St Andrews · Old Course
The Old Course Ballot: A Complete Guide
The St Andrews daily ballot is the cheapest route onto the most famous course in golf. It is also a lottery. This is what the numbers actually say.
Open-ballot tee times per day
13.7
Average, Apr–Oct 2024
Visitor ballot daily success rate
10.54%
Apr–Oct 2024 average, Ginger Beer Golf
Attempts for >50% probability
7
Binomial distribution
Ballot entry deadline
2 pm
Two days before; results after 4.30 pm
Three ways onto the Old Course
The ballot is the most talked-about route but not the only one. Choose based on how much certainty you need and how far ahead you can plan.
| Route | Certainty | Lead time | Cost | Group size | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Ballot | Lottery | Closes 2 pm, two days before | £180–£355 | 2–4 players | Flexible travellers entering across multiple days |
| Swilcan Package | Lottery, then guaranteed | Autumn window — 2027's ran 23 September–6 October 2026 and has closed; expect the next in late September | £555–£745 per golfer, two rounds | 1–4 players | Anyone who can plan a year out and wants the Old Course guaranteed if drawn |
| Singles Daily Draw | Draw | 9 am–4 pm the day before, in person | £180–£355 | Singles only | Solo golfers already in St Andrews with a flexible morning |
How the ballot works
The St Andrews Links Trust holds a daily ballot for tee times on the Old Course. The ballot for a given day closes at 2 pm two days before — the Thursday ballot closes at 2 pm on Tuesday — and entries are accepted on the day it is drawn, or from about 2.15 pm the day before that, once the previous ballot has closed. You need at least two players, and every name, home club and handicap. Enter online at standrews.com, by phone on +44 (0)1334 466666, or in person at The Old Pavilion or a clubhouse. Results are available after 4.30 pm the same day. If successful, you pay the green fee — £180–£355 per round on the 2026/27 rate card — and only the named golfers may play. The Old Course is closed on Sundays, so there is no Friday ballot.
The ballot is a small share of the day's sheet. The Links Trust does not publish its numbers, but Ginger Beer Golf Travel's count of the Trust's published daily draws found an average of 24.3 ballot tee times a day between April and October 2024 — 13.7 in the open (visitor) ballot, the rest in the local ballot — against about 155.7 open-ballot entries a day. On those figures an estimated 10.54% of visitor entries succeeded on an average day (15.50% with the local ballot included). That is an April–October average, measured under the rules in force in 2024; no month-by-month or weekday breakdown has been published.
The maths is straightforward. If each attempt has a 10.54% chance of success, the probability of winning at least once across n attempts is 1 − (1 − 0.1054)ⁿ. At 7 attempts you pass 50% (54%); it takes 15 to pass 80%. Use the calculator below to run your own dates.
Step by step
How to enter the daily ballot
- 01
By 2 pm, two days before you want to play
Go to standrews.com and navigate to Play → Old Course → Daily Ballot, or phone +44 (0)1334 466666, or call in at The Old Pavilion. The ballot closes at 2 pm sharp two days before the play date; you can enter from about 2.15 pm the day before that, once the previous ballot has closed.
- 02
Select your play date and group size
Choose the date you want (two days ahead) and your group size — at least two, at most four. If you can play at any time of day, say so: the Links Trust says that gives you the best chance. Single players don't enter the ballot; they use the Singles Daily Draw the day before play.
- 03
Enter your details
You'll need every player's name, home club and handicap. All players must hold an official handicap of 36 or better, men and women alike. Enter each group once — duplicate entries are disqualified. The form is short; allow five minutes.
- 04
Submit and note your reference number
You receive an immediate acknowledgement email with a reference number. Keep it — you'll need it if your entry is successful and you need to contact the Links Trust.
- 05
Check the result after 4.30 pm the same day
Results go up on the Links Trust's Ballot Results page after 4.30 pm, or phone back after that time. If successful, bring the official handicap card or certificate for every player and check in with the Starter at least 20 minutes before your tee time. Unsuccessful entries get no credit or carry-forward — enter again for the next day. Green fees pre-paid for another Links course cannot be put towards a successful ballot.
The guaranteed route
The Swilcan Package
If you need certainty, the Links Trust's Swilcan Package is its published route to a guaranteed Old Course tee time — but it is a lottery too, just a slower one. You apply once a year in an autumn window, a draw sets the order of allocation, and the successful get two rounds on consecutive days: one on the Old Course and one on a second Links course of your choice. There is no rolling 365-day booking — this page described one until September 2026, and it did not exist.
The 2027-season window closed at 23:59 BST on Tuesday 6 October 2026; the Trust has run it in late September each year, so expect the 2028 window then. Applications are not first come first served; any time inside the window is equal.
- 01
Apply on the Links Trust's online portal in its autumn window. For the 2027 season it ran from 10:00 BST on Wednesday 23 September 2026 to 23:59 BST on Tuesday 6 October 2026 and has closed; the Trust has run it in late September each year, so expect the 2028 window then. Up to 4 golfers per application.
- 02
Pick dates between 1 April and 31 October 2027. The price category follows the dates: £745 per golfer in high season (19 April to 17 October 2027), £555 in the shoulder season (1–18 April and 18–31 October 2027, the only category commercial operators may apply for).
- 03
Wait for the draw. Results for the 2027 season were due to every applicant by email before the end of October 2026; demand means not everyone is offered a time.
- 04
If drawn, both tee times are guaranteed, and each golfer gets £75 of food and drink credit, £30 of retail credit and two buckets of 60 complimentary range balls at the Golf Academy.
Read off standrews.com 2026-09-26 · Ballot green fee for comparison: £180–£355 per round (2026/27 rate card)
Probability calculator
Enter your trip dates — we'll estimate your cumulative odds across all eligible ballot days.
Pick your trip dates above to see the estimate.
Where the daily figure comes from
The St Andrews Links Trust does not publish ballot success rates. This calculator uses one figure: 11% per day (10.54%), the estimated visitor-ballot success rate averaged over 1 April – 31 October 2024 in Ginger Beer Golf Travel's count of the Trust's published daily draws. It is measured under the rules in force in 2024, before the current two-days-ahead, two-player-minimum ballot. No month-by-month, weekday or group-size breakdown has been published, so the calculator applies the same rate to every ballot day rather than guess at one.
Uses one published April–October 2024 average for every ballot day. Not an R&A or St Andrews Links Trust product.
The Singles Daily Draw
The ballot needs two players, so a solo golfer has a route of their own. The Links Trust now runs a Singles Daily Draw for whatever on-the-day tee times are left for single players: you enter between 9 am and 4 pm on the day before you want to play, in person at The Old Pavilion or the Links Clubhouse, and the draw allocates the spare places. It replaced the old dawn queue at the Starter's Box that this page used to describe — the Trust calls it a new process, and it is the one they publish.
It is a draw, not a queue, and it is not guaranteed. How many places exist depends on how many groups fell short of four after the ballot, which the Trust does not publish and which varies day by day. Bring your official handicap card or certificate — the 36 limit applies here too — and have no fixed plans for the morning.
When
9 am–4 pm the day before you want to play
Where
In person at The Old Pavilion or the Links Clubhouse — not online
Bring
Official handicap card or certificate (36 max), full waterproofs, patience
When the course is closed
The ballot suspends entirely during tournament weeks and public holidays. Check exact dates at standrews.com before booking flights or accommodation.
| Event | Approximate dates | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| The Open Championship 2027 | 11–18 July 2027 (plus set-up beforehand) | Course closed before and during the championship; ballot suspended |
| Alfred Dunhill Links Championship | Early October (annually) | Course closed Thurs–Sun during the event |
| Eden Trophy / R&A Club events | Various spring dates | Check standrews.com — typically midweek closures |
| New Year | 25–26 Dec, 1 Jan | Course closed; ballot does not run |
| Winter restrictions | Jan–Feb (some years) | Ballot may be suspended on some days; non-ballot play only |
Dates are approximate and subject to change. Always verify at standrews.com before planning travel.
Looking for The Open 2027 ballot?
Two different ballots share the name. This page covers the daily play ballot for a tee time on the Old Course — which is suspended for several weeks around The Open Championship 2027. The separate R&A public ballot for spectator grounds tickets to The Open 2027 at St Andrews is covered in our Open 2027 St Andrews guide. And if you're going, sort the roof over your head early — the Open 2027 where-to-stay guide covers the town, the East Neuk and the commute-from-Dundee maths.
If you don't win the ballot
The St Andrews Links Trust runs five other courses on the same complex. The New Course and Jubilee are the most underrated rounds in Fife. Further afield, the East Neuk alternatives are genuinely among the best-value links in Scotland.
New Course
Book direct · 6,625 yards · £45–£155
Jubilee Course
Book direct · 6,742 yards · £75–£150
Castle Course
Book direct · 6,500 yards · £120–£180
Kingsbarns Golf Links
Must book well ahead · £399–£486
Crail Balcomie Links
Crail Golfing Society · book direct · £90–£180
Elie Golf House Club
East Neuk gem · book direct · £90–£200
Frequently asked questions
When can I enter the Old Course ballot?
The ballot closes at 2 pm two days before the day you want to play — so the Thursday ballot closes at 2 pm on Tuesday. Entries are accepted on the day the ballot is drawn, or on the day before once that day's ballot has closed (about 2.15 pm). Results are available after 4.30 pm the same day on the Links Trust's Ballot Results page or by phone. You can enter online at standrews.com, by phone on +44 (0)1334 466666, or in person at The Old Pavilion or one of the clubhouses. Because the Old Course is closed on Sundays there is no Friday ballot.
Can a single golfer enter the ballot?
No — a ballot entry needs at least two players, with every name, home club and handicap on it, and only the named golfers may play. Single players use the Links Trust's Singles Daily Draw instead: enter between 9 am and 4 pm on the day before you want to play, in person at The Old Pavilion or the Links Clubhouse, and any on-the-day tee times left for singles are allocated from that draw. Duplicate ballot entries are disqualified, so don't enter the same names twice.
What is the Swilcan Package, and how do I get a guaranteed Old Course tee time?
The Swilcan Package is the St Andrews Links Trust's published route to a guaranteed Old Course tee time: two rounds on two consecutive days, one on the Old Course and one on a second Links course of your choice, plus £75 of food and drink credit, £30 of retail credit and two buckets of 60 complimentary range balls at the Golf Academy, per golfer. It is not a rolling year-ahead booking. You apply once a year, in a window that for the 2027 season ran from 10:00 BST on Wednesday 23 September 2026 to 23:59 BST on Tuesday 6 October 2026, for 1–4 golfers; applications are not first come first served, a lottery drawn after the window sets the order of allocation, and not every applicant gets a time. Results for the 2027 season were due to every applicant by email before the end of October 2026. 2027 pricing is £745 per golfer in high season (19 April to 17 October 2027) and £555 in the shoulder season (1–18 April and 18–31 October 2027). The 2027-season window closed at 23:59 BST on Tuesday 6 October 2026; the Trust has run it in late September each year, so expect the 2028 window then.
Does the ballot run during The Open Championship?
No. The Old Course closes to public play during The Open Championship and several other events each year. The 2027 Open (11–18 July) closes it for a period before and during the championship, and the daily ballot does not run then. Check the Links Trust's published closure dates at standrews.com before planning your trip.
What happens if my round is cancelled after winning the ballot?
Refund and cancellation terms are set by St Andrews Links Trust and we could not confirm them from its own pages, so check the current terms on standrews.com when you enter.
Can a tour operator guarantee a tee time on the Old Course?
Operators with allocation agreements can occasionally offer confirmed slots — but these come from the same limited pool. Genuinely guaranteed tee times at peak dates are rare and expensive. The Links Trust lets commercial operators apply for shoulder-season Swilcan Packages only; high-season packages are for golfers applying directly, and every application goes through the same lottery. Treat any operator claim of 'guaranteed' July tees sceptically and ask exactly how the booking is held.