Lunchball
The Old Course at St Andrews is the spiritual home of golf. It is a living, breathing testament to the origins of the game, evolved over centuries rather than designed in a single moment.
Strategic Complexity
What makes the Old Course infinitely playable is its width and strategic angles. The fairways are massive, often shared between holes, but the optimal line is usually fraught with danger—typically in the form of deep pot bunkers that invisible from the tee.
The Loop
The course loops out from the clubhouse to the Eden Estuary and back, with only the 1st, 9th, 17th and 18th having their own greens. The rest are massive double greens, requiring golfers to check the flag color (white for out, red for in) to know where to aim.
Famous Holes
The 17th, known as the Road Hole, is arguably the most famous par 4 in the world. It requires a blind tee shot over the corner of the Old Course Hotel and an approach to a shallow green guarded by a pot bunker and a paved road.
Road Hole
St Andrews (Old Course)
Road Hole
St Andrews (Old Course)
Architectural Analysis
There is no comparison here—this IS the original. The library reference shows the schematic strategy, while the left shows the reality on the ground. Every other Road Hole in the world is trying to capture the lightning in this bottle.