For the third year in a row, the St Andrews Links Trust is giving you the opportunity to play the Old Course Reversed.
As in backwards, the way it was originally intended.
“Opportunity” may be a generous word. More specifically, the St Andrews Links Trust is taking lottery applications for the Old Course Reversed package. The Old Course Reversed weekend is scheduled for April 17-20 of next year.
If you want to apply, you’d better hurry, though. The lottery closes tomorrow at 10 a.m. (5 a.m. EST) Greenwich Mean Time.
So I wouldn’t procrastinate if I were you.
What is The Old Course Reversed?
Before Old Tom Morris rebuilt and rerouted it in 1870, the Old Course was played completely backwards from the way we know it today. You’d tee off from the traditional first tee area but instead of playing to the first green, you’d play to the 17th (the Road Hole) green. You’d then tee off from where the 18th tee box is now and play to the 16th green. You end the round by teeing off from the second tee box and playing to the 18th green.
When played in that configuration, many of the long-standing bunkers that are out of play when the course is played normally suddenly come into play and make more sense.
Starting in 2023, the St Andrews Links Trust has offered up an early-season Old Course Reversed special and it’s proven to be very popular. Golfers travel from all over the world to play it with more than 600 taking advantage of the opportunity last year alone.
How the lottery works
You’ll have to go to the St Andrews Links Trust website to apply. You’ll also have to apply as either a twosome or a foursome and names and emails for each golfer are required. The Trust will then notify you by email whether you’ve been selected.
The package itself may be one of the best deals the Links Trust offers. For £800 per person (just over $1,000 US), you get two rounds at the Old Course – one reversed, one conventional. You also get a third round at the St Andrews Castle Course. The package also includes a £65 ($86) food and drink voucher per person. Free range balls at the St Andrews practice center are also included.
Transportation and hotel are not included.
We did get to play The Old Course Reversed last year and it was a grand time. However, it was at the Toptracer-equipped driving range at The Oaks golf complex in Somersworth, N.H. We do expect Toptracer to offer The Old Course Reversed again this coming spring.
As mentioned, if you want to apply, you should do it right away as the application process ends tomorrow morning. There will likely be hundreds of thousands of applications for only a few hundred spots.
But as the old saying goes, you cannot win if you do not play.
For more information and to apply for the Old Course Reversed package, visit the St Andrews Links Trust website.
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