Fife

Two great courses await you here at the 7th oldest club in the world. Crail Golfing Society began life in 1786 and the original links Balcomie is a delight to play as it incorporates the eccentricities and quirkiness of all that is great about traditional Links golf. Gil Hanse added to the Crail experience with his Craighead course in the mid 1990`s using the ancient walls and cliff top site superbly. The joy of playing this old Balcomie links are the unique features and layout of each hole where natural hollows, stone walls, shared greens and bunker faces clad in old railway sleepers make the Balcomie Links a special place to play. The Craighead course brings to life the design excellence of Gil Hanse also in evidence at amongst others, Castle Stuart in Scotland; The Olympic course in Rio; Winged Foot in New York the 2020 US Open venue; Fishers Island, New York and LA Country Club amongst others.

The marvellous setting above the “auld grey toon” ensures the player has some great views of the town with all its distinctive landmarks dating back to its time at the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland and the West sands. The course is a true test of heathland golf and deemed strong enough to have hosted one of the four majors of World Amateur golf, the 2014 European Amateur. It is a good and enjoyable test for players of all levels with 5 different tee positions on each hole. Whilst hunting on the site in the 1980’s the 5 times Open champion Peter Thomson pronounced how great a golf course it would make. Hence the Old course Hotels’ owners contracted him to do that very thing, creating a wonderful golf course which has matured superbly into one of the best heathland tests of golf in the United Kingdom.

When esteemed golf writer Malcolm Campbell took a walk along the coast from his house near by some twenty years ago, he could envision a world class golf course. The site was then developed brilliantly by ex Sunningdale Head Pro, and both Ryder and Walker Cup player Clive Clark, opening this year to great acclaim. Uniquely not only does it have an Ocean view from each hole, it has many holes playing towards the water so the player can soak in the wonderful vistas. The course is a joy to play and a wonderful test – especially the great “risk reward” holes. Quite simply another top 100 World golf course to add to the Scottish portfolio.

Another wonderful links course which began life in 1875 and the former R&A Secretary and great amateur golfer, Sir Michael Bonallack, OBE sums up the course in saying “If you love links Golf, you will love Elie. Close cut running fairways with firm, fast, true greens and a memorable and enjoyable test for golfers of every ability”. The course was made famous by the Open champion of 1901, 1905,1906,1908 and 1910 James Braid who was born in the adjoining village of Earlsferry and won his first competition at Elie at age 8! He went on to win 5 Opens and designed dozens of great courses, helping to put his initial inspiration of Elie on the map, in the process.

The hotel and associated 36 holes was the brain child of the inventor of the nicotine patch Don Panos and opened in the early 2000`s with Ryder Cup player and Captain Sam Torrance designing one course and Australian Bruce Devlin the other. Perched on the cliffs of St Andrews Bay this spectacular 36 holes has hosted European Senior Tour events, Open championship qualifying and a 2020 European tour event – so a great test awaits the visitor to St Andrews at either the Torrance course or Kittocks – both in exceptional condition and if staying at the hotel you can enjoy either course as a part of your stay courtesy of ourselves.

Old Tom Morris followed up the New course with a much gentler 12 hole course on a narrow strip of land between the New and the beach, in 1897. Known as the Jubilee it was built to celebrate the anniversary of Queen Victoria`s 60th year on the throne. It has since evolved into a true Championship course, possibly the toughest test of all the St Andrews courses and the one closest to the Ocean. It was intended to be a course for ladies or higher handicap players but in 1902 Tom Morris` right hand man, David Honeyman, suggested lengthening the course which was completed in 1905 and further refined by Laurie Auchterlonie the R&A professional in 1938 with the work completed in 1946 after the War. It was then further lengthened by Donald Steel in 1988 and opened by twice US Open winner Curtis Strange the following year.

This masterpiece designed by Kyle Phillips and Mark Parsinen in the late 1990`s rocketed up the World`s top 100 lists when it opened in 2000. Quite simply, it is spectacularly scenic, with a sea view from every hole, so many of which hug the shoreline. In addition it has some of the most memorable links holes anywhere in the world being compared very favorably with such classics as Cypress Point, Pebble Beach, Bandon or Turnberry. The enjoyment to be derived from playing the courses is added to by impeccable service with Kingsbarns continually winning awards for its customer care and Scottish friendly service. The course plays host to the European tour`s Dunhill Links Championship every year and has staged its first major with the British Women`s Open in 2017.

Perhaps the finest turf of any heathland course in Scotland, Ladybank Golf Club is synonymous with The Open Championship Qualifying. One of the premier courses in the UK, it has hosted final Open qualifying on seven occasions since 1978 when The Open Championship was played at St Andrews. In 2018 Ladybank was rewarded with final qualifying for The Senior Open Championship hosted at St Andrews. For lovers of the game away from the sea Ladybank Golf Club provides a classic heathland test and enjoys a reputation as one of the finest inland layouts in the British Isles. Designed by the first great Professional of golf, Old Tom Morris, Ladybank is a rare beast in Fife – a tremendous inland course. It measures just over 6600 yards from the medal tees, making great use of its heathland terrain. It has changed a little over the years, requiring the golfer to display real precision to hit the small and often contoured greens.

This links meets its neighbor Lundin at their respective 4th holes. Golf has been played at Leven since 1820, and we know can be traced back to 1846 on parts of the present links with the current configuration coming into being in 1909. It is home to two of Scotland`s most prestigious Amateur events each year, one of which the Leven Gold Medal, dates back to 1870 and has hosted Open qualifying on numerous occasions.

“Lundie” as it is known locally is a magnificent links dating back to 1868 and whose lovely greens and testing par 4`s make it one of the ultimate “hidden gems”. It could be nothing else having been crafted by the winners of 9 Open Championships James Braid and Old Tom Morris. Having hosted many Open Championship qualifying events and major amateur events this complex links has many open burns or creeks, excellent strategic bunkering and yields great scores to golfing strategists who think their way round!

Known as the world`s oldest New course, this is arguably the favorite course of many Saint Andreans. Built by Old Tom Morris in 1895 although not the “must play” that is her big sister next door, you should absolutely not miss the chance to play the New. This was the second course built on the Links and boasts undulating fairways and intricate, challenging greens making it a classic test of links golf good enough to rate in the top 40 courses in the British Isles in the Golf World ratings.

There is not much we can say that has not already been said about the “Home of Golf.” The game began here in the 1400`s on the most famous golf course in the world. We are fortunate enough to have a number of the highly sought after guaranteed Old Course tee times to make your dream of playing the course a reality. The Old Course at St Andrews was known to be the primary location for golf which in the early 15th century was becoming increasingly popular in Scotland until James II of Scotland banned the game in 1457 because he felt that young men were playing too much golf instead of practicing their archery! The course changed little from the early 1400`s until 1764 when the golfers of St Andrews took a decision to make the first four short holes into just two thus making it an 18 hole course which has now become the norm for courses across the globe. When 4 times Open champion Old tom Morris returned to his native St Andrews from Prestwick as greenskeeper and professional in 1865 (at a then-generous salary of ₤50 per year!) he improved the course greatly it having suffered from neglect following the death of previous Professional Allan Robertson in 1859. Old Tom did this by widening the fairways, enlarging the greens, applying greenkeeping techniques he had developed at Prestwick, building two new greens (on holes 1 and 18), and “managing” the hazards to create largely the course we know today.

This ancient course can trace its roots back to the St Andrews Society of Golfers (later to become the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews) who formed another club here at Scotscraig in 1818. The course although a couple of miles from the sea has many links course characteristics and is a great mix of links and heathland. The club still plays for a Medal which is over 200 years old having been played for when the club was originally formed. The course has hosted Open qualifying for St Andrews Opens on 5 occasions and our clients are often blown away by this course described by US Open champion Justin Rose as a “great course with great greens and very friendly.”