St Andrews Links Trust has expanded its resident boundary to recognise the most significant town-wide expansion for a generation.
The Trust, the charity which manages the world-famous Old Course and six other public courses in the town, announced the change which will incorporate two new housing developments and potentially 1,500 households over the next 20 years.
The move is part of a suite of measures that underline the Trust’s commitment to its original charitable objectives.
Set up in 1974 under an Act of Parliament, the Links Trust is responsible for the running of the courses. Residents who live in St Andrews are eligible to purchase an annual Links ticket that enables them to enjoy year-round golf at all seven Links Trust courses at a heavily discounted price. The cost of a resident’s Links ticket in 2025 is £386, set against the current ‘visitor’ green fee of £340 for a single round on The Old Course.
Two new developments, including St Andrews West, are under phased construction with completion over the next 20 years. Both sit just outside the existing town boundary but from 1 April 2026 residents who fulfil the Trust’s criteria of permanent residency will qualify for a Links ticket.
Alongside this expansion, the Trust is also reviewing the categories of its Links tickets to ensure they continue to best serve its varied ticket holder audience in line with its obligations under the 1974 Act and its public benefit charitable objectives.
This will mean the simplification to two main categories of ticket: Resident and Ordinary from April 2027. This update will see ticket holders within the resident boundary receiving a Resident category with all other ticket holders coming under the Ordinary ticket. Residents of Fife will qualify for a discount on the pricing for the Ordinary ticket.
These categories replace the previous Resident, North-east Fife, Ordinary and Open tickets. A discount for members of local clubs within St Andrews for North-east Fife and Ordinary tickets, will also be removed. This discount was previously introduced in 2002 to support local clubs at a time when membership numbers were low.
Now, the local clubs in St Andrews including the New, St Rule, St Regulus and St Andrews, have strong membership numbers and a waiting list in operation in many cases.
The Trust emphasised, however, that the clubs will continue to play an important role in the overall golf ecosystem in St Andrews, and it will work with them as they provide opportunities for competitive play, tee times and social facilities.
The removal of the club member discount has been driven by a need to comply with charity law. By associating a Links ticket with a club membership, this could be seen as offering a private benefit to clubs.
As part of the overall review process, the Trust has also reclassified its student Links ticket, which from September 2025 will see a return to a semester-based ticket providing great value golf aligned with the academic year. Options for students remaining in St Andrews during non-semester times are being explored.
Currently, all main categories of Links ticket are subject to a lengthy waiting list other than Resident and Student tickets. Therefore, the Trust has also taken the decision to close the waiting list to new applicants and to freeze the release of any new tickets until April 2027 at the earliest. Golfers currently on the waiting list will have their deposit refunded in full should they wish to remove their name from the list.
The changes being introduced are the latest outputs of a Golf Access Project working group, which was established within the Trust in 2022 to review and monitor growing demand for playing at St Andrews Links by both ticket holders and visitors. St Andrews Links has experienced a significant increase in demand post-Covid with golf rounds exceeding 280,000 for the first time in its history in 2023 and again in 2024. During this time ballot applications for the Old Course have increased by 67% since before the pandemic and applications for advanced Old Course times by 73%.
The Trust’s determination to ensure that the courses are open and accessible for all was demonstrated by the launch of The Drive initiative in 2025, which provided opportunities for low-cost golf for Scottish golfers who are not currently ticket holders. The scheme will be repeated and enhanced in 2026.
Neil Coulson, Chief Executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said: “Our priority as a charity is to balance access to the courses for residents and visitors while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Links. Expanding the resident boundary is an important way of opening the opportunity for more households to play here, and our ticket category review will ensure the system is fair, balanced and fit for the future, while also meeting our charitable objectives.
“No current Links ticket holder will have their ticket removed as part of the changes and we look forward to working alongside the local clubs to ensure they continue to thrive as part of this unique golf ecosystem in St Andrews.”