Old Course Reversed back for 2025

St Andrews Links Trust has announced the return of the hugely popular Old Course Reversed event in 2025, now cemented as an annual addition to the Home of Golf’s event calendar.

Thanks to the overwhelming success of the inaugural event in 2024, golfers from around the world will once again have the unique opportunity to experience the Old Course as it was originally laid out hundreds of years ago.

Due to the unique nature of the design of the Old Course, it can be played in either clockwise or anti-clockwise direction and for many years it was played in both directions until the current clockwise routing became the norm in the 20^th century.

Play the course reversed in April 2025

Now, for three days in April 2025 golfers will have the chance to step back in time to experience the Old Course Reversed with the return of the historic routing.

The reverse routing will be in play on the 4^th, 5^th and 7^th of April 2025, with the course remaining closed on Sunday 6^th as is tradition. Golfers will have multiple ways of seeking to access a tee time through the daily ballot and digital singles list as well as an advanced three-round public package for the Old Course, Old Course Reversed and the Castle Course. St Andrews Links Ticketholders can also enter a dedicated Old Course Reversed competition on Saturday 5^th.

Neil Coulson, CEO of St Andrews Links Trust, said: “Old Course Reversed was re-introduced in 2024 as part of celebrations to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of St Andrews Links Trust. We are delighted it proved to be such a success with almost 600 golfers experiencing a true bucket-list experience. We are happy to announce this will now be an annual addition to our events calendar, allowing more golfers to enjoy a unique experience at the Home of Golf and to celebrate the unrivalled history of the Old Course.”

Hundreds took part last year

The inaugural Old Course Reversed event in 2024 saw 591 golfers play the historic routing of golf’s most iconic course, with visitors from as far as New Zealand taking part. The event captured the imagination of both golfers and media, with golf course historian, Jasper Miners, commenting“Playing the Old Course in reverse has solidified in my mind it is without equal bar none. A rare privilege indeed that has only spurned me on to know more..." and Clyde Johnson commenting on Golf.com"My favourite golf courses take you on a journey over a landscape. One of the many pleasures of the Old Course is that the journey doesn’t merely work in one direction. It’s exhilarating either way you go".

The birthplace of golf

The Old Course at St Andrews Links is revered and recognised as the birthplace of the game of golf after the sport was first documented as being played on the Links in the early 15th century. The course emerged from the living landscape of the land, originally featuring outward and inward holes played to the same greens and using the same fairways, meaning it was designed to be played in either clockwise or any-clockwise direction. In 1764 it was reduced from 22 to 18 holes and in 1870 Old Tom Morris introduced the current 1st green by splitting it from the 17th to form the standard anti-clockwise routing in use today.

For many years thereafter the course was played over both circuits on alternate weeks, and as recently as the 1970s, it was still played in a 'reverse’ routing for one month every winter before this practice ebbed away and the anti-clockwise route became the preferred choice. Once a year on the Saturday closest to St Andrews Day (30 November), the reverse routing is still used for a competition limited to a small number of local club members.

Advanced public packages will be priced at £750 and feature three rounds of golf from 6^th - 8^th April with one Old Course, one Old Course Reversed and one Castle Course round. Included in the package is a free gift, food & drink vouchers and use of the Golf Academy. Applications for packages will open for a limited 48-hour window from 9^th–10^th December 2024.

For more information on Old Course Reverse visit the website here.