Can You Play St Andrews on E6 Connect? Here’s How
St Andrews is the home of golf. It’s also the course that exposes the difference between “professionally scanned” and “community-built” faster than any other piece of sim content.
The Old Course is a weird golf course. Double greens the size of parking lots. Shared fairways where you’re hitting to a different hole’s landing area. Bunkers that look like they were placed by a blindfolded architect. Blind shots. Wind that changes the entire strategy of every hole depending on which direction it blows.
Getting that right in a simulator is hard. E6’s version gets it right because TruGolf sent a laser scanning team and paid for the license. That matters more here than at any other course in the library.
What Tier You Need
St Andrews is a premium add-on — $25 on top of either the Core ($300/year) or Expanded ($600/year) tier. Basic tier users can’t buy it.
The Old Course is the most expensive single course in E6’s premium catalog alongside Pebble Beach. You could argue that’s appropriate given that it’s the most historic course in the world. You could also argue that paying $25 for a single course after already paying $600 for a “full library” subscription is absurd. Both arguments are valid.
For the full picture on which tier makes sense for your budget, read the Best Courses on E6 Connect guide.
Why St Andrews Works on E6 Specifically
E6’s biggest advantage over community-built sim software is professional course scanning. St Andrews is the course that benefits most from that advantage.
The double greens are the thing. The Old Course has seven double greens — massive putting surfaces shared by two holes. The 5th and 13th share one. The 6th and 14th share one. On community-built versions (GSPro, TGC 2019), these greens are approximated. They’re big. They have the right general shape. But the subtle internal contours — the micro-swales that make putting at St Andrews so distinct — are often simplified.
E6’s version has the contours right. The 5th green, which also serves as the 13th green, has the exact ridge that separates the two putting surfaces. You’ll putt across it and feel the ball drift. That’s not a visual effect. That’s the scan data.
The bunkers are another win. Hell Bunker on the 14th is 10 feet deep and about the size of a house. In E6, it’s rendered correctly — deep enough that you can’t see the green, steep enough that you’re hitting a sand wedge just to get out. E6 doesn’t have to guess where Hell Bunker sits. The license says it has to be exactly right.
The wind simulation is also better on E6 than on any other platform. St Andrews without wind is a different course. E6’s wind model affects the ball flight in a way that matches the real Old Course experience — the ball gets pushed, the approach shots require an extra club, and the strategy changes based on the direction.
How to Access It
Open E6 Connect. Go to the Premium Content store. Search for “St Andrews” or “Old Course.” Purchase the $25 course pack. Download. The course is about 800MB — takes a few minutes on standard internet.
Search for the right version. There’s only one official St Andrews on E6, so you can’t pick the wrong one. That’s the advantage of a closed ecosystem.
What It Actually Looks Like
E6’s St Andrews is the best-looking sim version of the course. The textures are sharper than any community build. The grass looks like links grass — brownish, firm, windswept. The gorse and heather are rendered in a way that makes you want to avoid them.
The 1st tee: The view from the first tee includes the R&A clubhouse, the Old Course Hotel in the distance, and the widest fairway in golf. On E6, the scale is right. The fairway looks massive. The pressure is still there.
The 17th — The Road Hole: The most famous par 4 in golf. 495 yards. Blind drive over the hotel. Long iron approach to a green that runs away from you, guarded by the Road Hole Bunker on the left and the actual road on the right. E6’s version captures the full drama. The bunker is deep enough that you can’t see the pin. The road is rendered as asphalt, not a texture. Hit it right and the ball bounces weird.
The 18th: The closing hole, the Swilcan Bridge on the left, the Valley of Sin guarding the front of the green. E6’s version has the swale rendered correctly. Hit a short approach and your ball rolls back into the valley. You’ll chip from 30 feet and wonder why you didn’t take one more club.
The Holes That Shine on Sim
Hole 11 — The Eden (short par 3): 170 yards of wind and doubt. The green is protected by the Eden Estuary. E6’s water rendering makes the carry look longer than it is. The wind is always in your face. Hit one more club than you think you need. You’ll still come up short.
Hole 14 — Hell Bunker: The most famous bunker in golf. E6’s version is deep, steep, and terrifying. You’ll hit into it. You’ll take two to get out. You’ll make double bogey. You’ll blame the course. That’s correct.
Hole 17 — The Road Hole: Already covered. It’s the best hole in golf. Play it and understand why.
What I’d Change
The premium pricing stings here the same way it does for Pebble Beach. $600/year plus $25 for the course that’s arguably the most important in the game. The math works — $625 for a year of the best sim golf versus $25,000 for a trip to actual St Andrews — but the feeling of paying extra for content in a subscription product is never pleasant.
Is It Worth $25?
If you play the Old Course even once a month, the cost per round is about $2. That’s a bargain for the most historic course in golf.
The question isn’t whether St Andrews is worth $25. The question is whether you’re the type of golfer who cares about playing the home of golf from your garage. If you are, you already bought it. If you’re not, you’re probably playing Bethpage Black on the Expanded tier and wondering why anyone would pay extra for a course with blind shots and double greens.
St Andrews isn’t for everyone. But for the people it’s for, there’s no substitute.
For the full list of courses worth playing on E6, read The Best Courses on E6 Connect. Need the full software breakdown? Check the E6 Connect Software Review.