[Sean_A]

"As regards the opening and finishing holes at St Andrews nothing could be finer or more appropriate then the simplicity which adds dignity to design in providing a promenade for the townspeople over turf free from the disfigurement of unsightly artificial hazards.  The Swilcan Burn and the Valley of Sin are quite adequate in themselves to justify these holes in the absence of any other distinctive golfing features."

Were #s 1 & 18 left purposefully as they are to create a what some may call a better panorama for the townspeople?  These holes are very different from the remainder of the course.  It would be interesting to know if TOC gave way to "landscaping" priorities on #s 1 & 18 or if the bunkerless field was just happenstance. 

Ciao

[Ally Mcintosh]

That quote is yet another reason why Tom Simpson is my man...

Sean, if you believe that TOC developed naturally and that bunkers arrived in the hollows and pits that were formed, I suppose it would make sense that the flat opening linksland was left as is... Although, we know that the 18th green was built on top of a grave so the valley of sin was probably created at that time...

I guess Scott MacPherson or Melvyn will have more detail on this one

[Simon Holt]

I was always told that the 1st and 18th were kept as they were due to the volume of towns folk using that area on a Sunday.  I guess thats why the tradition of the course being closed still goes on today.

As a large, generally flat area (certainly between GCW and the burn, not so much near the green!!) amongst other things they used this for drying and mending the fishing nets on Sundays.  Sunday closing possibly has a touch of religion thrown in too due to the age of the course and the religious significance of the town???  The university was founded by monks in the early 1400s which is around the same time as golf started out there. 

I visited the palace in Venice once and one of the huge old paintings of Europe dating back 500 years had just 3 place names in the UK noted.  London, York and St. Andrews.  A little bit of culture for you all- probably totally irrelevant but sheds a little light on Sunday closing and perhaps the relative lack of drama to the land on the 1st and 18th fairways.

[Ally Mcintosh]

Sunday closing would not have been solely in St.Andrews...

It makes sense that this piece of land was used frequently by the townsfolks and also as a thouroughfare from the town to the west sands (It still is)... If you travel the East coast of Scotland, you will see quite a few towns and villages with a large flat area of links dividing the main shore street and the beach... In many ways, no different to St Andrews...

Part of the reason that I dislike the definition of "links" golf as containing dunes and undulations...

[Tom MacWood]

Wasn't the walkway bisecting the 1st and 18th the main public access to the beach?

[Ally Mcintosh]

Wasn't the walkway bisecting the 1st and 18th the main public access to the beach?

Are you asking that as a result of my post, Tom? If so, I'll try and answer as best as I know... Again, others will be more qualified...

Granny Clark's Wynd (that walkway bisecting 1 and 18) is still a main thoroughfare to the beach, as is the whole golf course on a Sunday when it is closed... the walkway / road was only built sometime in the 19th century though... Melvyn has just shown me an old photograph this morning and it does not exist... If people wanted to reach the west sands from the town, they'd have travelled down beside the clubhouse or more likely diagonally across the 1st & 18th holes (much as today on a Sunday)...

[Marty Bonnar]

Scott M's article from T&L...

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/golf-secrets-of-the-old-course/1

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