Hitting the first tee shot at the Old Course is one of the most nervous opening shots in golf by an amateur. There's a classic cartoon showing "the man who missed the ball on the first tee at St. Andrews".   It hangs in the R&A locker room today.

Old Tom Morris was the course's first official superintendent with a starting salary of £5 a year. He won four British Opens and was credited with originating the tee box. His son, Young Tom Morris, was a great champion as well. Many golf piligrims visit their graves at the old church in town.

The Starter's Box in 1910 was a converted Victorian bathing hut, used at one time by ladies who braved the "gray cold waters" bordering St. Andrews, but will soon be history. Starter John MacNeill talked about the on-line auction of the Old Course Starter's Box at St. Andrews which ended on Monday, September 10, reaching

a price of £59,000 or $92,000.

The Old Course record is 62 by Curtis Strange. Sir John Low rode his pony in the 1860s while playing golf at the Old Course. This tactic allowed him to play into his 90s.

Early caddies pay was so low they had to be somewhat "scheming" to find ways to make more money. A wooden-legged caddie devised a hollow stump that allowed him to step on a ball and move it into his wooden leg while the player was looking all around for his ball. Dogs were trained to find balls in the deep gorse or heather and sometimes caddies would go up stream from the Swilken Burn, stir it up so it was too murky to find a ball, then go back later to collect the golf balls. Today, a caddie expects a total pay of 50 to 60 pounds. This includes a tip that is determined by the hiring golfer.

In 1995 a golfer playing the Road Hole, No. 17, sent a ball down a chimney at The Old Course Hotel. The ball bounced on the fire grate, hit the Board Room table, smashing its glass top, and stunned the people in the meeting