GOLF ATRAVEL Player’s Guide GOLF TRAVEL
Kingdom?
Come!
With over 50 golf courses in its midst, the Kingdom of Fife can count itself a fully-paid-up member of the aristocracy of the royal and ancient game, much more than simply the Old Course and St. Andrews. As Mike Wilson writes, there can be no better place on Planet Earth to enjoy the unrivalled authenticity of the area the game of golf calls, ‘Home’.
O
ver the years, many countries have laid claim to golf’s birthright, Holland and even China, but there is but one authentic contender, Scotland. Historical records reveal that the game enjoyed today by almost 75million people worldwide was first played on the east coast of Scotland, in the Kingdom of Fife, during the 15th century. St. Andrews is at the epicentre of Scottish (and global) golf, a world-renowned university town, where Prince William first met Kate Middleton, now his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge. It’s magnificent - if ruined - Cathedral predating golf by 350 years, home to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the R&A, the global governing body for golf apart from the USA. The Old Course completes with solemn
iconography. The first tee and 18th green presided over by the austere R&A clubhouse, the Swilken Bridge, the Road Hole Bunker and the Valley of Sin all add credo to the world-accepted narrative that this is not only the #1 golf course in the world. But, arguably, the most compelling and authentic site of particular sporting interest anywhere on earth. Local Parish records confirm that, on 14th May 1754, twenty-two ‘Noblemen’ and ‘Gentlemen’ contributed to the purchase of a silver golf club, ‘To be played for annually over the Links of St. Andrews.’ But, today, 264-yearon, St. Andrews itself offers ten world-class golf courses, eight of which are open to all, subject to reservation, whilst the other two are readily available to visitors. For a small town such as St. Andrews to have two distinguishing features - golf and education
Image courtesy of VisitFife
The 10th hole of Elie, a beautiful links course on the fringes of a delightful fishing village, another jewel in the Fife Kingdom’s crown 64
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St. Andrews has two distinguishing features - golf and education
The famous Swilken Bridge at the Old Course, St. Andrews
Image courtesy of VisitScotland
- seared into its soul is genuinely remarkable. A permanent population of around 17,000 is augmented by just under 9,000 students, almost half-a-million golfers and golf-related visitors to the town each year. Nearly 50,000 rounds of golf played annually on the Old Course alone. And yet, paradoxically, St. Andrews never seems busy, life unfolding at a laidback pace, a perfect antidote the rough-and-tumble of contemporary life. Forget the ‘Auld Grey Toon,’ moniker attached to St. Andrews; that refers to the stonework used throughout much of the town. But there is a vibrant, vigorous and on occasions, happy vibe of the city as visitors and locals alike eat well, drink heartily and take the air along miles of beaches or meandering through a network of small, secretive but safe streets, morning, noon or night. One gets the true sense of the history and heritage of golf at St. Andrews when a course called, ‘The New,’ dates back to 1895, the world-famous Old Course, host venue for the Open Championship on 29 previous occasions, 30 in July 2021. Both old and even older part of the seven-strong string of public courses managed by the town in trust. Of the seven, only the nine-hole Balgove cannot be booked in advance - that’s 66
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even easier, just turn up and play - whilst for the rest, including the Old Course, there are three ways of enjoying the once-in-a-lifetime experience. First, advance online reservation. Secondly as part of a package purchased through an accredited operator. Or, thirdly - and this is the same for the Old Course as it is for the others - just rise early, get to the starter’s box around dawn, complete with clubs. And, if there are spaces, and you’re near the front of the queue, you may find yourself following in the footsteps of legends like Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Peter Thomson and Sam Snead, all winners of the Claret Jug at golf’s equivalent of Mecca. Playing the Old Course at St. Andrews is a truly memorable and unique experience - it’s just impossible to play tennis on Centre Court at Wimbledon or football at the Maracana. But teeing-off in front of the venerable R&A Clubhouse, a golfing delicacy awaits. Vast, double greens can present putts of 100ft and more. The bunkers, all 112 of them, some, like the ‘Coffins’ and ‘Hell,’ every bit as ominous as they sound, with their revetted faces, even harder to get out of then to get into it. Iconic holes such as the 17th, ‘Road Hole,’ and the 18th. Be sure to take a moment to pause for a photograph on the world famous Swilkan Bridge, and to avoid the Valley of Sin if you can, holing out on the 18th green where 29 Open Championships have been won and lost to date. But there’s more - much more - to golf at St. Andrews than the pure majesty of the Old Course. The two courses at the Fairmont Resort are as good a test of authentic links golf as it’s possible to get. The Castle Course - part of the St. Andrews Links Trust portfolio - is another favourite, all three offering-up some magnificent views of the town below and the sweeping St. Andrews Bay. St. Andrews is also well served when it comes to accommodation, something for all tastes and budgets, from the five-star luxe deluxe Old Course Hotel overlooking the Road Hole and the Fairmont on the edge of town to the chic Hôtel du Vin in the heart of the city. Two others, Rusacks, which backs onto the 18th hole of the Old Course and the 24-room Rufflets Country House Hotel are firm favourites with golfers. Then there is the Peat Inn Restaurant with Rooms, no more than a dozen miles from any of Fife’s fifty-plus golf courses, as well as an excellent range of lower-cost options, first-class Bed & Breakfast establishments and Guest Houses, plus a wide choice of self-catering properties. And there’s no shortage of opportunities to eat out in St. Andrews either. From haute cuisine to informal dining, you’ll never go hungry in the Auld Grey Toun. HKGOLFER.COM
Sunrise at the magnificent Kingsbarns 1st hole
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Image courtesy of Kingsbarns Golf Club The 15th of Kingsbarns is another stunner
occupying the links land that was traditionally set aside for the royal and ancient game between the coast and viable agricultural ground inland. Secondly, heathland courses resplendent with heathers and pine trees and finally parkland, often featuring avenues of magnificent, mature deciduous trees. One of those courses, a hybrid of links and heathland is Scotscraig Golf Club, the furthest north of the Kingdom, which last year celebrated its bicentenary, the 13th oldest golf course in the world. Another jewel in the Kingdom’s crown is Elie, a beautiful links course on the fringes of a delightful fishing village. The ups-and-downs of elevation from sea level to the highest point on the course are the equivalent of three double-decker buses stacked on to of each other. Crail Craighead is another fine, pure example of links golf. Opened in 1998, this 6,728-yard Par-72 is something of a rookie compared to some of the more venerable close-by courses. But it has matured well, throwing down the gauntlet not only to its elder relatives but also to the golfer, especially when the wind blows. Crail Craigend is the most easterly course in Fife, along with its elder cousin, Crail Balcomie, laid out by Old Tom Morris 103 years before Craigend opened for HK GOLFER・MAR 2018
Image courtesy of Kingsbarns Golf Club
Most famous of all, the Jigger Inn sits within touching distance of the Road Hole and is a must for any golfer visiting the Home of Golf. Forgan’s housed in an old golf club-making factory makes full use of locally-sourced produce, Vic St. Andrews blends goof food with a friendly ambience, whilst the Tailend Restaurant & Fish Bar serves the best fish-and-chips in town. And those canny Scots know not to overcharge, which explains not only above average occupancy levels but also the frequency of repeat visitors, golfers and non-golfers alike. Some of the most exceptional visitor value, without compromising on quality and service is to be found in some of the smaller harbour towns and fishing villages down the East Neuk of Fife. In much the same way as there is much more to St. Andrews than just golf, there is far more than merely St. Andrews to the Kingdom of Fife. Given the dominance of the ‘Auld Grey Toon,’ can be wrongly perceived as a ‘One-trick-pony.’ Fife counts almost 50 golf courses within its boundaries - and the Kingdom conveniently embraces another Open Championship venue, Carnoustie, just 15m from its northern border, where the Claret Jug will be fought over in July this year. Some of Fife’s courses are amongst the oldest in the world. Others, like the magnificent Kingsbarns and Fairmont St. Andrews contemporary, but right out of the top drawer nevertheless. The Kingdom’s golf offer falls into three distinct categories of course. First, those
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The 5th of Fairmont St. Andrews is a good test of authentic links golf
The 6th hole has a contemporary touch
Image courtesy of Fairmont St. Andrews
play. Two famous golf courses in one small harbour town, population, 1,800. Ladybank Golf Club, 15 miles inland from St. Andrews and an hour’s drive from Edinburgh Airport. It has hosted the St. Andrews Open Championship qualifying events on seven occasions since 1978 and at 6,500-yards off the back tees offers a compelling test of golf, a ‘must-play’ in any golfing trip to Fife. Meanwhile, down in the south of the Kingdom, the less-fashionable part of Fife when it comes to golf. Exceptional golf courses such as Dunfermline (where the game has been played since the 16th century), Kirkcaldy (playing a round at the town’s Tom Morris-designed 1904 course costs US$41.75. at peak season) and Aberdour Golf Clubs would stand out on almost every other golfing map of the world. In addition to its abundance of golf courses suitable for most standards of ability, there are several distinctive characteristics for which the royal and ancient game in the Kingdom of Fife are renowned. Firstly, it’s the ‘People’s game’. Most of the courses in the region are either open to the public or highly visitor-friendly. A natural empathy with the brotherhood (and sisterhood) of golf, speaking the universal language of the game. Secondly, it’s generally informal. Many of the old conventions, such as not playing in shorts and having to wear a tie in the clubhouse were driven out of 68
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bounds a long time ago. And, because it’s the ‘People’s game,’ golf in Fife is relatively cheap. A round over the famous Old Course costs between US$122.00 -244.00 from off-peak to peak season. The Castle Course, US$83.00–166.00, whilst playing a round at Kingsbarns, consistently ranked well within the top-50 golf courses in the world may appear expensive at US$313.00 per round. But with a 50% discount on a second round booked within a week and the overall quality of the course, it’s worth every penny. But it’s hard to find a quality links course in the Kingdom of Fife charging visitors more than US$150.00 per day. And most have über-generous discounts for juniors and ‘Twilight’ golf (in midsummer, golf can readily be played in Scotland up until 11pm) for US$45.00. There can be no better cost-to-quality ration anywhere in the world. In fact, with some research and judicious use of discounts and concessions, even in midseason, and even allowing for one ‘Splash-the-cash’ game at one of Fife’s five, ‘Trophy’ courses. A week’s green fees in the Kingdom can readily be had for well under US$1,000, hardly a King’s Ransom. Thirdly, Fife’s courses are amongst the bestkept in the world. Not in the over-designed, heavily-landscaped and the manicured kind that is the modern norm, but as golf courses were meant to be. Neatly-cropped fairways providing perfect lies, greens inviting putts to drop, authentic hazards like streams, natural inland ponds, miles of rugged coastline and deep, pot bunkers with HKGOLFER.COM
Scotscraig Golf Club is at the furthest north of the Kingdom, the 13th oldest golf course in the world
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Crail Craighead is another fine, pure example of links golf Top: Image courtesy of Scotscraig Golf Club; Below: Image courtesy of Crail Golfing Society
faces formed out of layers of turf, the traditional Scottish links craft called ‘revetting.’ Then we have the weather question. Forget the myth about four seasons in one day. The truth is that the east coast of Scotland, which the Kingdom of Fife forms a considerable chunk, actually has some of the best climatic conditions in the country. According to the Met Office data, St Andrews enjoys more annual hours of sunshine than London and lower yearly rainfall than Paris. Whilst the Fife Coast has 31% more sunshine hours than the Scottish and 14% more than the UK on average, receiving only 43% of the average Scottish rainfall, and just 58% of the UK median. In Spring, changeable weather can be expected, with many sunny intervals interspersed with occasional light rain showers. Whilst summer days - which can last for up to 19 hours of daylight - are generally warm and sunny, with teasing sea breezes testing those golfing out on the links. Meanwhile, autumn often sees long, settled and sunny periods of weather. Perfect for the annual Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which attracts many of the world’s best golfers and stars of sport, stage and screen, a fixture now in the sporting calendar going into its 18th successive year. In many ways, the Kingdom of Fife can be viewed as a Russian Matryoshka Doll, the more one finds, the more layers are revealed. And, whilst golf is central to the Fife tourism economy, worth almost £25m each year, much,
much more when the Open comes to town, it’s far from the only show in the city. The Cathedral of St Andrew is a ruined Roman Catholic cathedral in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, built in 1158 and containing the last resting places of many members of the clergy, academics from the town’s University, after Oxford and Cambridge, the third oldest in the UK. As its name would suggest, the Kingdom of Fife has a distinctly regal and aristocratic ring to it. And in terms of its history in general and steeped in the annals of golfing time in particular, there is so much to take in, on and off the course, indeed far too many jewels in the county’s crown to mention. But visit Fife, specifically to play golf or for a well-earned family break including a sprinkling of golf, you will find the friendliest and most welcoming, down-toearth people, informed and informative, especially about the sport that has grown up in their midst. And, I promise you, whether taking on the subtle intricacies of the Old Course or the might of Kingsbarns, or simply trundling around the nine-holes of the Balgove Course or Leven Links, you will go home happy, inspired, with a smile on your face and vow to come back again, and again, and again. www.visitfifegolf.com HK GOLFER・MAR 2018
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