Single Golfers: Find a St Andrews Old Course tee time ballot partner

St Andrews Ballot Buddy Service

Last Updated: December 8, 2022

Are you a single golfer and want to play St Andrews Old Course?

– Problem: Singles can’t enter the ballot on their own.
– So register on my Ballot Buddy service for just £10 and enter the dates you are coming to St Andrews.
– As and when there is a date match with another single player I will hook you up so you can make a ballot application together.
– Get lucky in the ballot? No more waiting in line!

don’t wait in line – get a ballot buddy!

REGISTER HERE

11. Your details

22. Dates

33. Other

44. Review & submit

1. Your contact details

Please make sure these details are correct - I will use them to notify you of a potential Ballot Buddy date match. All fields are required.

Your name:(Required)

Your Email:(Required)

Enter Email Confirm Email

Cell / mobile number:(Required)

Your back up cell / mobile number will be used where it has not been possible to make contact via email. It will only be shared with your Ballot Buddy

2. Your available dates to play the Old Course

Before entering your available dates:
1. Check the Current Date Requests table below for current Ballot Buddy requests.
2. Check the St Andrews Links Old Course Busy dates page to ensure your dates are available.
3. Note: There is NO PLAY on the Old Course on Sundays.

Enter up to 5 dates (please enter at least 1 date):

Date 1:(Required)

Date 2:

Date 3:

Date 4:

Date 5:

SHORT DATE ALERT - today is Friday January 27th 2023 .
One or more of your dates is less than 3 days away.
You only have until 2:00pm (local time in Scotland), 2 days before your play date to submit a ballot application.
For example, by 2:00pm Tuesday to play on Thursday.
Please be sure you are happy with your date(s) before continuing.
Check what the local date & time in Scotland is right now

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date 1 calc

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date 2 calc

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date 3 calc

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date 4 calc

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date 5 calc

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Full date Date enabler

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Time

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count no of dates for Sheet feed

GW snippet. See email 27-1-23

3. Interest in an Advance Guaranteed Tee time

Occasionally I am informed by my Authorised Provider contacts of last minute Advance Guaranteed Tee Time cancellation slots. If you would like to be added to a private list and be contacted if such a time becomes available on or around your Ballot Buddy registered dates please indicate below.

Interested in an Advance Guaranteed Tee Time?(Required)

YES - add me to your private list and contact me if a single slot becomes available

NO - I am not interested

How you heard about Ballot Buddy

Please tell us how you heard about Ballot Buddy:

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delete?

4. And finally ... your consent

Consent(Required)

I accept the following terms:

The success of this scheme relies 100% on your goodwill and honest intentions.

So please tick the box to accept the following declaration:

- I grant Ginger Beer Golf Travel permission to share my available dates above on its own website or other marketing channels for the purposes of soliciting other participants in the Ballot Buddy scheme and, ultimately, to find me a Ballot Buddy. Please note this excludes sharing personal information.

- I grant Ginger Beer Golf Travel permission to share my contact details with any other participant(s) in the Ballot Buddy scheme where there is a date match, i.e. where at least one of their available dates matches at least one of my available dates above.

- I accept that matched dates will remain active on the Ballot Buddy system to attract additional single players up to a total of four (a maximum of four golfers being allowed on one Old Course ballot application). I accept therefore, that for any given date my Ballot Buddy may be one, two or three other single players.

- I submit my details to join the Ballot Buddy scheme in good faith and with best intentions and will use all reasonable endeavours to be available on all the dates above to play the Old Course via a successful ballot application.

- If my availability changes and I don't yet have a Ballot Buddy I will make Ginger Beer Golf Travel aware immediately. If my availability changes and I do have a Ballot Buddy I will make my Ballot Buddy and Ginger Beer Golf Travel aware immediately.

- In case of any dispute, common sense and the majority view should prevail. Ginger Beer will not be obliged to intervene in dispute resolution.

- Upon completion of my registration, I agree to share news of my Ballot Buddy registration on my social media accounts and more generally with my friends, family and colleagues.

- I understand :

i. This service does not guarantee that Ginger Beer Golf Travel will find a Ballot Buddy for me.

ii. Even if Ginger Beer Golf Travel finds a Ballot Buddy for me, the responsibility to submit a ballot application rests solely and jointly with me and my Ballot Buddy.

iii. This service does not guarantee Old Course ballot success.

iv. I hold neither Ginger Beer Golf Travel nor my Ballot Buddy in any way responsible in the event that my Ballot Buddy withdraws from the scheme at any stage, or changes his/her availability, rendering invalid either my Old Course tee time ballot application or my eligibility to play the Old Course, in the event of ballot success.

v. The registration fee is payable just once, contributes towards the ongoing cost of providing the Ballot Buddy service and is not refundable under any circumstances.

Do you have any questions for me?

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Your questions (delete?):

Your questions:

Please be sure to check these details carefully before submitting your application.
If any information is wrong, use the page links (above) or previous button (below) to correct your input. You will receive a copy by email for your records.

1. Your contact details:
{User name(A) (First):4.3} {User name(A) (Last):4.6}
{Your Email::61}
{Phone:66:phone[country]} (+{Phone:66:phone[countryCode]}) {Phone:66:phone[nationalNumber]}

2. The dates you wish to register:
{DATE 1(A):15:l F jS Y} | {DATE 2(A):17:l F jS Y} | {DATE 3(A):21:l F jS Y} | {DATE 4(A):24:l F jS Y} | {DATE 5(A):27:l F jS Y}

3. Other:
Interest in AGTT - {AGTTime?(A):32}
How you heard about Ballot Buddy - {how did you hear about BB(A):35}
{other(A):64}

Ref. number

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Current Ballot Buddy date match requests – view here:

Day	Month	Registrations
Tue, 04	April 2023	1
Wed, 05	April 2023	1
Thu, 06	April 2023	2
Tue, 25	April 2023	1
Wed, 26	April 2023	2
Thu, 27	April 2023	1
Fri, 28	April 2023	1
Sat, 29	April 2023	1
Fri, 05	May 2023	1
Mon, 08	May 2023	1
Tue, 09	May 2023	1
Wed, 10	May 2023	1
Thu, 11	May 2023	2
Fri, 12	May 2023	4
Sat, 13	May 2023	3
Mon, 15	May 2023	2
Tue, 16	May 2023	2
Wed, 17	May 2023	2
Thu, 18	May 2023	1
Fri, 19	May 2023	1
Sat, 20	May 2023	1
Mon, 22	May 2023	2
Wed, 24	May 2023	1
Thu, 25	May 2023	1
Fri, 26	May 2023	2
Sat, 27	May 2023	2
Mon, 29	May 2023	1
Tue, 30	May 2023	2
Wed, 31	May 2023	2
Thu, 01	June 2023	1
Sat, 03	June 2023	1
Mon, 05	June 2023	3
Tue, 06	June 2023	3
Wed, 07	June 2023	2
Thu, 08	June 2023	2
Fri, 09	June 2023	1
Sat, 10	June 2023	1
Mon, 12	June 2023	1
Wed, 21	June 2023	1
Thu, 22	June 2023	1
Fri, 23	June 2023	1
Mon, 26	June 2023	1
Tue, 27	June 2023	1
Thu, 29	June 2023	2
Fri, 30	June 2023	1
Sat, 01	July 2023	1
Mon, 03	July 2023	1
Tue, 04	July 2023	1
Wed, 19	July 2023	1
Thu, 20	July 2023	2
Fri, 21	July 2023	1
Sat, 22	July 2023	1
Mon, 24	July 2023	1
Tue, 25	July 2023	2
Wed, 26	July 2023	2
Thu, 27	July 2023	3
Fri, 28	July 2023	2
Sat, 29	July 2023	1
Tue, 15	August 2023	1
Tue, 10	October 2023	1
Wed, 11	October 2023	1

How Ballot Buddy Works

Decide when you would like to play the Old Course via a ballot time.
Register for just £10 on my Ballot Buddy Service.

Submit up to 5 dates.
I will add them to a database of other Ballot Buddy golfers looking to team up.

If there is a date match I will hook you up.
You are now eligible to apply jointly as a 2, 3 or 4 ball for an Old Course ballot time.

Questions?

Do I need Ballot Buddy?

YES – if you are a single golfer without an advance guaranteed tee time.
WHY? Because there must be at least 2 golfers on an Old Course ballot application.

What if I score a date match?

As and when you get a date match with a second golfer (or more, up to 4 in total) I will connect you to your Ballot Buddy via email introduction.

What happens then?

It’s down to you and your Ballot Buddy from this point forward.
Submit a joint ballot application by 14:00 hrs, 2 days before you wish to play.

More than 4 golfers with a date match?

The first 4 golfers by registration date will be grouped together. Then the next 4, and so on.

No match or no success in the ballot?

You can still use the ‘walk up’ option and wait in line on your chosen day of play.
Chances of play that day are reliant entirely on gaps on the draw sheet and your place in the line.

Read more about your chances of play using the walk up option in my in-depth report on the Single Golfer at St Andrews

“My unique simple-to-use Ballot Buddy service helps you find an Old Course ballot partner so you and your fellow golfer are eligible to submit an Old Course ballot application together
chris Toll, ginger beer golf travel

Ballot Buddy success STATS

2019

Ballot Buddy launched
350 requests
80% date match rate
50ROUNDS PLAYED ON THE OLD COURSE

2020

57% date match rate
11ROUNDS PLAYED ON THE OLD COURSE
** DESPITE Covid travel restrictions & course closures **

2021

200+ requests from 80 golfers
25% date match rate
26 ROUNDS PLAYED ON THE OLD COURSE
** DESPITE Covid restrictions **

2022

So far:
135 dates requested
101 date matches
Registration for 2023 is open!

reviews

“We had a great day. The sun shone and winds were low so we had no excuses! Matt was a great guy to play with and we were very grateful to have been joined up by your service
Bryan Leahy, June 2021

Ballot Buddy Reviews

Ginger Beer Golf Travel

Average rating:

13 reviews

Danny Rego

Sep 5, 2022

by Danny Rego on Ginger Beer Golf Travel

Ballot Buddy to the Rescue

Huge thank you to Chris and Gingerbeer Golf for the singles matching service for the Old Course Ballot. Without it, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to get on the course. It was a magical round with fast-friends made from the ballot pairing. I'll never forget this day...thanks Chris!

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We had a great day on the Old Course with some unbelievable weather after scoring a 7:30AM tee time via the ballot. All made possible by the ingenious service provided by Ballot Buddy.

Matt F, USA

June 2022

I am extremely thankful for your creation of the ballot buddy system. Using your ballot buddy system enabled myself and my ballot buddy match to successfully secure an 11:40 game at the Old Course on Wednesday, 25 May 2022. It was sunny and windy; a great day to golf and a lifetime experience I’ll always remember. I would strongly recommend it to any single golfers seeking a time for a game at the Old Course.

Alejandro B, USA

May 2022

Without GingerBeer, I would have never gotten the chance to play The Old Course. The whole ballot process was extremely easy to complete, and he answered every question I had along the way. I made friends and memories that will last a lifetime – all thanks to Chris!

Steve L, USA

May 2022

The caddie said aim toward the rainbow so I did…. Thank you gingerbeergolf for this opportunity…. I am definitely appreciative of the ability to check this off the bucket list.

Dave C, USA

MAy 2022

A special day on the Old Course, with two great companions, all thanks to Ballot Buddy.

Ron Varriel, USA

October 2021

Thank you so much Chris for what you do, I was able to play the Old Course on Monday the 26th of July… had a wonderful time… the guy that you paired me up with was great… thank you for your help again… thank you for having this available for single golfers

Tony Torres, USA

July 2021

See Ballot Buddy in action:

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First Ballot Buddy 4 ball!

Bill, George, Todd, Matt. Ballot Buddy first 4 ball
May 2022

This brings me much joy. 4 guys from the US who met each other for the first time at 7:30. 4 single golfers who wanted that chance to play the Old Course without having to get up at stupid o’clock to join a queue and hope for the best.
Bill, George, Todd and Matt – congrats guys, I hope you had a great round together!
Chris Toll, Ginger Beer Golf Travel

All 4 joined my Ballot Buddy service I hooked them up, and this is my first all-Ballot Buddy 4-ball to get a tee time in the ballot.

First Ballot Buddy round of 2022!

“We had a fantastic day at St. Andrews. Perfect conditions and a very enjoyable round with Alex and Hamish and caddie Jim.
For me, the Ballot Buddy service was great as I knew on Thursday evening that I had a guaranteed tee-time for Saturday lunchtime and it allowed me to plan my weekend around that.
Bryan Leahy, April 2022

Below is a photo of my tee shot on 18 – it stayed in bounds by about two feet! 😊

Without a successful ballot, I would’ve ended up in the singles queue at all hours of the morning with no guarantee of success, or scrambling around trying to get out on a neighbouring course. This peace of mind is well worth 10 pounds in my opinion.

Many thanks for your help again Chris – I’m now 2 for 2 using Ballot Buddy service!

Heads up – 2023 Muirfield tee times sold out!
Advance bookings for 2024 open in March 2023. To apply you must be a 4 ball.

If you are a single golfer or part of a 2 or 3 ball then use my Muirfield Booking Buddy service and find yourself the perfect Booking Buddy match to make up a 4 ball.

Muirfield Booking Buddy service

further resources

St Andrews Old Course Tee Times in 2021

4 Ways to guarantee success

St Andrews Golf Trip

How to plan to get an Old Course ballot tee time

Old Course Ballot

How to boost your chances of success

Muirfield Booking Buddy

If you are a single golfer or part of a 2 or 3 ball then use my Muirfield Booking Buddy service and find yourself the perfect Booking Buddy match to make up a 4 ball.

Single Golfer

Playing St Andrews Old Course

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