About St. Andrews
St. Andrews’ Royal and Ancient Golf Club is the shrine that attracts pilgrims of golf from all around the world. Golf has been referred to in St. Andrews from as early as 1457 when King James II banned it because it distracted men from archery.
A charter in 1552 reserved the right of the people of St. Andrews to use the links land for the playing of golf (along with football and all other games). The Old Course and the other four golf courses in the links behind the West Sands beach are still owned by public trust for the people of St. Andrews. Its Old Course is the world’s most famous and oldest 18-hole golf course. Anyone with a handicap certificate (24 for men and 36 for women) can play the Old Course by applying in advance to a public ballot. The course is closed on Sundays unless hosting a major golf tournament.
ST. ANDREWS UNIVERSITY is the oldest in Scotland, having been founded in 1410. Students wear red gowns, as did their medieval predecessors, to make them easily spotted by the university proctors when out and about town.
ST. ANDREWS CATHEDRAL’S story began in the 4th century when St. Rule rescued the relics of St. Andrew (one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus and brother of Apostle Simon/Peter) and delivered them to Scotland. St. Andrew had been put to death on a diagonal cross by the Romans in Greece from where St. Rule set out on his mission. The national flag of Scotland, the ‘Saltire’, or ‘St. Andrews Cross’, is a diagonal white cross on a blue background. The cathedral church of St. Rule was built in St. Andrews in 1130 and its 110ft tower survives today as one of the great antiquities of Scotland. St. Andrews Cathedral itself was begun in 1160 on the same site and was Scotland’s largest medieval building. Robert the Bruce rode his horse down the aisle on the cathedrals consecration in 1318. The cathedral’s alters and images were removed in the mid 16th century and the building partially collapsed towards the end of the century. Preservation of the remains of the cathedral began in 1826 and since then care of the ruins has been meticulous.