St. Andrews Golf Club - The Old Course at St. Andrews - Scotland

To anyone who’s ever held a golf club, St. Andrews Golf Course is a magical place. To stand on the first tee of the Old Course is to stand in the footsteps of the gods. To play that course is an experience one cannot even describe. I’ve had that privilege twice. It’s been a long time, more than 30 years, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. Sad to say, I scored badly both times. I’ve also watched two Open Championships at St. Andrews. I was there in 1970 and 1978 – Jack Nicklaus won both events. Those were magical days indeed.

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For most visitors, St. Andrews begins and ends at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club . And while it may have been golf that brought you here, there’s plenty more to see and do, even for non-golfers.

Perched on a rock some 800 yards east of the course, overlooking the North Sea, St. Andrews Castle dates from the mid-1500s. Its checkered history is one of strife, unrest and religious upheaval: invasion from England, siege by the 2nd Earl of Arran, martyrs burned at the stake, the murder of Cardinal David Beaton, and the list goes on. Today, the castle is still one of Scotland's most significant buildings.

Beyond the castle are the ruins of the cathedral, the largest religious building ever constructed in Scotland. Founded by Arnold, Abbot of Kelso in 1160, this great church was 320 feet long and 168 feet across its transepts. It was destroyed in 1559 by a mob of Protestant extremists who, so it's noted in the 'Historie of the Estate of Scotland,' came "to purge the kirk and break down the altars and images and all kind of idolatrie..." The ruins of the once-great cathedral are among the most photogenic of Scotland's holy places.

No visit to St. Andrews would be complete without a peek inside the British Golf Museum. Located just across the road from the R&A Clubhouse, its exhibits provide a window to the past and bring the ancient game to life.

And there’s more. After shopping on Castle Street it’s on to Market Street, where the Lammas Market, the oldest medieval market in Scotland, is held each year on the second Monday and Tuesday in August. St. Andrews is also a fishing port, a seaside resort and something of a tourist trap. And so it should be, for where else can one walk in the footsteps of, not only the likes of Nicklaus, Watson and Tiger Woods, but also those of John Knox, David Beaton and the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots?