The fourth has one of the most challenging tee shots on the course. The fairway is quite narrow, and unless the player is very long off the tee, they must deal with rough covered mounds on the left side, and two bunkers on the right.
The large cottage bunker sits far up on the left side. It shouldn’t come too much into play for most players. The students’ bunkers are three bunkers beyond this.
The approach to the green is challenging. There is a mound on the front of the green that can kick the ball strongly right or left. There is a large, dangerous bunker on the left side.
The hole is named for the ginger beer bunkers behind the hole where a local caddie, Davie Anderson, used to sell his homemade ginger beer behind the green. It was effectively the first halfway house in existence.
“The fourth hole is another case in point. The green is guarded by a small abrupt hillock about 15 feet across. I always thought the correct way to play the tee shot was to the right, but Joyce Wethered pointed out that from this position you can only reach the centre of the green. She always plays it short of the cottage bunker to the left and from there plays her second against the left-hand side of the hillock and swings round very near the hole. I have never seen any one else play the hole this way, but I am convinced Joyce Wethered gets a three there more frequently than any living person.”
“The 4th hole on the Old Course at St. Andrews has a dramatic mound right in front of the green. When the fairways are firm in the summer and the greens are not holding well, the trick is to drive out to the very edge of the fairway and then steer closely past the mound, without allowing it to turn away your approach.”