Saint Andrews, the birthplace, mecca, sanctuary, home and cathedral of golf

The Open, as the British call the British Open, is back home. Return to the Old Course in Saint Andrews, Scotland, facing the North Sea. The cradle, the cathedral, the mecca, the sanctuary or the home of golf. This is how they baptized the last five centuries (in Saint Andrews, for the record, golf has been played since 1457) one of the mythical venues of this sport and where great champions like Sam Snead, Peter Thomson, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.

St Andrews, which is hosting the Open for the 30th time, also boasts Scotland’s oldest cathedral (1160). It is within the old city walls and an important place of pilgrimage. The name Old Course was given to the course hosting the British Open when the second course was built. It is public, you need to book in advance and you join a raffle. The price of the green fee is approximately 350 euros in the high season and approximately 200 in the low season.

The first 9 holes and the second 9 run almost identically, but not the same. The course is back and forth, with a loop at the far end consisting of six holes, and there are seven double greens (2 and 16, 3 and 15, 4 and 14, 5 and 13, 6 and 12, 7 and 11 and 8 and 10), they all add up to 18, very curious. The only singles are 1, 9, 17 and 18. Two of the emblematic holes are 14 and 17. The first is par 5 of 477 meters, where the famous Hell Bunker is in the middle of the fairway. A hole to survive, not to conquer. In 1995, Jack Nicklaus fell into this little Hell and got 10 hits.

The 17th is one of the hardest par 4s in the world, once referred to by American Ben Crenshaw as “one of the easiest par 5s in the world”. The road behind the green and the Road Bunker located to its left are noteworthy. It was a deep, narrow bunker with sand raked upside down, that is, towards the high, vertical starting wall. In 2000 a television camera was installed on the slope. Tom Watson ran in 1984 missing any chance of getting a third consecutive title in favor of Seve Ballesteros, who won it with the famous birdie and held a fist at 18.

The protagonists of the Open are obsessed with avoiding 112 bunkers on the course and being successful on the putt, but they always insist that the final difficulty depends on whether the wind is blowing or not, and in what direction. “If there’s no wind, you still reach 350 meters at the start, but you can stay at 230 once the decent wind blows”, Sergio García said to give an idea of ​​possible game variations. “If the wind doesn’t blow, the only defense on the course is to put up flags,” said Tiger Woods, who returned to the scene of his historic success in 2000 by winning with 19 under par and collecting four Grand Slams. , and in 2005, his second Jar. “This is the Grand Slam par excellence, the rest is imitation”, said ‘Pisha’ Miguel Ángel Jiménez in his time.

The Open visited Saint Andrews for the 30th time in its history (the first was played here in 1873). A true ‘totem’ of golf like Ben Hogan was never in the cradle of golf (he only played a British and won it, in 1953 at Carnoustie) while the remains of Tom Morris ’father and son (even today they are the eldest and youngest of the Open) are buried in St Andrews Cathedral, or what is left here. Guests will not miss the town’s castle and Auchterlonies shop, where the hickory clubs are located, and the R&A World Golf Museum. It is advisable to take a walk on the beach which served as the setting for the award-winning and ‘Oscar-winning’ film ‘Chariots of Fire’ (these are the first minutes of the film).

A royal romance also began at the University of Saint Andrews. Here the future King of England William, grandson of Queen Elizabeth and son of Prince Charles, met his present wife Catherine (the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge).

The Old Course originally had 22 holes, 11 outs and 11 backs, becoming the current 18 in 1764. Saint Andrews is pure history. It is the physical and spiritual home of golf and the place where the sport was born over 500 years ago. Where golf rules were written.

R&A has approximately 2,500 members from around the world, who instead of paying an admission fee, all they have to do is show at least five endorsements to be accepted as such after the Committee meeting to accept them. as such. There are not many Spaniards in this select club, including RFEG president Gonzaga Escauriaza and former Secretary of State for Sports, Santiago Fisas.

“If a golfer wants to be remembered, he has to win the Open on the Old Course,” Nicklaus said. In 1873, the first British in this field, the first Silver Tankard was awarded to the champion. Of the 29 Open played at Old Course, 24 different winners came out, the last being Zach Johnson in 2015. As of 2019, Old Course holds the record for public attendance throughout Open week with 237,024 people in 2015. At Royal The Portrush from Northern Ireland was attended by 237,750.