Old Course Ballot Tips: How to Improve Your Chances

The Old Course ballot is, at its core, a lottery. You can't cheat it or game it completely. But timing, strategy, and preparation make a real difference between the visitors who get on and those who never do.

1. Enter off-peak if you have flexibility

The single most effective thing you can do is choose off-peak dates. Success rates in June, July, and August run around 8–15%. In April, early May, September, October, and November they're closer to 20–30%. If your Scotland trip has flexibility and getting the Old Course is the priority, plan around shoulder season.

Specific windows that tend to work better:

• April — post-Easter when school holiday traffic drops
• Early May — before the summer peak
• Mid-September — summer crowds gone, courses often in best condition
• October — fewer tourists, reasonable weather, odds improve significantly

2. Enter as a single

Single players get slotted into gaps in the ballot schedule that a group of four can't fill. The Links Trust routinely fills tee times with pairs of singles or a single plus a two-ball. If you're travelling solo or can split your group for one round, entering individually materially improves your odds.

For a group of four: entering as two singles + one pair may be more effective than entering as one group, since two successful single entries can be merged into a four.

3. Enter every eligible evening of your trip

The ballot is entered the evening before (from 2 pm) and results announced by 4 pm. If you're staying in St Andrews for a week, enter every evening regardless of whether you've already played. You can decline a successful ballot result if it clashes with plans — it doesn't affect your ability to enter the next day.

4. Set the alarm for the walk-up queue

The walk-up single player queue at the caddie pavilion starts filling before 5:30 am. If you're staying nearby, arriving at 5:30–6:00 am gives you a genuine shot at a same-day tee time, particularly in shoulder season. The chances aren't high — maybe 1-in-5 to 1-in-10 depending on the day — but they're real. Bring coffee.

5. Check for Sunday availability

The Old Course is closed on Sundays, with one exception: a free public walking day when locals walk the course. No tee times, no golf. This is not a playing opportunity but it's worth knowing to avoid scheduling confusion.

6. Book the New Course or the Castle Course as a safety net

The New Course (St Andrews Links Trust) and Castle Course are outstanding courses in their own right. Booking one of them for the same day you enter the Old Course ballot gives your trip a guaranteed round regardless of the result — and takes pressure off the ballot.

7. Advance booking for societies and groups

The Links Trust opens a priority booking window for golf societies (groups of 8+) well in advance of the season. If you're organising a group trip and getting the Old Course is essential, explore the society route rather than the ballot. It requires more planning but the booking window means guaranteed tee times.

8. The tee-time booking route

There is also a direct advance-booking route: the Links Trust releases a proportion of tee times for general booking, typically at various intervals before the season. These sell out quickly. Set up a Links Trust account and monitor the release schedule — booking windows are announced on their website. This is separate from the ballot.

9. Build in a fallback

The most relaxed visitors to St Andrews are those who enter the ballot every day, genuinely enjoy the town and the other courses if the ballot doesn't break their way, and treat the Old Course round as a bonus rather than the entire point of the trip.

The course is extraordinary. The ballot is arbitrary. The gap between those two facts is best bridged by not making the ballot the only thing your trip is built around.

Checklist before you enter

• ✓ Valid handicap certificate (men ≤24, women ≤36)
• ✓ Credit card on file with Links Trust (charged if successful)
• ✓ All player names and handicaps ready
• ✓ Preferred tee time range noted
• ✓ Backup plan confirmed (New Course, Kingsbarns, Carnoustie)