St Andrews ready for the start of competition for golf's 150th Open

St Andrews is ready for the start of the 150th Open competition after days of practice rounds at the Home of Golf during the early part of this week.

Scotland's Paul Lawrie will be the first player to tee off in round one just after 6.30am tomorrow morning (Thursday 14 July 2022), according to the tournament's website.

It'll mark the first of four days of competition, with the champion expected to receive the Claret Jug this Sunday.

Early on in the coronavirus pandemic, the 150th Open had to be pushed back to this year from 2021.

The 149th Open was at Royal St George's in Kent last year, but it had been originally due to take place in 2020 before it was rescheduled.

But now with this year's tournament taking place this week, tourists from all over the world have been visiting the Fife town.

More are expected to arrive in the coming days.

Caroline Warburton, Visit Scotland's Regional Leadership Director for Fife, has been chatting with Anas Hassan, our Kingdom FM reporter, about how the town has been welcoming visitors from worldwide:

Meanwhile, despite the acceptance of a pay deal by members of the ASLEF union at the start of this week, the temporary timetable specifically affecting ScotRail services remains in place for the rest of this week and this coming weekend.

LNER services stopping at some stations in Fife like nearby Leuchars aren't affected.

Although CrossCountry trains do run through the Kingdom, they now don't stop at any station within the region.

But Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director of The R&A, has been telling Anas alternative methods of transport should be taken by people coming: