The St. Andrews Hack Nobody Talks About
Dr. Chase Cunningham breaks down how he got on St. Andrews by buying a caddy drinks at the Nine Iron bar, why Shadow Creek might crush St. Andrews in quality, and how he's turning an indoor golf simulator into a bank-funded man cave.
- Guest
- Dr. Chase Cunningham
- Destination
- Scotland, Taiwan, and Northern Virginia
- Location
- Scotland
The Setup
Dr. Chase Cunningham is a computer science PhD who met Kerry online and quickly became a regular in the SGT orbit. He lives 45 minutes west of Washington, D.C., plays to a 9-12 handicap, and is opening an indoor golf facility called OTG (On The Green) five minutes from his front door. When he’s not building simulators, he’s chasing bucket-list courses around the world.
The Format
Chase’s golf life splits into three lanes: the Scotland trip that checked every box (Carnoustie, Turnberry, King’s Course, and St. Andrews), the Taiwan business-trip rounds where caddies only spoke Chinese, and the upcoming indoor facility that’s basically a bank-funded man cave with a FourSight sports simulator and PuttView putting green. Group trips use Stableford scoring to keep things moving and competitive across handicaps.
The Hot Takes
- The St. Andrews hack is real. Chase couldn’t get a tee time through normal channels, so he bought drinks all night for a caddy at the Nine Iron bar across from the first tee. The caddy made one phone call. They teed off at 10 a.m. the next day.
- 1,500 people watched him hit the first tee shot. A rare 77-degree sunny day in Scotland meant every local was outside. They call your name over the loudspeaker. He piped it — then walked 100 yards down the fairway before realizing the other three guys hadn’t hit yet.
- Shadow Creek might be better than St. Andrews. “If you took Shadow Creek and St. Andrews, Shadow Creek would crush St. Andrews. But St. Andrews is St. Andrews.” History beats quality sometimes.
- Walking saves strokes. Chase cites a study of 15,000 rounds showing walkers shoot 7-9 strokes better than cart riders. “You can’t get in a rhythm if you’re jumping in the cart after every shot.”
- Taiwan caddies are a cultural experience. They drive the cart, speak only Chinese, and hand you clubs you didn’t ask for. “It was pretty pointless to be honest, but it was a cultural thing.”
- Stableford keeps trips friendly. Par is a point, birdie is two, eagle is three. Bogey is minus one, double or worse caps at minus two. “If you have anything worse than double, it doesn’t matter anyway.”
The Run-It-Back
Chase’s bucket list still has room: Thailand, Bandon Dunes, and more of Ireland. His philosophy is simple — golf is four or five hours of mental therapy where nobody bothers you. “I put my headphones on and I don’t want to talk to anybody. I just want to do my thing and golf.” For the group stuff, Stableford scoring and handicap flights keep it fair. For the solo rounds, walking and headphones keep it sacred.