Walk in the footsteps of golfing greats on St Andrews' famous greens, or just enjoy the view from the Old Course Hotel. Mark Caswell tries both.
There are some venues whose names have come to represent more than a simple sports event. Wembley, Wimbledon, Henley and Ascot are all synonymous with the sports played there, but few carry such weight of history as St Andrews. The Open has been held 27 times on the hallowed Old Course (with the next one scheduled for 2010), and Jack Nicholas himself once said that “if a golfer is to be remembered, he must win the Open at St Andrews”.
But if you can’t wait four years to see Tiger Woods and co drive their way around the home of golf, and you aren’t lucky enough to get a public slot through the course’s ballot system, at least sit and watch those who did from the comfort of the Old Course Hotel.
Conveniently positioned alongside the 17th hole (also known as the “Road Hole”), the hotel has recently been refurbished, and now includes an impressive spa complex with thermal suite, hydrotherapy pool, Japanese salt steam room and a light therapy sauna, not to mention a large swimming pool complete with a waterfall at one end. The hotel also owns the nearby Duke’s golf course, a heathland course which itself received a makeover this year, re-sculpting many of the greens and adding bunkers (just in case it wasn’t challenging enough already).
All this has been made possible by the hotel’s owners, Kohler, an American bathroom company famous in the US for having an entire village named after it in Wisconsin. The organisation is well known for its community spirit, having contributed mobile shower units to the city of New York, to be used by relief workers in the aftermath of 9/11. Not surprisingly, the guestrooms at the hotel showcase some of the firm’s high-tech products such as chromotherapy baths and ceiling-mounted bath fillers instead of taps; every room I saw had a different style of basin, from tinted glass bowls to ornately painted porcelain basins.
As part of the hotel’s refurbishment, a new conference wing was opened in April this year, comprising 10 rooms ranging in capacity from 12 to 600 delegates, with Wi-Fi access.
But it’s the golf that will drive many visitors here, and the location of the Duke’s Course is no less stunning than the hotel itself. Situated about 3.2km from the Old Course Hotel (with regular complimentary transfers), the par-71 course is bang in the middle of the 142-hectare Craigtoun Park, and from the picturesque club house there are views back to the hotel and the coastline beyond (immortalised by the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire). If you aren’t willing or able to traipse your clubs up to St Andrews, don’t worry, the course doesn’t skimp on its hire clubs either – although that gives you one less excuse to use for the inevitable bad round.
Hours of searching for lost balls among the heathland succeeded in my working up a healthy appetite, which, as luck would have it, the hotel seems more than happy to satisfy. Apart from the clubhouse fodder at Duke’s Restaurant, you can choose from pub grub at Jigger’s Inn (the hotel’s own pub with views
of the Old Course from the beer garden), healthy eating at the Kohler Waters Spa, à la carte dining at The Road Hole Grill, or contemporary fare at Sands.
Of course, there’s really only one way to end an evening in Scotland, and that’s with a whisky or two. You should really drink around two hundred as that’s how many distilleries are represented at The Road Hole Bar. I sank into one of the armchairs, looked out towards the Old Course and let my wee dram of Dalwhinnie (a Speyside malt from a distillery dating back to 1897) give a rose-tinted hue to my round on the Duke’s course – only four years to get my game in shape for the next Open at St Andrews.
WHERE TO STAY
Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa,
St Andrews, Kingdom of Fyfe, Scotland KY16 9SP, tel 44 1334 474 371, www.oldcoursehotel.co.uk
Internet rates start at £245 (US$461.55) for an Eden Parkland Room in late December. Green fees at the Duke’s Course start from £50 (US$94). Day membership of the Kohler Waters Spa for hotel residents costs £20 (US$37.68) per room (complimentary for guests booking one 50-minute or two 25-minute spa treatments).
GETTING THERE
British Airways flies Hongkong-Edinburgh at US$6,460 (excluding tax) return on Business Class – visit www.ba.com
