Kingsbarns, like several great courses, was part of a trend of new links layouts in Scotland when it first opened and is now a big hitter in the NCG Top 100s: Scotland list.
Although the Kingsbarns Golfing Society was founded in the late 1700s, it would be more than 200 years before Kyle Phillips designed the course as we know it now.
2000 saw the opening of the course, one that has played host to the DP World Tour ever since…
RELATED – Check out the NCG Top 100s: Scotland list
Why is Kingsbarns, one of the newest venues on the NCG Top 100s: Scotland list, in the top ten?
Can you name another venue that was hosting one of the sport’s biggest events within a year of it opening? That’s what Kingsbarns did, as it joined Carnoustie’s Championship Course and the Old Course at St Andrews as the three hosts of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour.
It has remained one of the three hosts of the event for the past quarter of a century, with many a major champion taking to the course.
However, as a modern style of links, Kingsbarns is also a venue that can be enjoyed by the amateur golfer as well. The hosting of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship also proves that, thanks to the pro-am element to the tournament, with Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick both enjoying success in the tournament alongside their respective parents.
RELATED – NCG Top 100s: Kingsbarns
What do our experts think about Kingsbarns?
Dan Murphy, chairman of the NCG Top 100s Rankings, started by explaining about the humble beginnings of what is now one of the finest links courses in the country.
“Another new golf course, and this one, like Castle Stuart, was very much created. This wasn’t discovered. Kingsbarns was a 9-hole golf course back in the day, but it’s not like there was this piece of linksland that is the equal of anything,” Murphy said.
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“Kingsbarns was, let’s be honest, some fields and clifftops. Yet, from it, Kyle Phillips created a course that now sits 7th in our Scotland list. That is such an amazing feat or architecture, and it has redefined what we look for from a golf course.
“When it came along, a lot of people said that it is not possible to build a new golf course that people will want to play, more than they will want to play at the Carnousties and St Andrews of this world.
“It is arguably now, apart from the Old Course, it is probably the No.2 in terms of the destination and the demand, especially internationally. That is such an achievement, one that boggles the mind.”
Tom Irwin, co-host of the NCG Golf Podcast and the NCG Top 100s Podcast, was in agreement, and talked the listeners through his favourite holes on this Kyle Phillips design.
“It is another place where the service levels are exceptional, and another place that gives you a massive chance off the tee. We played it in early May and got it on quite a windy, difficult day, which was quite pleasing really, to see what it was like. It has some very high highs, the best holes are really quite special. I love the short par 4, the 5th, on the left side of the clubhouse, it is an absolute jaffa of a hole,” Irwin exclaimed.
“Then when you get back over the road, I think that is when the golf course really gets going. You have the easily drivable par 4 which is really cool, and then the par 4 on a shelf and then the par 3 into the bottom, and then you go back to the clubhouse.
“Those holes, I think if you were going to be critical about Kingsbarns, it would be what are you saying about its weak points? 9, 10 and 11, I am not sure about them. It is a golf course that has undeniable highs and the whole time you are pointing at the sea. It is pretty clever, on a ridge, but its low points are probably lower than the low points at Castle Stuart, but it is impossible not to love going there.
“Again, if someone asks if you want to play golf at Kingsbarns tomorrow, you’re getting in the car straight away, aren’t you?”
“You are yeah, I would agree with the highs and lows compared to those at Castle Stuart,” Murphy continued.
“I might say that the highs at Kingsbarns are even higher, but I just think you pay the price on this type of golf course with that terraced effect, and with the changes in elevation, where you’re trying to get close to the sea. What goes up, must come down, and if you’re going to make that journey to the edge then unfortunately, you’re going to have to come back and come inland.
“If you’re being hyper-critical, that is where this type of golf, and you could say it for several courses towards the top of this list, to get the highs, you need to have the lows. In some way, it is what makes the so special, because they are literally elevated above the other holes.
“I think that it absolutely hits the spot, because like on a rollercoaster, you don’t mind going up slowly, because you know you’re going to have the thrill of coming down at speed or going upside down. That’s what these types of courses are, they’re thrill rides and people are taking away memories and they are hitting the spot, so the design is a success!”
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“We have used this analogy before that it is like ten pin bowling with the bumpers up,” Irwin said to finish.
“It is there to help you get round. It’s a Kyle Phillips, the same designer as The Grove, and I always think when I am playing the 9th at The Grove or the 9th at Kingsbarns, that they are the same hole – if that makes sense. That kind of shows you, that you are compromised with your inland holes when you have used the coastline so much.”
Listen to the NCG Top 100s Podcast
CHECK OUT – Castle Stuart at Cabot Highlands – the ‘poster boy’ for new Scottish links
Now have your say
Have you been fortunate enough to play the glorious Kingsbarns? What did you make of it? Let us know your thoughts with a post on X, formerly Twitter!
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