Near the top of the Coolest Things I Saw at the PGA Show list was the Toptracer demo range. I thought all Toptracer did was give you very basic launch data and a cool tracer for each shot.
As my wife likes to say, “Wrong again, honey.”
Toptracer, the driving range technology owned by Topgolf Callaway, actually has some pretty cool capabilities beyond just tracing your shots. It has an aggressive game mode, so your kids can play Angry Birds while you’re trying to straighten out your slice.
But what’s really cool is its classic course simulation mode.
You can, for example, get a foursome together at a nearby Toptracer-equipped driving range and play Pebble Beach.
Or, more pertinent to today’s discussion, the Old Course in St. Andrews.
Backwards.
Seriously, backwards.
Toptracer and the Backwards Old Course
For the rest of April, you and your buddies can go to a Toptracer range and play the Old Course backwards; clockwise instead of the normal counterclockwise. You’d start on the first tee, but you’d be playing to the 17th green instead of the first. Then, from the 18th tee box you’d play to the 16th green, and so on.
The obvious question you must be asking yourself is why the hell would anyone want to do that?
The answer is simple. April 6th through the 8th, the real Old Course, the one in Scotland, will be set up to play just like that.
Okay, this needs some explanation.
The quick answer is that since 2023, the St Andrews Links Trust has opened a ballot for golfers to play the Old Course backwards over three days in early April. The Trust calls it “The Old Course Reversed.” Toptracer, as the official driving range tech partner for the Links Trust, is giving you the chance to do the same thing, only virtually. To celebrate and (hopefully) drive some business to the roughly 1,250 Toptracer-equipped ranges worldwide, Toptracer is setting up a simulated Old Course Reversed. You can play it starting today through the end of April.
Toptracer is also adding a little action to your virtual round. When playing the Old Course Reversed, you’re also competing for the chance to score tee times for two at the Old Course Reversed in 2026.
The real Old Course Reversed. The one in Scotland.
That’s part of the reason why the hell anyone would want to do that. The rest of the reason is history.
The way the Old Course used to be
Playing the Old Course backwards isn’t just a novelty. It’s how it was played up until Old Tom Morris updated the course in the early 1870s. Back then, the first tee was near where the 18th green is currently, and the current 17th green, the Road Hole green, was part of a larger shared green. From there, the course played clockwise.
For a century, starting in 1774 when the course was reduced from 22 to the now standard 18 holes, golfers played the course in this configuration. Golfers would share fairways and hit into large double greens. When played backwards, some of the oddly placed Old Course bunkers suddenly make sense.
After Old Tom updated the Old Course, it would still be played in the reversed setup on occasion well into the 1970s. In 2024, the St Andrews Links Trust made the Old Course Reversed an annual event and established a global ballot for golfers to apply for tee times.
Toptracer officially partnered with St Andrews Links in 2022, setting up Toptracer bays at the practice facility and the St. Andrews Links Golf Academy. As part of that partnership, Toptracer is the only platform where you can virtually play the Old Course at a driving range. In 2024, more than 700,000 simulated Old Course rounds were played at Toptracer sites around the world.
About that contest…
You better bring your A-game if you want to win those tee times. The Old Course Reversed is a straight-up gross score stroke play from the black tees. There are no handicaps and, most importantly, no mulligans. It’s just like real life in a simulated world: whoever shoots the lowest gross score wins.
There are some guardrails in place. The max score on any hole is five strokes over whatever par is for a given hole. In the event of a tie, the winner will be whoever posted the lowest score first. The prize includes tee times only. If you win, you’ll have to get yourself to St Andrews, find a place to stay and feed yourself. The only freebie is the pair of tee times.
Toptracer is also offering a closest to the pin competition on the reversed 11th hole. The winner gets some limited edition St Andrews swag.
To find a Toptracer range near you, visit the Toptracer website. You can find out more about the contest here.
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