Uncover the history behind The Home of Golf – Saint Andrew

26 November 2024

Have you ever wondered where the ‘Home of Golf’, St.Andrews, got its name?

Well, November 30th, marks St.Andrews Day, a celebration of the Patron Saint of Scotland, and yes, you’re right, the world-famous town on Scotland’s east coast is indeed named after him, but who exactly was he and why is he significant?

You may also ask, what has this got to do with golf? Well, we’ll get to that.

Quick History Lesson

Saint Andrew has been celebrated in Scotland for over 1000 years, as far back as the year 1000 AD, however it wasn’t until 1320, when Scotland declared independence via the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath, that Saint Andrew became Scotland’s patron saint officially.

According to Scotland.org:

“Saint Andrew is the patron saint of other countries as well as Scotland. His association with Scotland, a land he never set foot on is, not surprisingly, based on several conflicting legends, the most colourful of which is the story of St. Rule.”

“Before the order was carried out a monk called St. Rule (or St. Regulus) had a dream in which an angel told him to take what bones of Andrew’s he could to ‘the ends of the earth’ for safe keeping.”

“St. Rule duly took what he could, presumably in a swift and frantic raid on the tomb, and after an epic journey with the aforementioned assortment was shipwrecked on the east coast of Scotland. He must have deemed that he had indeed reached the ‘ends of the earth'”

“Over a millennium later St. Rule’s Tower still stands among the ruins of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, which in its heyday was a great centre of Medieval pilgrimage.”

The Scottish flag, is also commonly known as the ‘St.Andrews Cross’ originating in 832 AD.

St.Rule Trophy

Since 1984, the St.Rule Trophy has been contested by women golfers from every corner of the globe and is regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments in women’s amateur golf.

Shot Scope’s very own Jen Saxton, won the trophy in 2022 with a score of 217, 3 strokes clear of the field, joining an elite list of winners. You can read more about Jen’s win here. 

St.Andrews Town

The town of St.Andrews began to grow to the west of the cathedral, which now lies in ruins – but still a focal point of the town today – and became recognised globally as ‘The Home of Golf’ with the formation of ‘The Royal & Ancient Golf Club in 1754, known as ‘The R&A’ to many today.

The R&A Headquarters remain behind the 1st tee box today, with the Old Course welcoming visitors worldwide throughout the year, hosting The Open Championship every five years, as well as the Women’s British Open, won in 2024 by Lydia Ko, and the annual Dunhill Links Championship won in 2024 by Tyrrell Hatton.

Aside from Championship golf, the town is also home to the World Golf Museum, across the road from the R&A Clubhouse, a must-visit for any golfer!

Over the years the Old Course has welcomed some of the most high profile people in the world for a round of golf including US Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, with a reported 50,000 rounds of golf taking place throughout the year on the links.

Did you know? Prior to the 150th Open Championship in 2022, 18-time Major Champion Jack Nicklaus was awarded  ‘Honorary Citizen of St.Andrews’, essentially the ‘Freedom of the City’ in a prestigious ceremony, becoming only the 3rd American to receive the honour, alongside fellow golfer Bobby Jones and ‘polymath’ Benjamin Franklin.

St.Andrews is also home to some of the most famous ‘19th Hole’ locations you’ll find, notably ‘The Dunvegan’ and ‘The Jigger Inn’. It has also been widely reported that golf legend and 15-time Major winner Tiger Woods, has partnered with music icon Justin Timberlake to open a new sports bar in the town.

We also can’t go without mentioning the legendary ‘Old Tom Morris’. Born and bred in the town, it could be said that nobody has ever done more for the game of golf, setting the standard and practices for greenkeeping techniques still used to this day, a golf-course architect and 4-time winner of The Open Championship.

OId Tom is buried in the grounds of the cathedral, and earlier this year was commemorated with a statue behind the 18th green of the Old Course, where the final hole is also named after him.

Can I Play Golf at St.Andrews?

The best way to guarantee yourself a tee time on the Old Course is to enter the daily ballot, where you may be lucky enough to secure a tee time. The town has several other courses available to play, including the ‘Jubilee’ and ‘New’ Courses.

Interestingly, the Old Course is closed on a Sunday, to let the ‘course rest’ in a long-standing tradition of the course being recognised as a public park, for visitors or locals to enjoy, so you are actually able to walk the course every Sunday if you so wished.

However, why not see how your golf might stack up with Shot Scope MyStrategy.

MyStrategy has been designed to allow golfers to plan a strategy before stepping on any golf course, using their own recorded data to produce shot dispersion statistics, which can be used to make better decisions on each tee box. 

FREE to all Shot Scope users, find out more about MyStrategy here, and get an idea of how your score could look the next time you take on the most daunting 1st tee shot in golf!

^{Featured / cover image credit: Shutterstock, Light Poet}