St Andrews (Jubilee)


Number 42. Played spring 2012. Traditional links designed by Willie Auchterlonie & Donald Steel. Pic courtesy of BSGMan

I played the Jubilee as part of the a 3 day links ticket - which incidentally must be one of the best value for money golf tickets you can buy.  If you are coming to St Andrews and you aren't too phased about playing the Old Course you should try to get one of these tickets (see here).  It was the last course to be played after I had completed the New, the Eden & the Castle but it did not disappoint.  

We played the course in some of the worst weather I have ever encountered - the rain was biblical.  In fact, it was this rain storm that finally did for my old Nike rain gear as it started to let in around the seems.  However, the torrential rain and biting wind didn't dampen our spirits.  This is a true test of golf - although shorter than some of its sibling courses it is significantly narrower too and therefore you really need to bring your best game here to get a score.  This course rewards strategy over brute force - less is more sometimes on this course.  

There are some wonderful tee boxes with views over the bay and the other links courses.  There are some strong driving holes but it is the shorter par 3s that are very special.  I know that everyone who visits St Andrews wants to play the Old or the New but I would strongly recommend that you play here too - it really is an underated gem.

On a side note I would like to recommend that if you are in St Andrews and fancy playing golf and it looks like rain buying a nice rain jacket is a good idea.  The group in front of us consisted of a father and daughter from Canada.  I noticed that the daughter was wearing an strange jacket but it wasn't until we met up on one of the tees (slow play....arggh) that I noticed she was actually wearing a black bin liner!  It seems she had no raingear and one of the green keeping staff had taken pity on her and had cut a head and arm holes in a bag for her to put over her head!  I dont think it did too much good but better than nothing!!

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