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Crail Golfing Society
Balcomie and Craigshead Links
Crail, Fife Coast, Central Scotland

BALCOMIE LINKS ON THE NORTH SEA COAST
Length & Par:
Balcomie Links:
White Tees: Par 69, 5922 yards
Yellow Tees: Par 67, 5453 yards
Red Tees: Par 69, 5230 yards
Craighead Links:
White Tees: Par 71, 6728 yards
Yellow Tees: Par 70, 6250 yards
Red Tees: Par 71, 5372 yards
Greens
Fees per ROUND:
Weekdays: £25 ($37)
Weekends: £30 ($45)
Greens Fees per DAY:
Weekdays: £38 ($57)
Weekends: £48 ($72)
Credit Cards Accepted: AMEX, VISA, MasterCard
Open and Playable Year Round
Advance Booking of Tee-Times Strongly Recommended; Visitors welcome
any day
from 9AM-12noon and from 1:30-4:30PM
Facilities:
Changing rooms for men and women
Club Shop
Instruction: coaching clinics
Practice area and putting green
Full bar and restaurant
Rentals:
Clubs: £12 ($18)
Pull carts (trolleys): £3 ($4.50)
Golf carts: None
Caddies: £20 ($30)
LOCATION: 11 miles southeast of St. Andrews, Scotland,
on A917, then two miles from Crail to Fifeness on Scotland's legendary Fife Coast.
Address: Crail Golfing Society
Balcomie Club House
Fifeness, Crail
Fife, KY10 3XN Scotland
Bookings (from the USA):
TEL: 011 44 (0)1333 450686
FAX: 011 44 (0)1333 450416
Minimum Handicap Required: NONE
Special Rules and Regulations: Smart
golfing attire required; No headwear or golf shores allowed in club house.
Nearest HOME
AT FIRST lodgings:
In Dairsie, Fife, Scotland, 25 minutes drive northwest.
More information about HOME AT FIRST's
SCOTLAND CENTRAL HIGHLANDS travel program.
THE WORLDS 7TH
OLDEST GOLF CLUB
The Crail Golfing Society organized February
23, 1786, by creating a golf course on the coast just outside the picturesque Scottish
fishing village of Crail, not far at all from St. Andrews and Edinburgh, on
Scotlands Fife Coast, cradle of the sport.
In 1895 golf legend Old Tom Morris (British
Open winner 1861, 62, 64, & 67; and father of 4-time winner Young
Tom Morris: 68, 69, 70, 72) designed for the Crail Golfing Society
an extension to an existing 8-hole course at Fifeness, the point where the Firth of Forth
meets St. Andrews Bay. The resulting course, Balcomie Links, has become one of the classic
Scottish links courses along the dramatic Fife coast on the North Sea. The November, 2000,
issue of Golf World included Balcomie Links on its list of the top 100 golf courses
in the British Isles.
One hundred years later, the society added a
second links: Craighead. American designer Gil Hanse created Craighead and incorporated
many of the best aspects of Scotland's classic links, especially featuring panoramic
seascapes and country views with wide sweeping fairways, large greens, and
treacherous
bunkers.
BALCOMIE LINKS:
The first five holes are located on the bluffs
overlooking the North Sea. Golf here is breathtakingly beautiful, especially on the front
nine at the second, fourth and fearsome fifth ("Hell's Hole"). Each hole on the
course has its own character. The uphill par 3s, especially the back-to-back 13th
and 14th, will test any golfer. Balcomie is not a flat links. There are a couple of severe
changes in terrain, especially after hole 18 heading back to the clubhouse.
THE
NEW CRAIGHEAD LINKS:
Like Balcomie, Craighead features stunning
views across the North Sea to the distant mountains of Angus. Craighead, at 6,728 yards, a
Par 71 (SSS 73), is both longer and rated more difficult than its venerated older brother.
And it maintains the Balcomie tradition of many large bunkers and no two consecutive holes
facing the same direction to make playing the wind a constant challenge. High rough on
both sides of every fairway, heavy bunkering of fairways and greens as well as very
undulating and elevated greens make Craighead a very difficult course.
CRAIL'S NEW CRAIGHEAD
LINKS: POT BUNKERS ARE SOMETIMES
THE ONLY WAY TO GET OUT OF THE WIND
CRAIL GOLFING
SOCIETY:
Despite its long history steeped in Scottish
golf traditions, the Crail Golfing Society makes visitors from all over the world feel at
home. Its clubhouse is very relaxing with more than one way to warm golfers after a round
in North Sea weather. No visit to Crail is complete without a tour of clubhouse
cabinetsa round of golfing history almost unparalleled in the sport.
Want to learn about
other courses throughout the British Isles
including some of the greatest tests of golf in the world?
See our SCOTLAND, IRELAND, ENGLAND, and WALES Course Guides for more information.
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