When people talk about golf in Fife, the conversation is almost always guaranteed to turn to the Old Course at St Andrews. It is, after all, The Home of Golf and a bucket-list destination for most golfers. But this golfing kingdom has so much else to offer.
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Within half an hour’s drive of one of golf’s most famous golf courses lies a collection of courses that are diverse, traditional, and every bit as thrilling as their famous neighbour.
That was the discovery for Tom Irwin and Mike Robertson when they spent 48 hours on the road filming for NCG Top 100s YouTube channel. What they found was a golfing region that refuses to be defined by one course.
Their trip included stops at historic links courses in Elie, characterful seaside classics in Dumbarnie and Kingsbarns, and even a hidden heathland course in the form of Ladybank. Each stop was different and showed why the Kingdom of Fife is perhaps the finest short-break destination in golf.
Dumbarnie Links – A Fun Links Course
Dumbarnie is unlike many modern championship links. Rather than bludgeoning players with brute difficulty, it sets out to be a golf course that is fun to play. Not to mention the outstanding views players are greeted with on nearly every tee box, looking out to the stunning coastline.
“This is officially the best clubhouse in Europe. That is because of the view,” said Tom Irwin. “Every time you go round a corner and stand on a tee or step onto an elevated green, the views are amazing. There are lots of generous fairways that the ball sort of wants to get back to the middle of. I think it is a very, very good vibes sort of place.
“The 15th is pretty cool here. I’ve played loads of golf courses that have tried to build in a split fairway and I’ve never seen it work because there is never any reason to play down the soft option. But the one here, I do think it works because of how narrow it is down the right hand side and golfers can still get up down the left hand side. I think it is the best split fairway I have ever played.”
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For Mike Robertson, the excitement of the round is set even before you arrive at the golf course. “Tom said on the way up here that it is just birdies a plenty – and he was right.”
Dumbarnie is fun, forgiving, and spectacular on the eye. It is the kind of course that makes every Fife trip stronger. “I think you’d have to put this place in your list of golf courses to play if you were coming to Fife on a multi-course trip,” said Irwin.
“Just because of the variety the golf course offers and I think you are going to have a really good morning or afternoons golf here at Dumbarnie, regardless of how you play.”
Elie Golf Club – Golf in Another Galaxy
Elie is one of Scotland’s most characterful links. It represents what the game is all about and its traditions are woven into the very fabric of the game. Elie is the type of course to make you fall in love with golf all over again.
“If I only had one round of golf left that I could play before I die, I think it would be at Elie,” said Robertson. “The whole place from the minute you get into the car park to the clubhouse where you can see the empty bottles of claret that the members have drank before they go out to play. Then you get to the golf course and there is a periscope on the first with the starter who gives you a thumbs up to let you know you’re good to go.
“It just feels like playing golf in a different galaxy, basically. Elie is just everything that is right about the game of golf.”
Irwin agreed, “I think it is one of the purest links golf experiences anywhere. It has got all of the St Andrews feels of playing in the town. The holes down by the coast are just sensational but the turf the whole way around is amazin. And it gives you a chance. It is the sort of place you want to play forever, basically.
“I have been here three or four times over maybe two or three decades and it is every single bit as good as I remember.”
Kingsbarns Golf Links – A Modern Classic
Kingsbarns has a reputation amongst many keen golfers as one of Scotland’s must-plays. In terms of golf courses, Kingsbarns is as cinematic as it gets. Seemingly every corner turned feels like another postcard picture just waiting to be taken. But, from a golfing point of view, its not overly intimidating.
“It’s a playable golf course,” said Irwin. “It gives you a chance off the tee with plenty of width on offer and there’s always an obvious miss. I find it aides in getting you back to the centre of the fairway.
“The fun starts around the greens. They are big and slopey. They’re also incredibly pure and super fast.”
“Everything about this place is quite dramatic,” said Robertson. “They want you to walk through little pathways and then suddenly there is a big reveal out to some stunning golf hole.”
Ladybank Golf Club – Fife’s Woodland Secret
Not all of Fife’s finest are links. Just inland lies Ladybank, a pine-clad gem that offers something entirely different. It also hosted a famous match between Jack Nicklaus and Steve Ballesteros who rocked up to the course via helicopter and ended up playing in front of thousands of spectators who swarmed the course.
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The compact greens and intricate shaping reward precision, make Ladybank a change, but a welcomed one, of pace from other coastal tests.
“It was my first time playing Ladybank and I didn’t really know what to expect,” said Robertson. “But I thought it was really, really cool. The turf is very springy, almost like you’re playing golf in Surrey. It doesn’t particularly feel as if you’re in St Andrews, but it’s an epic course and would add it to any trip to Fife, definitely.”
The Magic of Fife
Fife is often described as the cradle of golf, and we found there is good reason for that. Fife delivers unrivalled variety and, possibly even, quality.
As Irwin put it: “People say there is something magical about the Kingdom of Fife when it comes to golf. We’ve had all kinds of weather, an amazing night in St Andrews itself and we’ve experienced four totally unique golfing experiences.
“The big, blown up links at Kingsbarn ad Dumbarnie, an 150 year old links at Elie and a relatively young golf course carved out of a pine forest that couldn’t be more different in Ladybank golf club.”
Yes, the Old Course will always reign supreme over this region and many others, but to play only there is to miss the full riches of this amazing place. A golf trip to Fife is not complete without stepping beyond St Andrews’ boundaries and discovering some truly incredible golf courses.
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Have you played golf in Fife before? Which are the courses, in Fife, you’d most like to play? Have you played at Dumbarnie, Kingsbarn, Ladybank or Elie? Let me know your experiences of golfing in Fife by leaving a comment on X.
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