St. Andrews Scotland Golf Trip

according to Thompson Local, the phone book, there is one in Cupar, about 9 miles from the Old Course, if that would help (no personal knowledge) and one in the town of St Andrews in Glebe Road, a couple of miles from the course (no personal knowledge there either). Maybe you could "drive by" in Streetview?

I'll chuck you the link - for what its worth. They are number 5 and number 1. https://www.thomsonlocal.com/search/laundries-launderettes/st-andrews-fife

a laundry in English/Scottish where you can go in is laundrette.

good luck. remember to replace divots, and no swimming in the water on the course.

as the Rusacks Hotel is 5 ***** I expect that they could work something out if you didn't want to be personally involved and wanted to keep yer e'e on the ba'

I think you are on the right track with the idea of parking the car and going in on the train. First of all, far more relaxing. You can enjoy the scenery and not have to worry about traffic or parking. Second, you end up in such a good spot for seeing the main sights of Edinburgh with many transport options available (tram, bus, taxi, walking).

I hope your trip works out well for you. I'm not a golfer, but I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to St Andrews and playing the Himilayas (It was a good match for my ability :) It is a lovely town.

Taking the train to Edinburgh is a much better choice than driving. Another option is the direct coach between St Andrews and Edinburgh. I've travelled many times between St Andrews and Edinburgh and the coach is usually my first choice as it is direct.

Also, are you really sure you need a car for the week?

I appreciate all of your thoughts and suggestions. As I prepare for a day in Edinburgh for my friend, of course the Edinburgh Castle is at the top of the list, as is the Royal Mile. It has been 8 years since I was in Edinburgh and I would appreciate any "Must Sees" that you think I can work into a full day. We will be traveling on Tuesday May 10, and in looking at the train schedules we can get one out of Leuchars about 8:00 which gets into Edinburgh around 9:30, and one back at 18:30. We will also travel to Edinburgh by car on Saturday May 14, arriving about Noon. We are staying that night at a hotel beside the airport, so after turning in our car there and storing our luggage at the hotel, we want to spend the rest of that day and evening downtown, hopefully to see anything we missed on the first visit and enjoy a little of the nightlife. Our flight back home doesn't leave until 12:30 the following day. Thank you all for you advice and suggestions.

Jim

You didn't mention which hotel you are planning on staying in at the airport. The premier inn is literally next to the tracks to the train into Edinburgh and could be quite convenient for your purposes.

It's not that far from St Andrews to Edinburgh. But doing a day trip to Edinburgh and then spending a 2nd day there before flying home seems like too much unnecessary travel to me. Why not skip the day trip and spend two days in Edinburgh instead before flying home? Also, staying in central Edinburgh is a much better idea than staying at the airport.

And don't trust the train schedules too much, there is at the moment no way of knowing what they will look like next year.

Since all courses that we are playing require a player to walk the course (no carts without handicap letter from a doctor) we set up our rounds of golf in St. Andrews to be every other day, which leaves a day in between rounds to rest. We already have plans for the Thursday open day, so we picked Tuesday for a trip to Edinburgh. We check out of our hotel in Carnoustie on Saturday morning and will drive to Edinburgh where we will turn in our car at the airport. We will stay at either the Hampton Inn, which is a short walk to the terminal, or the Doubletree Hotel which has a shuttle. Both work well because we can drop our luggage at the hotel before turning in the car, then catch the Tram to downtown from there. We considered having two full days in Edinburgh on the front or backend of the trip, but the tee times we were able to get did not work for that.

I didn't know about having to walk. Do you have to carry your bag too?

Good reason not to bring the whole bag?

Since we don't know the courses we're playing we plan to get a caddie for each round. A bit pricy, but compared to the overall cost of the trip it is minimal. Caddies carry your clubs and provide advice on distances and where to hit your shots, and they read the greens for you, something I have found invaluable when putting.

Just an aside: when you go to the centre of Edinburgh, it's not "going downtown", people there call it "going into town".
Your trip sounds wonderful, by the way.
Do not take a car to Edinburgh.
Parking is a nightmare and very expensive.
It's so much better to take the train in, and walk everywhere.
The day you get the tram in from Edinburgh Airport, get off at the stop in the West End, before Princes Street.
The stop is called "West End" , you can find it on Google maps.
That way, you will walk along Shandwick Place toward the Castle and Princes Street, and get a wonderful view of the Castle on your right as you make your way toward the older part of town and toward the Royal Mile area.