Golf

Old Course not only game in town

It should be played, but St. Andrews area offers much more

By BOB HARIG
Published August 4, 2005

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - To suggest a trip to the home of golf can be accomplished without ever setting foot on the storied links in the Old Gray Town would be akin to blasphemy.

Nobody, surely not an American, could come all this way and skip the Old Course, where Tiger Woods just won the British Open. Or the New Course, which is actually 110 years old. Or not tip a pint at the Dunvegan Hotel right across the street.

No, if you visit the east coast of Scotland, particularly the area known as Fife, you simply must do all you can to get on one of those most famous links.

That said, you can have an incredible golf experience without ever teeing it up in St. Andrews. Really. Some outlaying courses are certainly worth the trip.

Balcomie Links: Many courses in Great Britain are known by the name of the town they are located in rather than the actual name. Hence, Balcomie is often referred to as Crail, a town about 10 miles outside of St. Andrews.

The seaside links barely measures 6,000 yards, but nobody would ever call it a pushover. It is arguably the most scenic course around, completed by Tom Morris in 1899, hard by the North Sea - meaning it can be exposed to wind and rain, or sunshine and warmth. Perhaps all four during a single round.

The layout is a bit bizarre, but that adds to the course's charm. Some holes come dangerously close to one another. The second through fifth holes all play along the sea, with the sixth through 14th offering a view of the water while playing along an old stone wall that serves as out of bounds.

The Crail Golfing Society dates to 1786 and is believed to be the sixth-oldest club in the world. There is also a second course on site called the Craighead. For information, visit www.crailgolfingsociety.co.uk

Lundin Golf Club: Located in a town called Lundin Links (appropriate, isn't it?), this is where Brad Faxon played his 36-hole qualifier for the British Open. "There's nothing like it," Faxon said. "There is very good golf over here."

Lundin was designed by former British Open champion James Braid in 1908 and also has plenty of quirkiness. For one, out of bounds runs through the middle of the course. It also has shared fairways, plenty of bunkers and a great view of the Firth of Forth, with the smell of the sea always nearby. For information, visit www.lundingolfclub.co.uk

Leven Links Golf Club: Another course designed by Tom Morris, it sits next to Lundin Golf Club in the town called Leven. Combined with Lundin, it would make for an excellent 36-hole day. Dating to the early 1800s, Levin had just nine holes. Morris arrived in 1868 to add another nine holes. Until 1909, golfers played 18 holes starting from opposite ends of two nine-hole layouts. That changed when both Lundin and Leven built inland holes, giving each a dramatic finish. For information, visit www.leven-links.com

St. Andrews Bay: In the late 1990s, American Don Panoz was approached with the idea of developing property just five miles from St. Andrews. "It was 300 acres of plowed potato fields, just plain, vanilla farmland," Panoz said in an interview. "But I saw the cliffs and the views. I could visualize what could be done."

Opened in 2001, St. Andrews Bay has two courses, the Torrance and the Devlin, and from a bluff high above the North Sea, a great view of St. Andrews. The courses were named after their designers, Scotland's Sam Torrance, the 2002 European Ryder Cup captain, and Bruce Devlin, an Australian who has had a successful design career after playing on the PGA Tour. Both had help from a designer named Denis Griffiths, who did the four-course Cheateau Elan resort near Atlanta, which is also owned by Panoz.

The Torrance is an imitation Scottish links course that looks like it might have been there for 100 years. The Devlin is more of an American course, complete with a rarity in Scotland: carts. In fact, the "buggies," as they are called here, are required on the hilly terrain.

Some believe it borders on sacrilege to ride a cart, but it can be a welcome respite after carrying your bag all over Scotland.

And the resort offers American amenities unheard of here, namely space, ice and room service.

"I've always viewed it as an alternative," Panoz said. "When we were designing the courses ... we all agreed that you have the great historical links courses right there in the city. There was no way we should try to build a golf course that was similar.

"So we built a combination of coastal-type links and parkland courses and didn't try to compete with the traditional links courses around us. This gives us a little broader spectrum of golf to the visitors who come to St. Andrews. That's what we tried to create."

For information, visit www.standrewsbay.com

Kingsbarns Golf Links: Designed by American Kyle Phillips and opened in 2000, Kingsbarns sits between Crail and St. Andrews and just a few miles from St. Andrews Bay. So swift was this course's ascent that it is part of the rotation for the European Tour's annual Dunhill Links Championship - along with the Old Course and Carnoustie, venerable Open Championship venues. Six holes play along the shore, and although the course is new, it offers a tremendous Scottish feel. One big disclaimer: Kingsbarns is the most expensive course in the area, with greens fees over $200, not including a caddie. For information, www.kingsbarns.com

The Courses at St. Andrews: Believe it or not, there are six of them (with a seventh on the way), with the most famous being the Old Course, in existence for centuries and where more British Opens have been played than any other venue.

The others are the New Course (designed in 1895), Jubilee, Eden, Strathtyrum and Balgrove.

For many, the Old Course is an acquired taste, with its huge double greens, big bunkers and moonscape setting. Still, it is the Old Course, the home of golf.

For that reason, getting on can be a challenge.

Perhaps the best way is to be flexible with your other golf. There is a daily lottery for play the following day (no golf on Sundays) that closes at 2 p.m. with results posted by 4 p.m. The odds are about 50-50, perhaps less if it is the middle of summer. So have a round scheduled someplace else, enter the lottery each day, and if you get lucky, rearrange your plans.

There is also a daily ballot with tee times reserved for one hour in the morning and late afternoon for St. Andrews residents. While in town, you can chat up a local and perhaps get a game this way.

Surprisingly, walk-ons are common, but mostly just for a single player. Golfers begin showing up early in the morning and the starter gets them out with an incomplete foursome.

Or you can make an advance reservation, which will require playing another St. Andrews course and paying up front. This is often done a year or more in advance and obviously requires a lot of planning.

There are also several tour packages that offer a tee time on the Old Course as part of the deal, but they are incredibly expensive. They include lodging, some meals, a time on another course and various amenities. But if you took all the extras out, the charge could be anywhere from $500 to more than $1,000 for the actual round. For information, visit www.standrews.org.uk

[Last modified August 4, 2005, 01:05:20]