How St. Andrews, and golf, have evolved over six centuries
For at least 464 years, golf has been played at St. Andrews in Scotland.
Let that sink in for a minute. That’s more than three times as many times — 144, after this week — that the British Open has been played.
But here’s the thing about the Old Course: It’s not a monolithic piece of property. The Old Course is a living thing, changing and evolving over the centuries with the sport and society.
However, before the Old Course could even be born, golf was illegal.
In 1457, King James II had outlawed the game because it took away from men practicing archery. That’s right: golf was a counter-cultural game.
Almost a half-century later, King James IV ended the ban in 1502. That’s probably because he enjoyed the game. Records show he bought clubs in the village of St. Andrews in 1506.
The Old Course was officially opened in 1552 on the condition that John Hamilton, then the Archbishop of St. Andrews, could hold dominion over the rabbits on the course. It was quite a turn for the sport after decades of being an underground game.
Some two centuries later, we know the Old Course had 12 holes on it — 10 greens, each with one hole and played twice and two just once to comprise a 22-hole course. However, in 1764, the organization that would become The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews — from which the body known as the R&A spun off of in 2002 — decided to close four holes of the Old Course at the suggestion of the club’s then-captain, William St. Clair of Roslin. The first four (and last four) holes of the course had been deemed too short and were consolidated into two holes. The number of the counting was now 18, and that’s the way it has remained ever since.
However, now, instead of 12 greens, the Old Course had 10, eight played twice from different directions to make up an 18-hole round.
At the turn of the 19th century, however, the town of St. Andrews had massive, unpayable debt. (Remind anyone of Puerto Rico?) So, it did what it had to: It leased the golf course land to rabbit farmers with the caveat that golf could still be played as bunnies were bred. This tense experiment lasted six years before the citizens were given the right to kill the rabbits — or, as Elmer Fudd would say, wabbits. In 1821, the rabbit lease was through and the Old Course was a golf-only facility again.
Just a handful of years before the American Civil War, St. Andrews finally became the outline of a golf course you and I might recognize. Thanks to the influence of Old Tom Morris, who would eventually win the Open four times, in 1857 there were two holes put on the 10 twice-used greens, creating the first true 18-hole routing of the course. Morris came up with other great inventions, including teeing grounds separate from the putting surfaces and widening the fairways to allow the course to be played in both a clockwise and counter-clockwise loop.
It was around this time that the Old Course could be played year-round. Then-modern grass-cutting equipment allowed the course to be maintained through the summer growing season. Before then, golf was a winter-only sport.
In 1870, Morris influenced the construction of what is now known as the first green, just over the Swilcan Burn. That green eventually paved the way for the counter-clockwise out-and-back routing we know today to be the proper way to play the course. However, for a few days each April, players are allowed to try their hand at the “Reverse Old Course,” using the old, original routing. Hacking it around the Old Course in reverse illuminates some of the design choices, particularly around the course’s 112 bunkers.
After hosting 28 British Opens, the Old Course is still evolving. It’s been lengthened, its greens and bunkers occasionally reworked. There were big changes made heading into this week’s Open. Two bunkers were moved closer to the second green. The Road Hole bunker was widened by almost two feet to catch more approach shots. Others were eliminated or consolidated. Several greens were reshaped or enlarged to play better.
The changes, which will be debated and criticized by Old Course scholars for years, are the latest mutation of a course that has 112 bunkers, all with unique stories.
St. Andrews is called the Home of Golf because of its place at the epicenter of the game’s origins. However, no home ever remains the same. Furniture gets moved, walls are painted and re-painted. The place changes owners and custodians. However, through almost a half-millennium, the Old Course remains an incredible reflection of modern golf with unmistakable links to the game’s past.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
