East Coast
Golfing pilgrims to Scotland typically make their way east or west. East of Scotland’s industrial central belt is the birthplace of the game, St Andrews its Mecca. "The Auld Grey Toon" has enough courses to keep anybody happy for a week or two: The Old, The New, The Jubilee, The Eden, The Castle, Dukes, Kittocks, Torrance – to name only the top tier.
Just outside St Andrews, remaining well within the Kingdom of Fife, more wonderful golf awaits. Fans of Golf In The Kingdom, the Zen novel written by Californian guru Michael Murphy, should make for the Crail Golfing Society which features in the book as Burningbush. It was here that the fictional, enigmatic Scottish professional, Shivas Irons, revealed something of the beauty and mystery of golf. And even if such a spiritual take on the game doesn’t appeal, the two courses at Crail will. Old Tom Morris laid out lovely Balcomie in 1895 and Gil Hanse built the sterner, more modern challenge of Craighead Links in 1998. A day golfing here will live long in the memory.
Just a couple of miles from Crail is Kingsbarns, co-designed and developed by Mark Parsinen, another Californian. It opened in 2000 to justifiably rave reviews and has proved to be the spark for a long-awaited new build boom in Scottish golf. It represents Scotland’s highest green fee, £185, but for many it is so special that it also represents a bargain.
Each October The Dunhill Cup is played over three courses here: the links at Kingsbarns, The Old Course at St Andrews and The Championship Course at Carnoustie, just 15 miles away. Carnoustie is also a sometime venue for The British Open. In some ways it is the least aesthetic of the great Scottish seaside tracks. But in almost all ways it is the hardest, anecdotally and scientifically: it was here that HK Golfer playing editor Jean Van de Velde threw away a three shot lead on the seventy-second hole in 1999 and it has the highest course and slope rating in the British Isles – recorded at a jaw-dropping 75.1/145.
