Students React to Summer Change in Student Links Ticket

Last April, the Links announced changes to the student ticket, returning it to pre-1990s ‘term-time only’ conditions. Following talks with the University, a £90 summer ticket has been made available for sports scholars and students staying in St Andrews to work. 

The Saint spoke with students to get their opinions on the price change.

“Although it is a bit of a hassle to obtain one, the summer links ticket is very good value for money, allowing [students] to get on the Links over the summer”, says Rory King, a ticketholder working at the Central Bar during the summer.

However, the new arrangement has not been as well-received by everyone. 

For those like recent graduate Clem Hirst, the changes are a disappointment. “Limiting the full Links ticket for students in their final year seems a little mean-spirited”, said Hirst, whose original plan was to stay in town to play golf with friends before going their separate ways. 

David Connor, Head of Communications for St Andrews Links, told The Saint that the reduction was made to “balance the demands of all the various different user groups” at the Links over the busy summer period. With the 155th Open next summer, and the rising popularity of golf, the St Andrews courses will be busier than ever this summer and the next. 

“What we don't want is for those students who stay over the summer not to have access to golf”, Connor said, explaining the Links’s decision to provide the summer add-on. “We are in the business of facilitating people playing golf,” he said.

The £90 summer ticket covers 1 June to 31 August, while the term-time ticket (£320) now covers 1 September to 31 May. This means that holding a student Links ticket year-round costs £420, which is a slight increase on the 2024/2025 price of £371. Considering the addition of playing rights for the Craigtoun course within the ticket, as well as the gradual year-by-year price increases, this new price increase is not surprising, and perhaps not unreasonable. For now, the student Links ticket remains the best deal in golf.

Before the 1990s, it was always the case that students could purchase a ticket from September to May, but did not have any playing rights during the peak-summer months. Given that the Links Trust could have done away with special summer playing rights entirely, their decision to introduce the summer ticket will be welcomed by many.

For most student golfers, the changes have had little effect, and the minor price reduction for the September to May ticket is a plus for those with no intention of staying in town over the summer break.

So it’s the final year students like Hirst that this change seems to affect the most, deprived of a couple of blissful post-exam months out on the links before they leave town. Hirst lamented that, “in the current job market, it'll be another 50 years before I get a job that pays enough to slope back onto the Old” — a gloomy but perhaps accurate forecast, with a round on the Old Course costing £355 for non-ticket holders. 

Ultimately, the ticket changes serve as a reminder to make the most of the brilliant golfing opportunities St Andrews offers to students.

Photo by Joey Chataway