Published 28 June 2026

I am Jack Sallis, and after getting hundreds of golfers on to the Old Course via the ballot with Halcyon Golf Travel, I have learned that it is not the lottery of myth and rumour it is so often made out to be. It is a fair, well-documented system, and once you understand how it is drawn you can plan a trip that genuinely stacks the odds in your favour. Designing golf trips to Scotland, and tailor-made St Andrews golf trips in particular, is what we do every day. You can read more about my playing background and credentials on our team page, but the short version is that getting on to the Old Course is the single question we are asked more than any other. Here is the definitive answer.

The reason we can write this guide with confidence is that we live and breathe Scottish links golf. We build our itineraries specifically around the rhythm of the ballot, we enter on behalf of our clients every season, and we know exactly which courses near St Andrews will move a pre-booked round if you strike lucky. This is the most thorough breakdown of the ballot you will find anywhere online, drawing on years of published draw-sheet analysis and the official rules set by St Andrews Links Trust.

So whether you are a first-timer chasing a bucket-list round or a seasoned visitor who has been unlucky before, here is everything you need to know about the St Andrews Old Course ballot system, answered in plain English.

The Old Course, St Andrews - the most coveted tee time in golf, and the prize at the end of the ballot.

What is the St Andrews Old Course ballot?

The Old Course ballot is a daily lottery run by St Andrews Links Trust that gives visiting golfers a fair chance of securing a tee time on the Old Course at St Andrews for the standard green fee, two days before play. The Old Course is genuinely public, owned by the town through an Act of Parliament, and the ballot exists to keep it that way. Roughly half of all available Old Course tee times each day are released through the ballot rather than sold in advance, which is why it remains the most realistic route on to the course for the majority of visitors.

No. There are two separate systems, and it is important not to confuse them. The main daily ballot is for groups of two, three or four golfers and is drawn 48 hours before play. The Singles Daily Draw is a different process, run the day before play, for solo golfers who cannot enter the main ballot. There is also a distinction between the open ballot, which is for visiting golfers like you, and the local ballot, which is reserved for St Andrews Links ticketholders and is not available to the public. Everything in this guide refers to the open ballot unless we say otherwise.

It is worth saying plainly: nobody has a secret back door. Whether you apply yourself, or we apply for you, every open-ballot card goes into the same draw with exactly the same chance. What a good travel partner gives you is not an inside track, but a trip designed so that you can enter as often as possible, on the best days, with the right back-up plan in place.

The Old Pavilion beside the first tee, home of both the ballot results and the singles draw.

What is the process for entering the St Andrews ballot?

Entering the ballot is refreshingly simple. You submit the names, home golf clubs and handicaps of two to four golfers, choose the day you want to play, and lodge it before the 2pm deadline two days beforehand. You can apply online through the St Andrews Links website or app, in person at the Old Pavilion, or by telephone. There is no draw on a Friday because the Old Course is always closed on the Sunday two days later, and there is no ballot on tournament or major competition days.

Here is the process at a glance:

• Submit your entry by 2pm, two days before play. For a Wednesday tee time you apply on the Monday; for a Monday you apply on the Saturday.
• Provide names, home clubs and handicaps for every golfer in the group. The maximum handicap is 36 for men and women.
• Apply as a two, three or four ball. Singles cannot enter the main ballot (more on that below).
• Results are published from around 4pm the same day. You can check online or by phone, so you know two full days ahead whether you are playing.
• Stay flexible on tee time. Avoid restricting yourself to mornings or afternoons only, as it materially reduces your chance of being drawn.
• Bring a valid handicap certificate. The Old Course is the only St Andrews Links course that requires one, and it must be shown to the starter on the day. A letter of recommendation is not accepted.

One detail that trips people up is the relationship between your card and the tee times. The Links Trust draws application cards in chronological tee-time order, allocating the first card pulled to the first available slot of the day, the second card to the second slot, and so on. If you have restricted yourself to afternoons only and your card is drawn early, it simply goes back in the pile to wait for an afternoon slot, costing you a chance you might otherwise have had. The lesson is clear: tick every available start time you possibly can.

"The biggest mistake I see is golfers limiting their tee-time availability to protect the rest of the day. The ballot rewards flexibility above all else. Tick every box, leave the day open, and let us worry about reshuffling everything around your success."- Jack Sallis, Founder, Halcyon Golf Travel

Does it cost anything to enter the ballot?

No. Entering the Old Course ballot is completely free and carries no obligation. You pay nothing to apply, and you only pay the green fee if you are successful and choose to take the tee time. That is what makes the ballot the best value ticket in all of golf. If you win, you pay the standard published green fee, which for 2026 high season sits at around £355, with the shoulder season at the start of April and end of October considerably cheaper, and winter golf cheaper still.

Put that figure in context. A high-season round at Kingsbarns Golf Links or a guaranteed advance Old Course package will cost you considerably more, and several of the other Open Championship venues run higher still. Win the ballot and you walk the most famous fairways in the game for the price of a regular green fee, with not a penny risked on entry. The only thing the ballot asks of you is time and a little patience.

This is also why, for most golfers, the ballot is the smarter route. The only way to lock in a guaranteed Old Course tee time well in advance is through a stay-and-play package from an Authorised Provider, and that certainty comes at a steep premium of roughly £3,000 more per person than playing the very same course through the ballot. If your dates are fixed and you simply cannot leave St Andrews without playing the Old Course, that peace of mind can be worth every penny. But if you have even a little flexibility and a few days to spare, the ballot delivers the identical round, on the identical fairways, for a fraction of the outlay. For the great majority of trips we plan, that makes the ballot the obvious choice, and it frees up that £3,000 to spend on better hotels, more golf or a longer stay.

What are the odds of winning the St Andrews ballot?

Your daily chance of winning the Old Course ballot has historically averaged around one in five, or roughly 20 percent, during the popular April to October season. In the busiest summer months that figure can fall to nearer one in ten as demand outstrips the fixed supply of tee times. The single biggest driver of your odds is not luck but timing: success comes down to how many golfers are applying on the day you choose, set against how many ballot slots are available.

Detailed independent analysis of several years of St Andrews draw sheets paints a consistent picture. In normal pre-pandemic years there were on average around 15 open-ballot tee times a day, attracting roughly 17 successful cards from around 86 submitted. Since 2022, demand has surged while supply has stayed broadly flat, pushing success rates down. The headline number matters less than the trend, and the trend is simple: the more popular the date, the longer the odds.

The crucial insight, though, is that these are daily odds, and each day is a separate, independent draw. So the right way to think about a trip is cumulatively. Your chance of at least one success across a stay is simply one minus your chance of missing every single day, which works out as one minus the daily failure rate multiplied by itself for each day you enter. The more days you enter, the closer to a near-certainty you get.

Here is how that builds up, shown for two realistic scenarios: a strong-odds period such as April to June where the daily chance is around one in five (20 percent), and a tougher peak-summer period where it drops to around one in ten (10 percent).

• 3 days entered: around 49 percent in a strong period, or 27 percent in peak summer.
• 5 days entered: around 67 percent in a strong period, or 41 percent in peak summer.
• 8 days entered: around 83 percent in a strong period, or 57 percent in peak summer.
• 10 days entered: around 89 percent in a strong period, or 65 percent in peak summer.

Those figures assume each day carries a similar success rate and treats every entry as independent, which is a simplification, but it captures the essential truth: a single entry is a long shot, while a week or more of entries from the right base turns the odds firmly in your favour.

This is exactly why we so often build a longer, two-base itinerary for clients whose heart is set on the Old Course. By spending the best part of a week within easy reach of St Andrews and entering the ballot every single eligible day, you transform a long-shot single entry into a genuinely favourable cumulative chance. It is the most reliable way to play the ballot game, and it is the heart of how we plan these trips.

When is the best time to enter the St Andrews ballot?

The best time to enter the ballot is when demand is lowest relative to supply, and the published data points to two clear answers: the best month is April, and the best day of the week is Saturday. Both come down to the same arithmetic of supply and demand.

April is statistically the best month, with daily success rates that have historically exceeded 50 percent, because demand is far lighter when the weather is a gamble. May and June are the sweet spot for most visitors, balancing strong success rates of around 20 to 25 percent with long daylight hours and more settled conditions. July and August are the toughest, with success rates dropping to the low teens as demand peaks. September is heavily restricted by the R&A autumn meetings, so availability is thin.

A quick summary of the seasonal picture:

• April: the best raw odds of the year, but be ready for wintry weather and an itinerary you may need to reshuffle on the hoof.
• May and June: the optimum blend of good chances, long days and reliable conditions. Avoid the University of St Andrews graduation week in late June, when the town sells out.
• July and August: peak demand and the lowest success rates. Beautiful long evenings, but the hardest time to be drawn.
• September and October: R&A competitions and shrinking daylight cut the number of available ballot times sharply. Always check the Links Trust busy dates before committing.

Saturday is comfortably the best day, with a success rate close to one in three, because there are no advance tee times sold on Saturdays and every alternate afternoon slot is released to the ballot. Thursday is the next best, for a similar reason in the afternoons. Wednesday and Friday tend to be the worst days. The practical takeaway is to keep your Thursday and Saturday free for the ballot wherever possible when planning your week, and we will always build a trip with those days protected.

The iconic Swilcan Bridge. May and June offer the best balance of strong ballot odds, long days and settled weather.

Is there an advantage to entering as a 2, 3 or 4 ball?

There is no meaningful advantage to any particular group size, because the ballot is drawn entirely at random with no regard to whether your card is a two, three or four ball. Every card has exactly the same chance of being pulled. The one nuance is that two-ball cards are sometimes paired together to fill a single tee time, which can create marginally more two-ball slots, but the effect is small and depends entirely on how many two-ball cards happen to be in the draw on the day.

When you look at the historic data, successful two-ball and four-ball cards each account for around 40 percent of all winners, with three balls making up the rest. That does not mean threes have worse odds. It simply reflects that fewer golfers apply as a three. Here is what actually matters:

• Group size does not change your odds. The draw is blind to whether you are a two, three or four.
• Do not split a four ball into two pairs to chase extra slots. Any theoretical gain is tiny and you create a real planning headache if one pair wins and the other does not.
• Apply as the group you actually want to play in. A four ball that wins together is far better than two pairs scrambling to make separate arrangements.

We had a group of four last spring who were tempted to enter as two separate pairs, convinced it doubled their chances. We talked them out of it, they entered as a four, and they were drawn on their third day. Had they split, one pair would have been celebrating while the other faced a difficult morning. Stay together.

How many times can I enter the St Andrews ballot?

You can enter the ballot once per day, for as many different days as you like during your trip, and this is the single most powerful thing within your control. What you cannot do is submit duplicate entries for the same play date in an attempt to game the system. Doing so will see all of your entries for that day disqualified, so play it straight.

• One entry per group, per day. Only the named golfers on the card may play if drawn.
• Enter on as many separate days as your stay allows. Each day is an independent draw, so more days means better cumulative odds.
• No duplicate entries for the same date. Multiple cards for one day will be disqualified.

This rule is precisely why a well-designed trip beats a lucky one. The golfer who bases themselves near St Andrews for a week and enters every eligible day has a transformed chance compared with the visitor passing through for a single attempt. When we manage the ballot for clients, we are entering on every qualifying day of your stay, checking each result the moment it lands, and adjusting your schedule around it.

"The ballot is not really a lottery you win, it is a campaign you run. Give yourself eight or ten clean entries on the right days from the right base, and the maths quietly moves into your favour. That is the whole game."- Jack Sallis, Founder, Halcyon Golf Travel

The local ballot: playing with a St Andrews Links ticketholder

Here is a route that very few visitors know about, and it carries comfortably the best odds of the lot. Alongside the open ballot for visitors, St Andrews Links Trust runs a separate local ballot reserved for St Andrews Links ticketholders, the residents and members who hold a Links Ticket. The local ballot is far less competitive than the open ballot, so if you happen to know a local ticketholder, they can enter on your behalf and include you in their group.

There is one firm condition: the ticketholder must actually play the round with you. You cannot simply borrow a local's name to improve your chances, as they need to be out on the course as part of the group on the day. If you have a friend, relative or contact in St Andrews with a Links Ticket, it is well worth asking. A local entry carries materially better odds than the open ballot, and a round alongside someone who knows every hollow and borrow on those greens is an experience in itself.

A dark time is an Old Course tee time released after the normal published tee sheet has finished for the day, made possible by the extraordinarily long daylight of a Scottish summer, when it can still be light at ten in the evening. There are usually around seven dark times each day, and they are reserved in the first instance for local ticketholders to claim. They sit outside the standard ballot altogether, which is another reason a local connection is so valuable. A few things to know:

• They are late-evening and very early-morning slots that exist only because of the long northern daylight, principally through June and July.
• Locals get first claim. Any dark times left unclaimed by around 9am may then be released more widely, so it can be worth a polite word with the starter late in the day.
• You still pay the full green fee. A dark time is not a discount, simply an extra slot.
• Mind the light. In peak midsummer you will finish comfortably, but outside June and July the light can fade before the closing holes, so a dark time is a gamble on daylight.

One of our most memorable St Andrews rounds came courtesy of a client whose old university friend still lives in the town and holds a Links Ticket. The two of them entered the local ballot together, were drawn quickly, and played as a four with us on a long July evening, finishing the 18th in golden light with barely another soul on the course. That is exactly the kind of round a local connection can unlock, and if you have one, we will help you make the most of it.

The St Andrews singles ballot: how solo golfers play the Old Course

Yes, a single golfer can play the Old Course, but not through the main ballot, which requires a minimum of two players. Solo golfers instead use the Singles Daily Draw, a separate digital system introduced in March 2024 that replaced the old tradition of queuing overnight at the first tee. Successful singles are paired with existing two or three-ball groups that have a spare slot, so you join a group rather than forming your own.

The process is straightforward but does require you to be in St Andrews the day before you want to play. Here is how the singles draw works:

• Register in person the day before play at either the Old Pavilion beside the first tee or the St Andrews Links Clubhouse, using one of the tablet devices provided.
• Provide your details and a photo. You give your name, date of birth, email, country of residence and mobile number, and a photograph is taken on the tablet for identification.
• The draw is made at around 5pm and a randomised waiting list is created. Tee times are then allocated to single players based on their position, and you are notified by text.
• One entry per person, per day. Duplicate entries are disqualified, but you can enter on as many consecutive days as you wish.
• The handicap limit of 36 still applies and proof of handicap is required before you play.

There is also a clever workaround that many solo travellers do not realise exists. Two single golfers who are not travelling together can pair up and enter the main open ballot as a two ball, which gives them the earlier 48-hour notice and avoids the day-before uncertainty of the singles draw. When we plan a trip for a solo client, we will always look at whether pairing you with another golfer makes sense, and we can help arrange it.

One of my favourite recent stories is a single golfer from Texas we looked after who had convinced himself he had no chance. We built his stay so he could enter the singles draw on four consecutive days while playing the New Course and the Jubilee Course as warm-ups. He was drawn on day three, joined a friendly pair from Ohio, and called it the round of his life.

The digital Singles Daily Draw replaced the overnight singles queue in March 2024.

How Halcyon designs a trip around the ballot

This is where a thoughtfully planned trip earns its keep. The ballot itself is free and fair, but building a week that maximises your chances, manages your entries and absorbs your success without derailing the rest of the trip takes real local knowledge. When you travel with us, we handle the whole campaign for you.

Here is exactly what we do:

• We design the itinerary around the ballot. We base you near St Andrews for long enough to enter on multiple eligible days, protect your best ballot days such as Thursday and Saturday, and steer you towards the months and weeks with the strongest odds.
• We manage every ballot entry on your behalf. We submit your cards before each 2pm deadline, check the results the moment they are published, and keep you informed so you never miss a window.
• We reschedule your pre-booked rounds when you win. If a ballot success clashes with a round we have already booked for you, we move it. We work with ballot-friendly courses in the area that will accommodate a change, so striking lucky never costs you golf elsewhere.
• We build a back-up plan for the days you are not drawn. Every blank ballot day is filled with first-class golf, so your trip is superb whether or not the Old Course comes up.

That back-up plan is the part too many golfers neglect. The surrounding area is extraordinarily rich, so a ballot-led trip is never a gamble on a single round. We routinely build itineraries through the wider St Andrews and Fife region that take in Dumbarnie Links, the historic Crail Golfing Society and the clifftop Castle Course, all of which are perfectly happy to flex around your ballot success.

Where you stay matters too, both for the experience and for the simple practicality of being on hand to react to ballot results. For golfers who want to be at the very heart of it, we love the Old Course Hotel overlooking the 17th, and Rusacks St Andrews right on the 18th. The newly opened Seaton House sits beside the first tee, while the Fairmont St Andrews and the boutique Kinnettles Hotel offer wonderful alternatives a few minutes away.

If you would like to go deeper on planning, our ultimate guide to St Andrews golf trips and our breakdown of the 10 toughest tee times to book are both well worth your time, and our dedicated how to play the Old Course page lays out every route on to the first tee.

The ballot can feel daunting if you have never done it before, but it does not need to be. Hand us your dates and your wish list, and we will build a trip designed from the ground up to give you the best possible shot at the Home of Golf, while making sure every other day is a joy in its own right. Get in touch and we will set up a free 30-minute discovery call to talk it through.

St Andrews Ballot FAQs

What are the odds of winning the St Andrews ballot?

Daily odds have historically averaged around one in five (20 percent) from April to October, falling to nearer one in ten in peak summer. Because each day is a separate, independent draw, entering repeatedly transforms your chances. At a 20 percent daily rate, 5 days of entries gives roughly a 67 percent cumulative chance of at least one success and 8 days around 83 percent; even at a tougher 10 percent rate, 8 days still gives about 57 percent. Persistence matters more than luck.

When is the best time to enter the St Andrews ballot?

April is statistically the best month, with success rates that have exceeded 50 percent thanks to lower demand, while May and June offer the best blend of strong odds and good weather. Saturday is the best day of the week, with a success rate near one in three because no advance times are sold, followed by Thursday. July and August are the hardest. Always check the Links Trust busy dates first.

Does it cost anything to enter the St Andrews ballot?

No. Entering the Old Course ballot is completely free and carries no obligation. You pay nothing to apply and only pay the standard green fee, around £355 in 2026 high season, if you are drawn and choose to take the tee time. Shoulder and winter rounds are significantly cheaper. That combination of zero entry cost and a regular green fee makes the ballot the best value ticket in golf.

Is there an advantage to entering as a 2, 3 or 4 ball?

No. The ballot is drawn at random with no regard to group size, so a two, three or four-ball card all have the same chance of being pulled. Two-ball cards are occasionally paired to fill a tee time, which can create marginally more two-ball slots, but the effect is small. Do not split a four ball into two pairs, as any tiny gain is outweighed by the headache if only one pair wins.

How many times can I enter the St Andrews ballot?

You can enter once per group per day, for as many different days as your trip allows, and each day is a separate draw. You cannot submit duplicate entries for the same play date, which results in disqualification. Entering on multiple days is the most effective thing within your control, which is why basing yourself near St Andrews for several days dramatically improves your overall chances.

What is the process for entering the St Andrews ballot?

Submit the names, home clubs and handicaps of two to four golfers by 2pm, two days before you want to play, online via the St Andrews Links website or app, in person at the Old Pavilion, or by phone. Results are published from around 4pm the same day. There is no ballot on Fridays, as the course is closed on Sundays, and a handicap certificate, maximum 36, must be shown to the starter on the day.

Can a single golfer enter the St Andrews ballot?

Not the main ballot, which needs a minimum of two players. Solo golfers use the Singles Daily Draw instead, registering in person at the Old Pavilion or Links Clubhouse the day before play, with the draw made around 5pm and results sent by text. Alternatively, two singles can pair up to enter the main open ballot together as a two ball, which we are happy to help arrange.

Jack Sallis

Founder, Halcyon Golf Travel

Jack Sallis is the founder of Halcyon Golf Travel, a UK-based specialist designing bespoke golf trips across Scotland, Ireland and England. A +4 handicap golfer, he represented England at junior level and continues to compete regularly for Nottinghamshire and the Old Wellingtonians.

He is a member at Hollinwell and Rye Golf Club, two of England's most respected traditional clubs, and a member of the British Golf Collectors Society.

With deep, first-hand knowledge of courses and hospitality throughout the UK and Ireland, Jack combines elite playing credentials with on-the-ground insight to create exceptional, detail-driven golf travel experiences built around access, authenticity and a genuine understanding of the game.