St Andrews (Eden)
St Andrews (Eden)
One of the great statements a course can make is through its
history. Here, on the Eden, Harry Colt made that statement
through a design finesse that has since been copied by many
courses – the greens particularly. Eden’s front nine is all Colt,
with plenty of pot bunkers and greens which are more undulating
than elsewhere at St Andrews… you only need to play the 1st to
appreciate what’s in store. Thanks to its shorter length, the Eden
is more forgiving than its mighty siblings and it boasts some old
features such as the partially buried field boundary walls. There’s
also the string of holes on the edge of the Eden Estuary, where
the dunes have provided some very attractive – and tricky –
perched green settings.
St Andrews (Jubilee)
What started out as a 12-hole course in 1897 is, today, a links
of considerable reputation, pressed up against St Andrews Bay.
Donald Steel arrived in 1988 and revitalised a course that boasts
the most shapely dunes of the St Andrews courses. The largest
ridge separates the Jubilee from the New. It is these shapes that
create strong risk-vs-reward holes, where tight fairways demand
accuracy and the deep rough punishes the wayward. Several
greens (7, 8 and 9 especially) are tucked right into the dunes and,
from the raised tee boxes, Jubilee’s charms are on full display. The
front nine are considerably shorter… but don’t think that makes
them easier, especially with some of the run-offs around the
smallish greens. Your ball may well be lured into bunkers or tricky
swales.
42
St Andrews (Castle)
This is the seventh and youngest course in the St Andrews
Links family. Designed by David McLay Kidd, it opened in 2008.
Expectations, not surprisingly, were high and this cliff-top course
has been strongly shaped to turn it from farmland into a course
with some intriguing links-like attributes. Some say it is like golf
on steroids! It is certainly different to anything else in the area
and Kidd made bold decisions when creating the landscape and
designing some rather radical greens… they are big and yet tough
to hold and, even when you do, the job is only half done. It is a
challenging course set out as two loops, with the start of each
nine climbing upwards and then back along the cliffs to finish.
St Andrews (New)
Another of the misnomers, the ‘New’ course was designed
by Old Tom Morris in 1895. The courses at St Andrews do not
present many elevation changes and that is true here, but there
are plenty of other challenges because greens are small and the
gorse still creates blind shots… which means that navigating your
way around these tight fairways calls for precision. The New
sits alongside the Old, and while the terrain and out and back
layout demonstrate similarities the two offer unique experiences.
The Old feels more open and forgiving but here accuracy is key,
and many locals prefer to play it for that reason and its prettier
characteristics: the gorse adds colour and depth, while the dunes
out at the turn are home to the shapeliest holes… where the par
three 9th green sits in a bowl, next to the Eden Estuary.