Richseen Private Journeys · Scotland

St Andrews Old Course

The Home of Golf · Old Course St Andrews · Edinburgh · Scottish Highlands
8 Days · 7 Nights
From USD 20,000+ per person
"The Old Course at St Andrews — the most historically significant golf course in the world, where the game has been played continuously since the 15th century and the 18th green remains the most recognised finishing hole in the sport."
The Journey

St Andrews,
Edinburgh, and the Highlands

The Old Course at St Andrews is not simply the most famous golf course in the world — it is the location where the modern game was codified, argued over, and finally standardised across the 18 holes that the Society of St Andrews Golfers established in 1764. Golf has been played on the links of St Andrews continuously since at least the 15th century, making this the longest uninterrupted golf site in existence. The course's features — the Swilcan Bridge, the Road Hole Bunker on the 17th, and the wide shared fairways that produce the most complex wind-and-positioning decisions in links golf — are not designed difficulties but accumulated historical accidents that the greenkeeping tradition has maintained with precision. Playing the Old Course is playing the document from which every other golf course in the world has been derived.

Access to the Old Course is managed by the St Andrews Links Trust through the daily ballot, advance singles allocations, and resort packages. The ballot provides the democratic access that the Links Trust has maintained as policy since the course became publicly managed in 1894; the resort packages through the Old Course Hotel guarantee the tee times that the ballot cannot. Richseen secures guaranteed access for all guests through the resort allocation, ensuring that the most requested single tee time in golf is confirmed before the journey begins.

This eight-day itinerary begins in Edinburgh — three days covering the Castle, the National Museum of Scotland, the Arthur's Seat walk, and the Michelin-starred restaurant culture of Leith — before moving to St Andrews for the Old Course round, Kingsbarns, and the Fife coastal links circuit. The Highlands transition to Gleneagles concludes the journey in the most comprehensively equipped golf and leisure estate in Scotland, with the Perthshire countryside providing the final context for a journey through the culture that created the game.

Signature Moments

Six Encounters
with Scotland

The Old Course at St Andrews — the 18th green, the Swilcan Bridge, and the Road Hole Bunker on the most historically significant golf links on Earth.

01
The Old Course — Golf's Original Document
The 18-hole links at St Andrews where the game has been played continuously since at least the 15th century — the Swilcan Bridge, the Road Hole Bunker, the Valley of Sin, and the shared fairways whose width produces the most complex wind-and-positioning decisions in links golf. The round that every golfer considers the one reference experience against which all other golf is measured, on the course from which every other golf course in the world has been derived.
02
Kingsbarns Golf Links — The Fife Clifftop Course
Kingsbarns Golf Links 10 kilometres south of St Andrews — the 2000 course by Kyle Phillips whose clifftop layout above the North Sea provides the most visually dramatic golf experience on the Fife coast. Six holes on the cliff edge directly above the water; the opening nine moving away from the sea through the natural dunes and gorse; and the closing run back along the clifftop where the North Sea wind determines the outcome of the round more decisively than any individual club selection.
03
Gleneagles — Three King's Courses in the Perthshire Hills
Gleneagles in the Perthshire hills — three championship courses (the PGA Centenary Course that hosted the Ryder Cup in 2014, the King's Course of 1919, and the Queen's Course), the most comprehensive golf and leisure estate in Scotland, and the hotel whose Art Deco grandeur and the hills surrounding it produce the most consistently referenced luxury experience in Scottish hospitality. The course where the landscape argues for the difficulty of the hole before a single flag has been located.
04
Private Whisky Tasting — The Distillery in Its Landscape
A private tasting at a Perthshire or Fife distillery — Glenturret (Scotland's oldest working distillery, founded 1763, now operated by the Lalique Group), Strathearn (the smallest distillery in the Scottish mainland), or the Highland Park connection from Orkney whose single malt is tasted against its geographical origin. The tasting conducted by the distillery's specialist in the environment that produced the whisky: the most direct connection between the glass and the place available in Scottish spirits culture.
05
Edinburgh — The Castle, the Old Town, and the Michelin Mile
Edinburgh's cultural circuit: the Castle above the Old Town's Royal Mile; the National Museum of Scotland for the most comprehensive single account of Scottish history available in any building; and the Leith waterfront restaurant district whose concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants per capita rivals any comparable district in Britain. The Arthur's Seat walk at dusk for the panorama that makes Edinburgh's volcanic geology comprehensible in a single view across the city to the Forth.
06
Old Course Hotel — The 17th Road Hole from Room 219
The Old Course Hotel at the corner of the 17th hole — the hotel whose Road Hole suites provide a direct view of the most strategically complex par-4 in golf from the room window, where the Road Hole Bunker is visible at the green's left edge and the tee shot over the hotel's corner produces the most analysed single drive in the history of links golf. The spa; the Sands Grill; and the particular quality of waking to the Old Course's 18th fairway on the morning of the round.
Key Highlights

What Makes This Journey

01 ⛳
Guaranteed Old Course Tee Time — The Home of Golf
A guaranteed tee time at the Old Course at St Andrews — the most historically significant golf course in the world, where the game has been played continuously since the 15th century. Secured through the Old Course Hotel resort allocation, bypassing the daily ballot that makes individual access uncertain. The 18 holes that every golf course in the world has derived from, in the coastal links conditions that the game was designed to be played in.
02 🏌️
Championship Course Circuit — Kingsbarns, Carnoustie, Gleneagles
Additional rounds at Scotland's most celebrated championship venues: Kingsbarns Golf Links on the Fife clifftop; Carnoustie Golf Links (the "Carnoustie Carnage" Open venue, rated the most demanding links test in Scotland by the Tour professionals who play it); and Gleneagles (the PGA Centenary Course that hosted the 2014 Ryder Cup). Three courses whose variety makes the full Scottish links experience complete.
03 🏰
Edinburgh, St Andrews & Gleneagles — The Scottish Triumvirate
Three of Scotland's most celebrated addresses: The Balmoral on Princes Street opposite the Castle; the Old Course Hotel at the 17th Road Hole; and Gleneagles in the Perthshire hills. The Edinburgh cultural circuit; the St Andrews town and links experience; and the Highland transition to the most comprehensively equipped golf and leisure estate in Scotland — the complete Scottish journey across eight days.
Sample Itinerary

Key Moments & Movements

The Old Course at St Andrews is playable year-round, with peak season April to October. Tee times are secured through the Old Course Hotel resort allocation. Edinburgh is 50 miles (80 kilometres) from St Andrews by road; St Andrews to Gleneagles is 30 miles (50 kilometres). A private chauffeured vehicle is provided throughout the journey.

Every Richseen golf journey is individually crafted. Tee times, course access, and hotel availability are confirmed at the time of booking. St Andrews Old Course tee times are secured through the resort allocation — early engagement is recommended for peak-season travel.

Day 1
Edinburgh Arrival — The Balmoral · Princes Street · Old Town
Arrive at Edinburgh Airport with private chauffeur transfer to The Balmoral on Princes Street — the clock tower above Waverley Station whose hands are traditionally set three minutes fast to help travellers make their trains. The Old Town from the hotel's position at the base of the Royal Mile: the Castle visible at the western end of the ridge, the Arthur's Seat volcano to the east, and the Forth visible from the higher closes. Evening dinner in the New Town — the Georgian grid whose Stockbridge and Bruntsfield restaurant districts have been accumulating Michelin recognition since the late 1990s.
The Balmoral, Edinburgh
Day 2
Edinburgh — Castle · National Museum · Arthur's Seat · Leith
Morning: Edinburgh Castle — the Scottish Crown Jewels; the Stone of Destiny; and the One O'Clock Gun fired daily since 1861 from the Half-Moon Battery at precisely 1pm. The National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street for the afternoon — the most complete single account of Scottish history and culture available in any building, from the Pictish carved stones through the 20th-century industrial exhibits. Arthur's Seat at dusk — the 251-metre volcanic peak in Holyrood Park whose summit provides the city panorama that every Edinburgh resident considers definitive. Dinner at The Kitchin or Martin Wishart on the Leith waterfront.
The Balmoral, Edinburgh
Day 3
Transfer to St Andrews · Carnoustie or Crail Warm-Up Round
Chauffeur drive from Edinburgh to St Andrews (50 miles, 1 hour through the Fife countryside via the Forth Road Bridge). Morning warm-up round at Carnoustie Golf Links — the Championship Course whose 7,421-yard layout has hosted eight Open Championships and whose 18th hole Barry Burn crossing produces the most dramatic closing sequence in links golf — or the Crail Golfing Society's Balcomie Links (1895, the seventh oldest golf club in the world) for the more intimate Fife links experience. Arrival at the Old Course Hotel in the late afternoon; the first view of the Old Course's 18th fairway from the hotel drive.
Old Course Hotel, St Andrews
Day 4
Old Course Experience — The Round That Defines Scottish Golf
The guaranteed Old Course tee time — secured through the Old Course Hotel resort allocation. The 18 holes in the order that Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, and Tiger Woods have played them: the 1st drive over the Swilcan Burn; the Himalayas putting green warm-up; the Road Hole 17th where the bunker on the left of the green has ended more Open aspirations than any other single feature in championship golf; and the 18th Swilcan Bridge crossing at the finish. Caddie provided. Afternoon: the St Andrews town circuit — the Younger Hall; the West Sands beach where Chariots of Fire was filmed; and the Cathedral ruins where the Society of St Andrews Golfers played their first organised matches.
Old Course Hotel, St Andrews
Day 5
Kingsbarns Golf Links — The Fife Clifftop Round
Morning round at Kingsbarns Golf Links 10 kilometres south of St Andrews — the Kyle Phillips course of 2000 whose clifftop position above the North Sea provides the most visually dramatic golf in Fife. Six holes on the cliff edge; the gorse-lined inland return; and the final run back along the clifftop where the wind from the Firth of Forth determines the club selection more decisively than the yardage. Afternoon: the Crail Harbour and the East Neuk fishing villages — Anstruther for the fish and chips that the Anstruther Fish Bar has been producing to the same standard since 1977, and the Pittenweem Artists' Open Studios if the season aligns. Return to St Andrews for the final evening.
Old Course Hotel, St Andrews
Day 6
Transfer to Gleneagles · Private Whisky Tasting
Chauffeur drive from St Andrews to Gleneagles (30 miles through the Perthshire hills, 45 minutes). Check in to the Gleneagles Hotel — the 1924 Jack Ross Italianate palace in the Ochil Hills whose three golf courses and the surrounding moorland produce the most comprehensive golf and leisure estate in Scotland. Afternoon: private whisky tasting at Glenturret Distillery in Crieff (Scotland's oldest working distillery, founded 1763, 15 minutes from Gleneagles) — a guided tasting through the distillery's core expressions in the still house where they were distilled, conducted by the distillery's specialist.
Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire
Day 7
Gleneagles — PGA Centenary Course · Highlands Leisure
Optional morning round on the PGA Centenary Course — Jack Nicklaus's 7,293-yard layout that hosted the 2014 Ryder Cup, whose Perthshire moorland setting and the Ochil Hills backdrop produce the most dramatic inland golf experience in Scotland. Alternative: the falconry school, the off-road driving experience, or the equestrian centre. Afternoon at leisure — the Gleneagles spa, the Andrew Fairlie restaurant (two Michelin stars, one of Scotland's most celebrated dining experiences), and the Perthshire countryside that surrounds the estate in every direction at the season's most vivid.
Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire
Day 8
Departure — Edinburgh Airport
Final morning at Gleneagles — the Queen's Course for a final nine holes in the Perthshire morning, or the estate walk through the moorland with the golf professional's post-round debrief from the Old Course round. Chauffeur drive to Edinburgh Airport (50 miles, 1 hour) for onward connections. The whisky purchased at Glenturret; the scorecard from the Old Course; and the particular quality of leaving Scotland through Edinburgh having played the course that every golfer in the world has as the reference point for what the game originally was.
Edinburgh Airport
Luxury Stays

Where You Rest Matters

Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh — 2 Nights
The Balmoral
1 Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland
The Balmoral — Rocco Forte's flagship Scottish hotel in the clock tower above Waverley Station on Princes Street, with the Edinburgh Castle visible from the upper floors and the Royal Mile beginning at the hotel's east end. The Number One restaurant (Michelin star); the Palm Court for afternoon tea; and the Scottish suite tradition that makes The Balmoral the reference luxury address in Edinburgh. The most central single position for the Castle, the National Museum, and the Leith restaurant district that the itinerary uses.
Old Course, St Andrews, Fife
St Andrews — 3 Nights
Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa
Old Station Road, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SP
The Old Course Hotel at the corner of the 17th Road Hole — the hotel whose Road Hole suites overlook the most strategically complex par-4 in links golf, where the Road Hole Bunker is visible at the green's left edge and the view of the 18th fairway from the hotel's west face provides the most direct architectural connection to the Old Course available in any accommodation. The Kohler resort allocation that guarantees the tee time; the Sands Grill; and the spa in the building that makes the Old Course the hotel's back garden.
Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland
Perthshire — 2 Nights
Gleneagles Hotel
Auchterarder, Perthshire PH3 1NF, Scotland
Gleneagles — the 1924 Italianate palace in the Ochil Hills, with three championship golf courses (the PGA Centenary Course that hosted the 2014 Ryder Cup, the King's Course of 1919, and the Queen's Course), the Andrew Fairlie restaurant (two Michelin stars), equestrian centre, falconry school, and off-road driving experience. The most comprehensively equipped golf and leisure estate in Scotland, and the address whose Perthshire countryside provides the Highland transition that concludes the itinerary's movement from the city through the links to the moorland.
Exclusive Experiences

Moments Designed for You

⛳
Old Course
The Round — Swilcan Bridge, Road Hole, 18th Green
The guaranteed Old Course tee time with caddie — the Swilcan Bridge crossing on the 18th approach; the Road Hole Bunker on the 17th green that has ended more Open aspirations than any other single feature in championship golf; and the Valley of Sin short of the 18th green where the most frequently misread putt in the history of the Open Championship waits for every visiting golfer. The round that provides the reference standard against which every other golf experience in the world is eventually measured.
🌊
Kingsbarns
The Fife Clifftop — North Sea Wind, Six Holes Above the Water
Kingsbarns Golf Links — the Kyle Phillips course of 2000 whose clifftop position provides six holes directly above the North Sea with the Bass Rock and the May Island visible on clear days from the 15th tee. The course whose wind conditions make the yardage book irrelevant and the caddie's local knowledge the decisive variable in club selection; and whose visual quality — the gorse, the cliff edge, the North Sea light — produces the most photographed non-Old-Course views on the Fife coast.
🥃
Whisky
Glenturret — Scotland's Oldest Distillery, in the Still House
Private tasting at Glenturret Distillery in Crieff — the oldest working distillery in Scotland (founded 1763), now operated by the Lalique Group with Michelin-starred dining in the Lalique Restaurant adjacent to the still house. The tasting conducted by the distillery's specialist in the environment that produced the whisky: the pot stills, the washbacks, the bonded warehouse — and then the expressions themselves, from the lightly peated core range to the limited single cask bottlings that the general market does not access.
🏰
Edinburgh
Arthur's Seat at Dusk — The Volcanic Panorama Above the City
Arthur's Seat — the 251-metre extinct volcano in Holyrood Park, accessible by a 45-minute walk from the Palace of Holyroodhouse, whose summit provides the panorama that makes Edinburgh's geography most comprehensible: the Castle on the volcanic plug to the west; the Forth estuary and the Fife hills to the north; the Pentland Hills to the south; and the Balmoral clock tower visible at the base of the Royal Mile below. Best at the hour before sunset, in the light that Edinburgh's eastern exposure produces in the final hour of the day.
Visual Journey

Through the Lens

Begin Your Story

Craft Your
Private Journey

Every detail — from your first evening on Princes Street to your final round on the Perthshire moorland — is composed entirely around you. Speak with your dedicated Richseen journey consultant today.

From USD 20,000+ per person

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