St. Andrew's Golf
There's a hymn that talks of a land where saints immortal reign, where infinite day excludes the night and pleasures banish pain. It's not about St. Andrews, but listen to the pilgrims that visit--pros and amateurs alike--and you'd think it might be. From the day in 1552 when the town council acknowledged its citizens' rights to use the links for "golfe, futeball, shuting and all games" down to today, the place (including nearby Carnoustie) has grown to become golf's terra sanctum sanctorum.
CARNOUSTIE GOLF LINKS, CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE
Carnoustie; 011-44-1241-853789, carnoustiegolflinks.com. Yardage: 6,941. Par: 72. Architects: Allan Robertson, 1842 (seven holes, built an additional three holes in 1850); renovated and expanded by Old Tom Morris, 1872 (eighteen holes); renovated by James Braid, 1926. Greens Fee: $117.
T&L Golf Rating: *****
Only a brief drive over the Firth of Tay and a bit north along the coast, Carnoustie can be said to be part of the "golf conurbation" stretching out from St. Andrews (although when it comes to rating which is first and which second, be careful among locals, very careful). A version of the game was played here as early as 1527, and even the development of golf in the U.S. is in debt to the golfers of this place--reportedly, at one point or another every state title has been held by someone from this town. If this is where you've learned to play, the record is understandable: Thrive here, and the rest of the world is a picnic. Hogan and Watson carted off the old Claret Jug from Carnoustie. The place was rejuvenated when a new hotel was built and the Open returned in 1999. Paul Lawrie won, but Jean Van de Velde, losing his mind and the title in the burn on the eighteenth, is the unforgettable image. Some pros call the course "Carnasty," but for ordinary mortals, the ritualistic torture usually makes way for something less satanic. The key is to play within your limits. Accept your pars and bogeys--Lawrie won the four-hole play-off in 1999 with four straight pars. Lesson over.
KINGSBARNS GOLF LINKS
Kingsbarns; 011-44-1334-460860, kingsbarns.com. Yardage: 7,126. Par: 72. Slope: 142. Architect: Kyle Phillips, 2000. Greens Fee: $183.
T&L Golf Rating: *****
Golf has been played over this linksland, seven miles south of St. Andrews, dating back to 1793. But it stretches even the word "association" to pretend Kyle Phillips's magnificent creation has much to do with what went on there from two centuries ago up until the village nine-holer closed up shop to make way for World War II. Where the Old Course shows the beauty of evolution, Kingsbarns shows the possibilities of the modern art of pure creation--a once-flat potato farm has been turned into a rolling tiered Celtic landscape that wouldn't be out of place among the oceanside courses of Monterey's seventeen-mile drive. There's no quiet start or climactic finish. Instead Kingsbarns's drama is constant and as enlivening as time-released adrenaline. The 606-yard par-five twelfth, with the North Sea along your left flank, is inspiring, as is the Cypress Point-like par-three fifteenth over water. If the wind blows on this 212-yard hole, only divine intervention will help the meek. The 444-yard par-four eighteenth requires a helluva second shot to the green over a deep gully--potential heartbreak, even for the best players. Kingsbarns was intended to add to the drawing power of St. Andrews, not merely to serve as a fill-in for unfortunates who missed the glittering prize of playing the Old Course. All expectations have been surpassed.
THE NEW COURSE
St. Andrews; 011-44-1334-466666, standrews.org.uk. Yardage: 6,604. Par: 71. Architects: W. Hall Blyth and Old Tom Morris, 1895. Greens Fees: $48-$66.
T&L Golf Rating: *****
A new railway in the town, more visitors and increasing demand on the Old Course led to the building of the New Course, opened in 1895. The farsighted movers and shakers of the R&A club paid for the New as part of a deal that would guarantee their elite members starting times, enshrined in an act of parliament, on the Old. (How smart can you get!) The R&A engaged W. Hall Blyth, an Edinburgh civil engineer, to design the New, with the layout entrusted to Old Tom Morris. For members of the local golf clubs in St. Andrews who regularly play both the Old and the New, many will tell you the tight fairways of the New--and its offer of clear reward for thoughtful play--point to it as the fairer test of golf. If you could allow the New to escape from the overpowering presence of the Old, many are adamant it would be a worthy adversary on the Open rota. So ignore it and you've missed the diamonds because of the dazzling gold nearby. Out-and-back layout, shared fairways, double greens: It's all there. The seven-year-old public clubhouse next to the New's first tee is a terrific facility.
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