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— Center of the Golfing Universe —

 — KINGSBARNS GOLF LINKS —

KINGSBARNS GOLF LINKS
Kingsbarns, St. Andrews, Fife,
Eastern Central Scotland KY16 8QD
Tel: +44 (0)1334 460860
Fax: +44 (0)1334 460877
E-mail: info@kingsbarns.com
Web: www.kingsbarns.com

        Just what have the Americans done to hallowed links land near St. Andrews, Scotland on the Fife Coast? Kingsbarns is just 7 years old and already rated #17 in the world outside the US by GolfDigest.com.




                Course photos © Iain Lowe from Kingsbarns Golf Links web site


LENGTH & PAR:
    Championship Tees: 7126 yards, Par 72, SSS 75.8, Slope 142
    Medal Tees: 6652 yards, Par 72, SSS 73.2, Slope 136
    Regular Tees: 6174 yards, Par 72, SSS 70.7, Slope 132
    Ladies’ Tees: 5148 yards, Par 72, SSS 70.7, Slope 126

FACILITIES:
    Caddies recommended: £35 plus tip (£10-£15)
    Pull cart rental (trolleys): £4
    Club rental (Calloway): £30
    Shoe rental: £10
    Driving range & practice green
    Pro shop
    Restaurant and pub

GREENS FEES:
    Late March through May: £125 per round; £185/day
   June through October: £145 per round; £215/day

VISITORS WELCOME:
    Maximum Handicap: Men-28; Women-36
    Walkers Only: No motorized carts.
    Advance tee times required—apply early; demand is high.
    Course currently closed December through March to promote grass growth
    on the greens.

LET HOME AT FIRST BOOK YOUR TEE-TIME AT KINGSBARNS as part of your Scotland travel plans. There is no service charge for making your booking.

LOCATION: Kingsbarns Golf Links is on the Fife coast, 6 miles southeast of St. Andrews near Kingsbarns village.

Nearest Home at First Lodgings are Kingdom of Fife Cottages, about 5 miles west of St. Andrews, and about 8 miles from St. Andrews Bay Golf Resort & Spa. Other nearby Home at First lodgings are in Central Scotland approximately 90-120 minutes west of St. Andrews and Home at First Edinburgh guests can drive there in about 1-1.5 hours.
More information on travel with Home at First to: CENTRAL SCOTLAND

DIRECTIONS: from Home at First’s Kingdom of Fife cottages near St. Andrews, take the A91 to St Andrews, continue southeast and follow the signs for Crail A917.  Once through Kingsbarns village watch for the entrance to Kingsbarns Golf Links, signposted on the left 800 yards beyond Back Style Road.

OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: Likely nowhere on earth are so many great golf courses so closely clustered. Carnoustie (3 courses), St. Andrews (6 courses), St. Andrews Bay (2 courses), Crail (2 courses), Elie, Levin Links, and Lundin Links are all within 45 minutes of St. Andrews.

———O———

HISTORY: Although the course at Kingsbarns Golf Links opened in 2000, golf has been played at the Kingsbarns site for over 300 years. Back in 1793 a nine-hole was created on the links land now home to Kingsbarns. Four holes of the modern course (6, 7, 16, & 17) were built over holes of the original nine.

THE COURSE AND SOME NOTABLE HOLES: History aside, the new course is almost totally the vision of two Americans (!), Kyle Phillips and Mark Parsinen who sculpted the site to mimic some of the classic links features of Scottish links golf including pot bunkers and washboard fairways. Not surprising, however, are some American influences. Kingsbarns is no traditional out-and-back links, but, like most American courses, provides clubhouse access at the turn. American guests (so far, more common than Scots at Kingsbarns) like drinking water and plentiful distance markers, too, and they will not be disappointed here. Presumably, Americans are less put-off than traditionalist Scots by greens fees higher than those charged at St. Andrews Old Course, Carnoustie, or Muirfield.
        Nearly every hole provides a view of the North Sea. But, being new, meant designing Kingsbarns for the modern weaponry of golf, and, at 7,126 yards, the course is long for a links. Moreover, the greens tend to be narrower and longer than many older linkses to accept shots of longer trajectory, and use fescue/bent grass to achieve a more reliable putting surface. Still, the greens are anything but billiard flat, and caddies are well employed as much to read putts as to judge fairway distance, landing zones, and club selection.

• HOLE 3, 516 yards, Par 5: a short, seaside par-5 with a narrow, bumpy fairway and a deep greenside bunker. A long, straight, wind-aided drive can reward you with a birdie opportunity, but fairway moguls and the big, bad bunker can steal your luck here.

• HOLE 12, 606 yards, Par 5: long, coast-hugging, dogleg left with a green by the southeastern headland marking the course’s furthest reach out into the North Sea. The scalloped beach invites crossing shortcut shots, but tricky winds here make it risky to put the ball in the air out over the sea.

• HOLE 15, 212 yards, Par 3: This time you must hold your breath and cross the beach and try to stick the pin with a long iron to another green jutting out into the sea. Probably easier to play in the dark when there’s no wind, than if land or sea breezes are flying the flag.

• HOLE 17, 474 yards, Par 4: another hole parallel to the beach, this one featuring a steady uphill to the northwest. Hope for a pushing wind off the North Sea and that your ball somehow avoids the formidable line of deep fairway bunkers that guard the green like a minefield.

• HOLE 18, 444 yards, Par 4: Driving inland to the southeast, first uphill and then down, the wind may be somewhat less of a factor on this hole. Never mind. The approach shot must successfully fly a rugged burn (stream) to a humpbacked green protected by devilishly tall grass.

LOCATION & ACTIVITIES: Of course, the Fife Coast is golf heaven. Still, there are other reasons to venture into this special corner of Central Scotland. Even non-golfers can enjoy the scenic links land of the Kingsbarns golf course. The Fife Coastal Walkway edges much of the course, providing grand views of the Fife coast and St. Andrews Bay. Numerous fishing villages line the coast, too, inviting strolling, shopping for arts and crafts, and ducking out of the weather into a pub restaurant for a first class meal. And then there’s St. Andrews town—already ancient before golf was played there. Visit its castle and cathedral ruins, walk its shop-lined streets, have a peek at the university, and, don’t forget, there’s a rather special golf museum just on the edge of town by the Old Course.

Home at First offers independent, flexible, fly/drive travel
to Central Scotland. Plan your own trip, with our expert help.
For information on Home at First travel to Scotland, see:
CENTRAL SCOTLAND

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.