[D. Kilfara]

Just thought I'd chip in with my own answers to these questions, and perhaps give anyone else a chance to respond who hasn't already done so (I'd have thought there were more than 50 people active in these forums who have played TOC...):

1) Approximately 30 times the normal way, plus once backward.

2) I think the Old Course is in a league of its own. There are (a few) other courses I'd rather play, but there isn't another course you can compare TOC to for strategic depth and replayability. I agree with Tom Doak's comment - "once you have a map of it in your head," it becomes a strategic masterpiece that *any* golfer allowed on to it (i.e. 24 handicap or better) can appreciate. The problem is that very few people, apart from its residents, are ever in St. Andrews long enough or frequently enough to acquire that knowledge. I don't think you can hold this fact against the course itself - surely the greatest compliment to a course is to say that you'd be happy playing it every day - but it is true that until you get to play it at least 10 times (a conservative estimate, that), you can savor TOC for its historical and atmospheric greatness, but you can't really understand its architectural greatness. In my humble opinion, of course.

(That said, I believe the answers of everyone heretofore back me up - the people who haven't tended to like TOC are the ones who have played it a few times but less than 10 times, i.e. enough for the initial buzz of the history and the St. Andrews atmosphere to have worn off but not enough to get beyond the knowledge gap.)

3) Much higher. I appreciated TOC for its history before I played it, but having been so fortunate as to get to spend a year in St. Andrews, I feel blessed to have gotten to know TOC so intimately. I'd very happily go back for another year, or ten...

Cheers,
Darren

[Steve Wilson]

I have played TOC only once, May of 2000.

I currently think the TOC is peopled with spectres.  But my own experience is unsatisfactorily vague.  Part of it was jet lag, part of it was the distraction of playing with three strangers, including Sir Malcolm Campbell.  My relief at striking a solid tee ball on the first with my 1 iron, after having seen two members of the previous foursome slice theirs over the temporary bleachers to the right of the first fairway, also constibutes to the unreality of the experience.

 Everything between 2 and 6 is a blur except for the fine tee shot I hit on either three or four.  I found it perched it on a micro mound that  reduced me to making an ineffective swipe at it.

I enjoyed the loop and hit fine shots to both of the par threes.  While my eight iron was in flight to the 11th, one member of the foursome said "you may have just made 1."   Alas it was about a yard short but somehow clung to the fringe.  A butcher job on 17, let's draw a veil over that was followed by my best two shot s of the day except I carried my approach too deep into the green on 18 and left myself a fifteen footer for birdie which I missed.  At least I didn't suffer the fate of a fellow playing later in the day who played a beautiful running approach to about four feet and then proceeded to three putt.

My impression of TOC is that I could never play it enough to unravel it's mysteries.  My meeting with the old girl reminds me of a young friend who was once introduced to Faith Hill the country singer.  "What did you say to her, Eddie."  I asked innocently.  This glib fellow replied honestly, "I said, 'abaabaaba abadoo."   I was too much in awe of the situation to come to any sound conclusions.  I do recall the scale of the green complexes and the amount of roll in them, and the corrugated surfaces of the fairways lead me to think that I would always find it ever challenging to deal with the uneven stances.
My opinion of the Old Course is pretty much the same as it was when I went there.  It is a hallowed, though being commercialized place, and I would find it endlessly intriguing and fun to play even though I might never play it well.

[Sean_A]

I have played TOC three times spread out over 20 years and walked it a few times.

I think the course is tour de force in fun, varied, manageable golf while still providing plenty of challenging shots.  The back nine is among the best in the game.  There are still a ton of issues which nobody could say are ideal for design, but TOC still manages to enchant the golf from start to finish so long as the holes are seen as pieces of the puzzle. 

I didn't really have an opinion of TOC before I played it.  I can say my opinion of its quality and how much I like has risen with each visit.

Ciao

[Andy Shulman]

1. Twice (Oct '03 and May '05, with the grandstands and leader boards in place for the Open Championship)
2. One of my favorite thing about playing TOC - and there are many - is seeing the town of St. Andrews recede in the distance as you play out to The Loop and then get bigger and bigger as you play back into town.  Another feature you don't fully appreciate until you play the course is the number of blind tee shots.  Several holes are exceptional, especially #11, #13 and, of course, #17.  While not all of the holes are great, most have one or more distinctive features that make them memorable.  That said, I couldn't tell #s 3, 4 and 6 apart if my life depended on it.  My favorite hole is #16, Corner of the Dyke, b/c the out of bounds fenceline running along the right side of the hole creeps in closer and closer to the line of play the closer you get to the green and affected my approach shot more than any water hazard.  In fact, the second time I played the hole, my approach ended up on the 2nd hole portion of the double green!
3. As high as my expectations were, TOC exceeded them.  It's a magical place...and I'm not that kind of guy.

[Jim Sherma]

I've played it once and walked it a couple of times during the week I spent in St Andrews. It was blowing a steady 25mph as measures at the R&A clubhouse with gusts well up from there. I was completely blown away with how good the course was. I had a wonderful caddy and the lack of visibility from 2 through the tee ball on 7 did not feel oppressive. I agree with the "sameness" critique through much of the tee balls on the front 9. Other than that I would easily put it amongst the best courses I've ever played. There was nothing in my golfing experience to prepare me for the 7-11 "high" green complex the first time I crested the hill after driving on 7. The back 9 is simply awesome with a great set of shots being asked for. It easily met me addmittedly high expectations and in some ways exceeded them.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Yes, twice.  Had the 40-40 combo both times (40 degrees and 40MPH)

[Carl Johnson]

. . .

1) How many times have you played it? (An approximation is fine if you've played it more times than you can count or remember)

One time.

2) What do you *currently* think of TOC? Please summarize your thoughts in 25 words or more. (Be as verbose as you wish, but please be a little more analytical than "I loved it!", "It was OK", or "It sucked!".)

My first and only time around it was difficult to evaluate, what with not knowing what was "out there," trainee caddie who needed a lot more training, anxiety of playing TOC for the first time.  In sum, I'd have to play it at least several more times (unlikely to happen) before forming a reasonable opinion.

3) Is your current opinion of TOC higher, lower or roughly the same now than it was before you'd ever actually played it? In other words, what do you think about the course now relative to when you'd only heard stories about it, seen photos of it or watched tournaments on television played on it? (A short answer would suffice, but if you wish to embellish, by all means do so.)

Roughly the same, but see answer to 2) above.

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