St. Andrews Links Castle Course
I was extremely proud to have been entrusted with the responsibility of adding the 7th course to the home of golf by the St. Andrews Links Trust. It was a task that may never be bestowed upon another architect again, and as a Scotsman, it will assuredly be one of the high points in my career. The site in its raw form was nothing like the end product, but my talented team and I were able to compliment the famed courses of St. Andrews in a way that was exciting, unpredictable, and assuredly memorable.
To get the very best value for money and to ensure our design evolved and responded to the site we designed and built this course in collaboration with the St. Andrews Links Trust.
Kidd’s routing plan is unpredictable, studded with daring moments, jam-packed with memorable golf holes… It is possible that no seaside course in the world is more strikingly situated than the Castle. And on this course there is not a single weak or indifferent hole. In truth, no hole is less than very good. Which raises the question: How many holes are truly great? Probably at least half of them.
The biggest story in golf travel, the most important and talked about course opening of the year, anywhere in the world… it will immediately become the second most popular after the Old Course itself.
Scotsman David McLay Kidd has transformed a piece of farmland overlooking St. Andrews Bay and the town, just a few minutes south of the Old Course, into a surreal landscape of sprawling bunkers, uneven mounding and seriously undulating greens.
Kidd left no earth unchurned at the Castle Course… The course is one of obscure targets, unpredictable bounces and exhilarating challenge. Its finish is nothing short of spectacular.
The course, designed by David McLay Kidd, is beautifully sited and the architect has revelled in the setting. The views are stunning.
The 17th hole appears destined to become one of the world’s great par 3s.
The Castle Course is going to be spectacular.
St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland
Opened 2008