St Andrews area other links options

Hoping for some help from the experts. We are headed back to Scotland next spring for two weeks (my wife is wonderful) and will be spending the last four days in St Andrews. We are playing Carnoustie on the way down, and Kingsbarns and The Old are booked , so we have two free days.

I’m not a big fan of the St Andrews Links Courses ( outside The Old ) and I’m curious as to the opinions on links courses in the surrounding area. Especially any thoughts on Leven, Lundin , Elie , both Crail Courses? Im leaning towards Elie and Lundin but would love your opinion. Favorite two?

Bonus question: thoughts on Newburgh on Ythan north of Aberdeen ? Our hotel is walking distance so I’m curious

Thank you!

Following this because I have the exact same question for next June.

 

Bonus question: thoughts on Newburgh on Ythan north of Aberdeen ? Our hotel is walking distance so I'm curious

 

Thank you!

Newburgh is an interesting course, front nine is the new nine and up and down on a few fields, the ninth hole is good. The second nine is great, very old school and some interesting holes. I live 15 miles away and only played it 2 times in my life but I enjoyed both times.

There are far better courses around here, why you thinking there?

Thanks , just curious about Newburgh on Ythan due to its proximity to our hotel . We are playing Aberdeen , Murcar , CB, and Trump but I love ‘discovering’ a new course .

Was there this past summer...keep in mind we liked the New, the Jubilee, and the Castle, so you might need to apply a bit of a filter to my answers. :D

I'd say to take a good look at Crail Balcomie. Interesting greens, neat layout, elevations changes, and yeah, Old Tom. Crail Craighead was less interesting, still a good round, but if you're only playing one of em, Balcomie would be the one.

We made it to Leven...not sure I'd go back to that one. Lundin is right next door to Leven, and I regretted not making it over there (long story). When I go back (my wife is also wonderful) I'll try to work Lundin in. Lundin hosted a Senior Open Qualifier this past summer.

Thank you for your input!

I think Elie is in , now just debating between Crail Balcomie and Lundin !

You'll get a lot of good opinions about Lundin, but Leven next door is worth a look. I've played neither, but pay attention to when non-members can and can't play, it's not consistent among courses.

We did play Crail Balcomie and we really enjoyed it a lot. I was interested from the historical side of it and it doesn't always get ranked as high as others in the area, but for me and my daughter it was a blast. Not the "wildness" of Brora, not meaning that in a negative way, just descriptive. For me the most "out in front of you" course we played when we were over there. Some pick on the last few holes, I liked them a lot. Liked the greens, required some good planning and the course was not horribly punishing of misses. Not saying it's an easy course, just a course that I found to be "welcoming" to our golf games and fun to figure out. Staff was welcoming, folks out on the course were friendly, great experience on a very nice late afternoon.

 

 

Bonus question: thoughts on Newburgh on Ythan north of Aberdeen ? Our hotel is walking distance so I'm curious

 

Thank you!

Do you have Cruden Bay on your schedule? If not, put it on. A must play since you are just north of Aberdeen.

Thanks , just curious about Newburgh on Ythan due to its proximity to our hotel . We are playing Aberdeen , Murcar , CB, and Trump but I love 'discovering' a new course .

you are certainly going all out here then!

certainly if you have the energy will all that golf and you are at the hotel then wonder down for evening golf.

I know someone who is a member there(lives in Newburgh) and of the R and A.

Elie and Crail would be my suggestions. With Lundin and Ladybank coming in behind them.

Newburgh is a good course, but there are two very different nines, I think it was extended from a 9 hole at one time. The nine in the dunes is excellent.

Cruden Bay should be a must play for you. Not quite a hidden gem anymore but there and Dornoch are a links golf paradise!

 

I'm not a big fan of the St Andrews Links Courses ( outside The Old ) and I'm curious as to the opinions on links courses in the surrounding area. Especially any thoughts on Leven, Lundin , Elie , both Crail Courses? Im leaning towards Elie and Lundin but would love your opinion. Favorite two?

 

 

My 2 cents as I played almost all those courses, except for Crail, which I only visited.

My two choices would be Lundin and Elie.

In particular, I enjoyed Lundin more than Leven, it's more various and has better holes in my opininon.

Elie is simply fantastic. Its only flaw it's that the course is 16 par 4s and 2 par 3s, but some par 4s are drivable (at least 3) and the course is very nice.

Besides those courses, I can tell you I loved Jubilee course while I didn't enjoy the new course;

I liked a lot the castle course but for less money Kittocks ( which is exactly next to the castle) is also really nice.

Crail seemed to be really "flat"; from the top I couldn't distingush the holes/fairways, and who played there confirmed this.

If you want to play an excellent course, which is more a parkland course but very nice, look for duke's course.

For the price and location its difficult to beat the Torrance and Kittocks courses at the Fairmont, if you book on Teeofftimes you can get green fee's for about £35, and its always quiet

Wouldn't call the elevations at Crail "flat" nor the views. Having played it, it was pretty easy to see where fairways/rough/greens were and distinguish one from another, certainly looking out over the course from the 1st tee. Had been fairly dry when we played and lots of areas off the fairways weren't as thick as they may have been, but others were and happy to miss them. Resized pics simply to not do it justice and image quality has been killed to post these, but here are a couple pics. Beautiful setting and you are playing a course that's been there, like that for a long, long time. Not the big elevation changes/long and thick areas of gorse/dramatic definition of Royal Dornoch, for example, but different properties and very different courses.

Another option would be Scotscraig. Inland links just a few minutes from St. Andrews.

For the price and location its difficult to beat the Torrance and Kittocks courses at the Fairmont, if you book on Teeofftimes you can get green fee's for about £35, and its always quiet

I'll agree the location and the views are great, love the hotel and the clubhouse at Fairmont, but neither of the courses are links really. Some of the holes on Torrance are "links like" but they are more cliff top than links. If you are coming all this way then there are several courses on that coast that would be above them on my list, most of which you have already mentioned.

Thanks , just curious about Newburgh on Ythan due to its proximity to our hotel . We are playing Aberdeen , Murcar , CB, and Trump but I love 'discovering' a new course .

Personally if you have a free evening to fill then play Newburgh, as other have said the back 9 is great fun (although there are a few blind tee shots where the line is hard to pick), but if you want to play a great and much less played course then head 30 minutes North and play Fraserburgh, James Braid is credited with the redesign, and it's great fun to play, and will more than likely be pretty quiet. https://fraserburghgolf.club/

A course that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is Panmure. Its just next to Carnoustie, and is where Ben Hogan practiced before he won his only Open Championship. There are 5 or 6 pretty "vanilla" holes starting and finishing, but the rest are good fun links.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41122.msg870049.html#msg870049

Wouldn't call the elevations at Crail "flat" nor the views. Having played it, it was pretty easy to see where fairways/rough/greens were and distinguish one from another, certainly looking out over the course from the 1st tee. Had been fairly dry when we played and lots of areas off the fairways weren't as thick as they may have been, but others were and happy to miss them. Resized pics simply to not do it justice and image quality has been killed to post these, but here are a couple pics. Beautiful setting and you are playing a course that's been there, like that for a long, long time. Not the big elevation changes/long and thick areas of gorse/dramatic definition of Royal Dornoch, for example, but different properties and very different courses.

Big Crail fan as well!

The Himalaya Ladies putting club @ St Andrews is a must do as well!! Cheapest fee in town :-)

Have you looked into getting on Muirfield? I didn't mind the Torrance course at Fairmont either

Unlike many others I enjoyed the Castle Course ... you have to approach it with the right mindset

Have you looked into getting on Muirfield? I didn't mind the Torrance course at Fairmont either

 

Unlike many others I enjoyed the Castle Course ... you have to approach it with the right mindset

The Torrance was my first round @ Scottish soil and was a good warming-up for the links adventure

Was there this past summer...keep in mind we liked the New, the Jubilee, and the Castle, so you might need to apply a bit of a filter to my answers. :D

 

I'd say to take a good look at Crail Balcomie. Interesting greens, neat layout, elevations changes, and yeah, Old Tom. Crail Craighead was less interesting, still a good round, but if you're only playing one of em, Balcomie would be the one.

 

We made it to Leven...not sure I'd go back to that one. Lundin is right next door to Leven, and I regretted not making it over there (long story). When I go back (my wife is also wonderful) I'll try to work Lundin in. Lundin hosted a Senior Open Qualifier this past summer.

Leven was a big disappointment for us last year. Very dry summer, Lundin had kept their greens, well, green. Levens were like concrete. Various other problems with it, and not cheap even by Scottish standards. Enjoyed Scotscraig, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about Crail.

Hoping for some help from the experts. We are headed back to Scotland next spring for two weeks (my wife is wonderful) and will be spending the last four days in St Andrews. We are playing Carnoustie on the way down, and Kingsbarns and The Old are booked , so we have two free days.

 

I'm not a big fan of the St Andrews Links Courses ( outside The Old ) and I'm curious as to the opinions on links courses in the surrounding area. Especially any thoughts on Leven, Lundin , Elie , both Crail Courses? Im leaning towards Elie and Lundin but would love your opinion. Favorite two?

 

Bonus question: thoughts on Newburgh on Ythan north of Aberdeen ? Our hotel is walking distance so I'm curious

 

Thank you!

Newburgh is well worth playing if you have time.

The setting is splendid. From the clubhouse and from the highest part of the course the views over the Ythan estuary are gorgeous, to the point of breath-taking if the gorse is in full flower. On the other side of the estuary are huge bare sand dunes (unusually clear of marram grass). It looks a bit like something out of Lawrence of Arabia. The estuary itself is home to the biggest breeding population of eiders in the uk and across the bay there's a big seal colony. (If you choose not to play golf there you should at least cross the course to the beach, walk to the mouth of the estuary and south for a mile or two before returning by way of the paths through the dunes.It's lovely.)

The front nine of the course was built 30 years ago on farmland above the original track. There are a couple of good holes (the strong par 3 second and the 9th stand out for me) and one or two that are not so much. The back 9 is links golf and a lot of fun. Not sure that i'm right in saying so but I've taken the impression over the last 10 or 15 years that it seems to be in especially good order early in the season when other course roundabout are just coming back to life.

So, if you have 3 hours in your schedule to allow it, I'd say, go for it. If you only have 90 minutes, start at the10th, just below the clubhouse. They'll still charge you the full fee, I guess, but you'll be getting your money's worth and you might decide to go round twice.

Thank you for your input!

 

I think Elie is in , now just debating between Crail Balcomie and Lundin !

Crail and Lundin are both good courses, Lundin being tougher and tighter. You will have fun with both!