Golfers will this week be given the once-a-year opportunity to play the famous Old Course at St Andrews backwards, as players did when the course first emerged in the 1400s.
Players, local and international, will experience the Old Course in its historic clockwise layout as the Old Course Reversed event returns for a second year, following a hugely successful 2024 debut.
St Andrews Links Trust introduced the Old Course Reversed event to commemorate the organisation’s 50th anniversary. In 2024, 591 golfers played the course backwards, with visitors travelling to the Home of Golf from as far as New Zealand in what has become a bucket list event for fans of the sport.
This year, the Trust expects to welcome 652 players to play the reverse routing, with more than 10,000 applications for a tee time received by golfers from 57 countries worldwide.
This event recognises the historic nature of the Old Course, which was originally designed to be played in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions.
Old Course Reversed will run for six days, from April 3-8. It will see the clockwise format in play on 4, 5, and 7 of April. The remaining days will be played in the anti-clockwise direction, allowing golfers to compare the two.
St Andrews Links ticket-holders have the opportunity to experience competitive golf on the historic routing with a ticket holder-only competition being played on April 5. Demand for the ticket-holder day mirrored that of visiting golfers, with 864 applications for the 172 spots available.
The daily ballot and singles daily draw will also remain in place on both April 4 and 7, allowing golfers the opportunity to apply for a coveted tee time during the week of the event.
The world’s leading golfers have championed the opportunity presented by Old Course Reversed, which gives players a unique insight into the minds of the course’s designers. Fifteen-time major champion Tiger Woods said he’s “always wanted to play it backwards, one time before I die” because it makes it “very apparent” why certain bunkers were placed.
The course was initially designed to be played in either clockwise or anticlockwise direction. From the 1400s, the Old Course emerged and evolved from the living landscape, with outward and inward holes played to the same greens and fairways. In 1870 Old Tom Morris introduced the current 1st green by splitting it from the 17th, which formed the anticlockwise routing that in play today.
Neil Coulson, chief executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said: “Old Course Reversed commences for its second year this week, and it’s sure to be one to remember with players international and local ticking it off their bucket-lists.
“The history of our courses is a significant part of our identity and ambitions as the custodians of golf. Recognising and celebrating the roots of the famous Old Course is hugely important to us.
“The event was a great success in its first year, with almost 600 golfers enjoying the unique experience of playing the Old Course as it was hundreds of years ago. We are happy to announce this will now be an annual addition to our events calendar, allowing more golfers to take part in this special opportunity and celebrate the unrivalled history of the Old Course.”