St. Andrews Trip - DIY, OCE, or 3rd Party?

[woodzie264]

Planning a trip for next summer, looks cheaper to book it all myself, but worried about securing guaranteed tee time through the Advanced Booking Ballot. A buddy of mine and I plan to play the Old & New Courses as well as Carnoustie. Short trip. Obviously the Old Course Experience is the most expensive way of doings it, but it offers the warm fuzzy feeling that everything's taken car of. Any experiences/recommendations on doing it yourself, vs using the OCE, or 3rd party booking?

Edited July 4, 2016 by woodzie264
Additional info

[DaveP043]

I went to St Andrews in 2011 and 2012, and each time I made the arrangements myself for 8 players.  We booked the Old Course through the advanced reservation system.  I'd recommend you do that yourselves.  If you're flexible give yourselves the largest possible range of available dates, and I'd bet that you're very likely to get a time.  You can make the booking at Carnoustie once you hear back from St. Andrews, as well as your flights and lodging.  If you're not successful, you can explore the other options, but it makes sense to me to look at the least expensive option first.  If I can help in any way, feel free to post here, or send me a personal message.

Good luck, St Andrews is an incredible experience.

[woodzie264]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

I went to St Andrews in 2011 and 2012, and each time I made the arrangements myself for 8 players.  We booked the Old Course through the advanced reservation system.  I'd recommend you do that yourselves.  If you're flexible give yourselves the largest possible range of available dates, and I'd bet that you're very likely to get a time.  You can make the booking at Carnoustie once you hear back from St. Andrews, as well as your flights and lodging.  If you're not successful, you can explore the other options, but it makes sense to me to look at the least expensive option first.  If I can help in any way, feel free to post here, or send me a personal message.

Good luck, St Andrews is an incredible experience.

Thanks man - appreciate the encouraging advice