St Andrews Magazine Edition 04

Whatever happened to
This once ultra-popular venue on the Scores under the Hotel du Vin was the go to
place to start your St Andrews night out. Once one of Prince William's favourite
haunts, and a must visit for the stars of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, the bar
is virtually never open now, aside from a few token student events.
Ma Bells has been part of the Hotel Du Vin since Malmaison purchased the St
Andrews Golf Hotel in 2013, and the decline of the bar is surely no coincidence. The
hotel has its own bar and restaurant, which has been heavily promoted. So staffing
and promoting another bar would be seen as not being financially prudent. Despite
this the website still advertises it as being open 11am til late, 7 days a week.
I first visited Ma Bells in 2004 during Dunhill week as a 21-year-old university student,
part of a group volunteering at the tournament. The bar was mobbed, you could
barely move, and it was particularly notable for Ian Poulter and Paul Casey being out
for a few drinks the night before the championship began.