every hole. Featuring spacious
fairways rolling and twisting through dune ridges and
hollows, true links turf and large greens, the course is
challenging yet playable. www.kingsbarns.com
Castle Course: Opened in June 2008, the Castle Course
has been internationally recognised as one of the top