Leven Links Golf Club course review

Reason for a Leven Links Golf Club review

Leven Links was the final stop on my golfing excursion to the Fife coast having visited the St Andrews Fairmont Torrance course and Crail Craighead in the days beforehand.

Having inspected the adjacent Lundin Links previously, a trip to its former brother was a must to compare and contrast notes between the two courses.

Leven Links – where is it?

Leven Links is based in the town of Leven in the East Neuk of Fife around 30 minutes from St Andrews and about an hour from Scotland’s capital city Edinburgh. Perfect for a visit en route to the Home of Golf!

What to expect

Leven offers the ultimate test of links golf in all its glory. There are blind tee shots, outcrops of spiky gorse and undulating greens. A tricky test of course management awaits and a strong day with the driver from the tee is a must.

The big stick can certainly make or break your day with some scoreable par 5s and manageable par 4s – if you can hit the fairways. But if the driver isn’t quite working on the day the rough and blind second shots can throw up some interesting angles into greens (as I found out!).

Expect a warm welcome from PGA professional Eric and his assistant Lorri in the pro shop before embarking on a daunting opening tee shot – anything right may well find the local Leven beach.

Leven Links

My best bit

A particular highlight of the day on what was a fantastic visit came in the form of the tee shot at the par-5 13th. The tee box is raised above the adjacent 12th green to allow for spectacular views of the Links and back towards the town.

Having taken in the splendour of my surroundings it was time to step up and crash my drive down the middle of the fairway. Unfortunately, the rough awaited.

Maybe I can pin that one on the glorious but distracting views… or maybe not!

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What to look out for at Leven Links

The course has an equally famous neighbour – Lundin Links – which Leven Links parted from in 1909 after the former was taken over.

A modest dry stone wall separates the two courses with tee boxes either side of it at one point but on different courses. If a golfer were not paying attention they could certainly play to the wrong par 3 flag. It has happened before now apparently, but luckily it didn’t happen on our visit!).

When I go back…

I would love to do the course more justice and keep the ball in play from the tee. All too often I found myself struggling from the gorse or rough which made for very difficult recovery shots and approaches into some unforgiving greens.

Tom Irwin

Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.