Historical greens fees for visitors at The Old Course?

[Jeff Schley]

Got an email from a friend of mine who is trying to put together an October trip to TOC as he got a tee time apparently, can't go. Long story short he mentioned when he first played TOC back in 1992 and paid 35 pounds. I was thinking.... really?  It was that cheap back then? I have only played it twice in 2018 and think it was 170 pounds or thereabouts.

I know we have quite a few who frequent TOC and the area who can give some historical info on what the visitor fees for TOC have been?

[Sean_A]

I recall paying about £35 around 1991. My father said he paid less than a fiver in the mid 70s.

Ciao

[Ally Mcintosh]

1989 = £18

[Tom_Doak]

It was 15 pounds in 1982.


Wentworth was also 15 pounds.


And those were the two highest green fees I paid in my year overseas.  I was comped at some of the English clubs, so it's possible Sunningdale charged more, but I doubt it.  Golf was still affordable then.

[Thomas Dai]

It was 15 pounds in 1982.

... which allowing for published UK inflation records is the equivalent of approx £45 in today’s money.
I wonder what the UK price of a manganese bronze or steel Ping putter or a dozen balata Titlesits or a pair of Footjoy Classics was in 1982?
Atb

[Tom_Doak]

It was 15 pounds in 1982.

... which allowing for published UK inflation records is the equivalent of approx £45 in today’s money.
I wonder what the UK price of a manganese bronze or steel Ping putter or a dozen balata Titlesits or a pair of Footjoy Classics was in 1982?

Thomas:


Because I was on a scholarship from Cornell, I kept meticulous records of what I spent in my nine months overseas, in a little notebook.  I found it again 25 years ago when my dad sold the family house and I was helping clean it out and decide what to keep.  [I decided to throw it away so that no one would see what my diet was like in 1982    ]


I do remember it pretty well though, here are some of the basics:


I bought a used car when I arrived [a Fiat 127] for 1,500 pounds and sold it a year later for 800, with an additional 13,000 miles on it.  [I might have gotten a little more for it but trying to sell a car a week before you are leaving the country is not a good bargaining position.]


For most of the year I stayed in bed and breakfast places for 1-3 days at a time.  The typical price for a B & B in 1982 was six pounds per night, including a decent breakfast.  There were many more homes doing B & B back then, as the recession was pushing hard on average people.  Still, that was my biggest expense of the trip; with breakfast paid for, I did not spend six pounds a day on food!


My other biggest expenses were fuel [even though the Fiat got 30 mpg] and . . . SLIDE FILM AND PROCESSING.


I played about 100 rounds of golf and between the low green fees and being comped at a bunch of the English clubs [but never in Scotland  ], I paid well under 1,000 pounds for the golf overall.


Times change!

[Tim_Weiman]

It was 15 pounds in 1982.

... which allowing for published UK inflation records is the equivalent of approx £45 in today’s money.
I wonder what the UK price of a manganese bronze or steel Ping putter or a dozen balata Titlesits or a pair of Footjoy Classics was in 1982?

Thomas:


Because I was on a scholarship from Cornell, I kept meticulous records of what I spent in my nine months overseas, in a little notebook.  I found it again 25 years ago when my dad sold the family house and I was helping clean it out and decide what to keep.  [I decided to throw it away so that no one would see what my diet was like in 1982    ]


I do remember it pretty well though, here are some of the basics:


I bought a used car when I arrived [a Fiat 127] for 1,500 pounds and sold it a year later for 800, with an additional 13,000 miles on it.  [I might have gotten a little more for it but trying to sell a car a week before you are leaving the country is not a good bargaining position.]


For most of the year I stayed in bed and breakfast places for 1-3 days at a time.  The typical price for a B & B in 1982 was six pounds per night, including a decent breakfast.  There were many more homes doing B & B back then, as the recession was pushing hard on average people.  Still, that was my biggest expense of the trip; with breakfast paid for, I did not spend six pounds a day on food!


My other biggest expenses were fuel [even though the Fiat got 30 mpg] and . . . SLIDE FILM AND PROCESSING.


I played about 100 rounds of golf and between the low green fees and being comped at a bunch of the English clubs [but never in Scotland  ], I paid well under 1,000 pounds for the golf overall.


Times change!

Tom,


Now you have done it. Years ago I thought what became your Mackenzie book and now “Getting to 18” were obvious gaps in golf architecture literature. But.......your post screams another......”my year in......heaven”.


Not kidding!

[Thomas Dai]

It was 15 pounds in 1982.

... which allowing for published UK inflation records is the equivalent of approx £45 in today’s money.
I wonder what the UK price of a manganese bronze or steel Ping putter or a dozen balata Titlesits or a pair of Footjoy Classics was in 1982?

Thomas:
Because I was on a scholarship from Cornell, I kept meticulous records of what I spent in my nine months overseas, in a little notebook.  I found it again 25 years ago when my dad sold the family house and I was helping clean it out and decide what to keep.  [I decided to throw it away so that no one would see what my diet was like in 1982    ]
I do remember it pretty well though, here are some of the basics:
I bought a used car when I arrived [a Fiat 127] for 1,500 pounds and sold it a year later for 800, with an additional 13,000 miles on it.  [I might have gotten a little more for it but trying to sell a car a week before you are leaving the country is not a good bargaining position.]
For most of the year I stayed in bed and breakfast places for 1-3 days at a time.  The typical price for a B & B in 1982 was six pounds per night, including a decent breakfast.  There were many more homes doing B & B back then, as the recession was pushing hard on average people.  Still, that was my biggest expense of the trip; with breakfast paid for, I did not spend six pounds a day on food!
My other biggest expenses were fuel [even though the Fiat got 30 mpg] and . . . SLIDE FILM AND PROCESSING.
I played about 100 rounds of golf and between the low green fees and being comped at a bunch of the English clubs [but never in Scotland  ], I paid well under 1,000 pounds for the golf overall.
Times change!

Tom,
Coincidences ... the car I had when I first went up to live in Scotland and even the one I drove to St Andrews to play the Old Course in 1981/2 ... a Fiat 127!! And a fine wee car for carrying golf clubs it was. Easy on fuel and great in the snow too, narrow tyres dig deep.
Not so many Motorways nor dual-carriageways to journey around on back then nor many other vehicles on the road in comparison to today. No speed cameras and only the very occasional traffic cop too, not that it made too much difference in a Fiat 127 even when being driven flat out!!
Atb

[Pete_Pittock]

1975.
      5$/hole.  That's the cost from my first Scotland trip, and that included everything - food, air, car, lodging, golf, souvenirs. Self drive, father as roommate. Hotels were the Sun Court in Troon (which had real tennis), Mill Hotel in Perth (short walk to Famous Grouse distillery) Marine Hotel in N Berwick and Rusacks. Breakfast included.

      Played 11 rounds in 8 days   Turnberry (Ailsa), Troon, Prestwick, Gleneagles-King, Blairgowrie, N Berwick, Gulllane 1, Gullane 2, St Andrew (Old) Carnoustie, St Andrews (Old).
That's 198 holes, which means my cost was just under $1000


Maybe 4-5 pounds each round.

[Tommy Williamsen]

In 1992 the most expensive green fee I paid was Muirfield. I think it was about 35 pounds.

[Michael Whitaker]

My first visit to TOC was in 2002. The cost was £85.

[John Kavanaugh]

Is it fair to say that air travel has gotten less expensive over the years? The one time I went a few years back I never felt for a second that I was over charged or under served.

[David_Elvins]

I shared these on a recent thread.
1990 green fees in Scotland:


Carnoustie: £19 (£80 for a weekly ticket)
Cruden Bay: £12 (£75 for a fortnight)
Dornoch: £17 (£70 weekly ticket)
The Old Course: £16.50
Royal Troon: £30 daily
Royal Aberdeen: £11
Muirfield: £30 (£40 daily)


You could also get a weekly ticket for all courses in St Andrews except the Old Course for £43.


To adjust for recorded inflation, you can double most of these prices to get modern day equivalents.

[Paul Rudovsky]

I go back to 1969...and if my memory is correct (and I am pretty sure it is in this instance) it was £1.50 which at the old fixed exchange rate of $2.80 equated to $4.20

[Paul Rudovsky]

BTW---adjusted for US Consumer Price Index $4.20 in September 1969 is $29.18 today