CRI听力:Returning to the Home of Golf ahead of Olympic Tee-off

The 17th tee at St Andrews Old Course is one of the most famous sights in the sport of golf.

Even on a typically misty day by the North Sea, the sight is an evocative one and drives many thousands of golf fanatics from around the world to this links course.

A links course is typically coastal, played close to the sea and sand dunes. The word links comes from the old Gaelic word meaning 'ridge, or high ground'.

The course for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro is also a links course.

St Andrews Links course professional Blair Cross calls the St. Andrews Old Course the heart of the sport.

"St Andrews is the heart of golf and it is golf, the history of golf but also the innovation of golf. You know, the first green keepers were here, the first club designers were here, so with innovation as well within St Andrews. So the fact the Olympics is back, that's great news, it's going to expose golf to even more people around the world so as the heart of golf, with the links and R&A (Royal and Ancients) in town I definitely think the effect will be felt all the way back here."

As the biggest sporting event in the world, the Olympics helps to promote sports, and golf is hoping to get a similar boost in August.

Cross explains his high hopes for golf's inclusion in the Games.

"I hope that people will see golf, who maybe normally would not see golf because I appreciate it's not on everybody's radar. So, hopefully within the Olympics- it's obviously the globally the biggest sporting event in the world. Hopefully people will see golf probably for the first time or one of the first times and they'll be encouraged to ask some questions about it. Maybe even go to a practice area or a golf course, maybe have a lesson, but yeah definitely get people talking about it would be the main buzz and I definitely think the Olympics would be popular, be helpful for golf."

St Andrews' claims to be the home of golf are more than just a marketing exercise. There is historic evidence to suggest golf has been played here for 600 years, making it one of the oldest golf courses in the world.

Laurie Watson, media manager at St Andrews explains:

"St Andrews is the home of golf because it's got probably the earliest documented evidence of golf being played anywhere. Archbishop Hamilton's charter goes back to the 16th Century and in that charter the people of St Andrews are given a right to use these links as a place for recreation and leisure, including golf. So you know that's the first time that golf is actually really mentioned in historical purposes."

History sells, and for golf fanatics teeing off on the Old Course at St Andrews it's considered a bucket list event and drives tourism from around the world.

Although St Andrews can trace its history as a course back to the 15th Century, the claim to being the oldest golfing club is made by the Royal Burgess club in Edinburgh.

In recent years, that club has relaxed many of the rules that have seen golf accused of being stuffy and elitist, just one of many steps on the path toward golf becoming an accessible, open and, soon once again, a fully international sport.
 
The Summer games in Rio de Janeiro begin on August 5 and end on August 21.