Fife is a small but iconic region with staggering strength in depth. The top 10 is incredibly strong, while 11-20 aren’t too shabby either. Let’s start three in our rundown of the best golf courses near St Andrews…
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 20. Dumbarnie Links
Designed by Clive Clark and slated to open next year, we have intimate knowledge of this potential new superstar of Scotland so are slipping it in here without it even being ready for play.
We will revise our judgement when we’ve played it and admit if we’ve got things wrong.
But we strongly suspect its seaside location, fun-but-strategic design, and firm dandy fairways will instantly make it a Top 100 Scotland fixture.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 19. Balbirnie Park
This relatively modern course is located in Markinch, near Glenrothes.
Opened in 1983, it is set in 140 acres of parkland-woodland and is a pleasant challenge at 6,200 yards.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 18. Dunfermline
A fine parkland with mature trees and excellent greens that was laid out at Pitfirrane in 1953, the club having had several previous homes.
One of its earliest members was Robert Lockhart who, with John Reid, introduced golf to the United States through the formation of the St Andrews Golf Club in New York.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 17. Crail (Craigend)
The most notable early work of now-revered American designer Gil Hanse, who added a second course for the Crail club in 1998.
A mark of its quality is the fact the club make no distinction in green fee between the two, even if the Balcomie is clearly the No. 1.
It offers excellent bunkering, quick greens and delightful views from the higher, more pastural ground.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 16. Fairmont St Andrews (Torrance)
Originally designed by the 2002 Ryder Cup captain, hence the name, it has been modified and improved recently with eight new holes and classic re-vetted bunkering throughout.
Its hefty 7,000+ yards were used as a Qualifying course for the 2010 Open and it has frequently staged the Scottish Senior Open.
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Best golf courses near St Andrews: 15. Aberdour
Its address – Seaside Place – is a good start to proceedings and this course on the shores of the River Forth is the cliched hidden gem.
Many holes run along the shore of the Forth with views across Inchcolm Island and to Edinburgh.
It starts with not one but two par 3s, requiring you to firstly find a green set on a rocky promontory with the beach and OB in your mind, then secondly fire across the bay to a raised green.
The 3rd plays alongside the beach to complete a wonderful start.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 14. The Duke’s
Sits five minutes’ drive outside St Andrews on higher land that gives it often expansive views of the town.
The course, belonging to the Old Course Hotel, is heathland in nature and was initially designed by Open icon Peter Thomson with revisions by Tim Liddy.
Possibly hasn’t lived up to expectations but it also has the most beautiful neighbours to be compared to.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 13. Scotscraig
Stiff inland course with links characteristics by virtue of its very firm fairways and greens.
It is also characterised by silver birch, gorse and heather lining the fairways and is an Open Final Qualifying course that is reputed to be the 13th oldest club in the world.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 12. Fairmont St Andrews (Kittocks)
Located two miles south of St Andrews, the great Gene Sarazen had some input into its design but it was Bruce Devlin who did most of the work and the course took his name for a while.
It was then re-branded to the Kittocks and at over 7,192 yards and being buffeted by the wind off the sea owing to its position perched high on the cliffs over St Andrews Bay, it is a not inconsiderable test.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 11. St Andrews (Eden)
Just 6,250 yards but the par of 70 combined with the clever design of Harry Colt keeps it testing.
The Eden was the fourth course to open in the town to cope with the growing demand for play. Expect pot bunkers and undulating greens – as well as a brisk pace of play and tightly-mown fairways on a straightforward but delightful little links.
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Well, what a start. You’re in for a treat for the top 10. Head to the next page to see who made it in…
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 10. Lundin
Founded in 1868 and is a Tom Morris original that was redesigned by James Braid.
Boasts slender fairways, burns, internal out of bounds (a railway line), and devilish pot bunkers.
As a result, it tested even the pros when it has hosted qualifying for the Open.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 9. Leven
Generally flat links with low-running dune ridges separating the rippling fairways, it is a course that is easy to love.
The last is slightly out of character, given it is one of the toughest closing holes in Scotland, but is nevertheless an outstanding way to end a first-rate seaside course.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 8. Ladybank
Regarded by many as being comfortably good enough to appear in the ‘Next 100’ of GB&I Top 100 lists, but is often significantly under-exposed and under-rated.
In this region of famous links, this is a tree-lined heathland-parkland that charms rather than punishes you.
It does however have teeth, by virtue of the tree-lined fairways that demand accuracy off the tee and small greens that insist on the same with your approaches.
The firm turf is immaculate and it is one of Scotland’s finest inland courses.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 7. Crail (Balcomie)
Another clifftop course, but this time one that dates back to Old Tom times. Laid out by by the great man in 1895, it offers thrilling shots and terrific views.
It incorporates three par 5s, six par 3s and nine par 4s for a tough par of 69.
Expect daring shots over rocky bays, dramatic approaches to greens perched on the bluffs, and holes that follow the line of the cliffs with sand below.
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Best golf courses near St Andrews: 6. St Andrews (Jubilee)
Gaining a little more attention these days but it still flies significantly under the radar despite many experienced judges believing it to be the Auld Grey Toun’s toughest track.
Donald Steel’s late 1980s alterations completed the transition from 12-hole ‘starter’ course to 18-hole challenge, especially as it’s closest to the coast so is buffeted by more wind.
Who is going to get the coveted No. 1 spot? Turn the page as the countdown continues…
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 5. Elie
This Earlsferry course was laid out by Old Tom Morris and his work inspired one of the club’s young members enough for him to become a legend of the game.
The great James Braid grew up on this simple-but-brilliant links and, in a later era, Celtic Manor Twenty20 creator Ross McMurray enjoyed long holidays here too.
One of the country’s oldest courses, it begins with a blind shot over a hill and you use an old submarine periscope to learn if it is safe to play.
It is only 6,273 yards but you always seems to be fighting for par. There are no par 5s and only two par 3s – both of which are delightful – and Braid believed the dog-leg 13th was the finest hole in Scotland.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 4. St Andrews (Castle)
David McLay Kidd’s modern clifftop course was not universally loved when it opened at the start of this millennium but its extreme greens and tufts of rough in the middle of fairways have been softened or removed respectively, and it is now being viewed with more affection.
The vistas over the town are spectacular and the firm sandy turf on the clifftop ground is a delight to play from.
Improving all the time, we already like it more than some.
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Best golf courses near St Andrews: 3. St Andrews (New)
The little sister that has of late been receiving the acclaim it has deserved for all of its life.
Some even prefer it to the Old and regard it as a better challenge. That view is possibly a little extreme for us, but this is a GB&I Top 100 contender for sure.
Tighter than its neighbour, it benefits from more definition by virtue of its gorse and natural topography.
It is hard not to be charmed by its humps and hollows, even if they are awkward obstacles to a tidy short game.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 2. Kingsbarns
The finest new course built in Europe in the last 50 years, Kingsbarns offers a breathtaking setting with a cerebral design by Kyle Phillips.
It is packed with all-world holes and a never-to-be-forgotten feel from pretty much start to finish.
It was brilliantly routed by Phillips and so skilfully shaped that it has the feel of a great old links.
Obdurate links purists might suggest it is as much clifftop as links but nevertheless its location on the edge of the coastline gives it some of the best views on Scotland’s east coast.
You’ll love the 8th, 12th, 15th, 16th and 17th – and this modern masterpiece as a whole.
Best golf courses near St Andrews: 1. St Andrews (Old)
An experience and an atmosphere like no other. It may take more than the first, giddy round to appreciate its nuances but most eventually come to love the Old.
The Old is simultaneously the most discussed and coveted course in the world yet also frequently being deemed bland and overrated.
I very much place it in the ‘coveted’ corner.
The back nine is generally regarded as the stronger, with the 11th, 12th and 14th a terrific run leading up to a vigorous closing stretch headlined by the infamous Road Hole.
Playing these epochal holes, with their iconic features, rebukes those who say that without its history the Old would be an ordinary course.
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Just as you cannot judge Turnberry without its views, you can’t separate the Old’s heritage and atmosphere from the experience, which remains the most special in golf.
Yes, I know what you’re thinking: Where’s Carnoustie? Well I decided to keep this list to just courses in Fife. You can see where Carnoustie fell in our Top 100 Scotland list here.
So what’s your favourite golf course near St Andrews? Let us know in the comments below, or you can tweet us.