WHERE TO PLAY
Dumbarnie is The Kingdom’s Newest links
MOST GOLFERS ASSOCIATE St Andrews in Scotland with historic links such as the Old, New, Jubilee and Eden courses, yet this area of the “King- dom of Fife” has become synonymous since the turn of the Millennium with a host of modern creations. Such is the demand for golf from visitors there have been seven new courses built in the past 30 years, and another one – exclusive rather than public – is due to open in St Andrews itself within the next 12 months. The Home of Golf is one of the world’s leading golfing destinations during the Scottish summer months. Basing your- self in the old town with all its hotels, guest houses, restaurants, pubs and conveniences gives you the option of 20 different courses of exceptional quality within a 30-minute drive. Kingsbarns, some 12km along the coast south of St Andrews, is consid- ered the prize links to play after the
Old Course, mainly because it’s on the roster of three courses for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The Kyle Phillips design, opened in 2000, is No 24 in Golf Digest’s latest World 100 rankings (see Page 108), but it does cost R11 000 to procure a tee time in season between May 1 and November 8, mak- ing it one of the most expensive green fees in Scotland. If you loved the expe- rience, you could play a second round within seven days for R6 500. However, Kingsbarns does have a modern rival attracting the attention of golfers coming to Fife, one which has adopted the same pay-and-play model. This is Dumbarnie Links, at Upper Lar- go on the Firth of Forth close to the pop- ular links of Elie, Lundin and Leven – 23 kilometres from St Andrews. If price is a consideration, you can play two rounds at Dumbarnie for a total cost of R12 000. Opened recently, 2020, it’s in an isolated location, and wide fairways make it playable and highly enjoyable in the windiest of conditions. The land was discovered by Scottish golf writer Malcolm Campbell, co-author of the book True Links with American George Peper. Campbell lives close by, and it was while out walking his dog on the Balcarres estate several years ago that he realised the potential of the landscape for golf. It had the perfect sandy soil on which links turf thrives, and almost three kilometres of sea frontage with panoramic views over the sandy beach of Largo Bay towards Muirfield on the opposite shore. Campbell approached English course architect Clive Clark, a former Euro- pean Tour player, about the possibility of designing and building a links, and Clark jumped at the opportunity. Hav-
THE 10 BEST LINKS IN FIFE 1 Old Course 2 Kingsbarns 3 Dumbarnie 4 New Course 5 Jubilee Course 6 Lundin 7 Elie 8 Crail (Balcomie) 9 Leven 10 Eden Course
ing once been in partnership with the late Peter Alliss it was his dream to create a genuine links in Scotland. The process began in 2013, and Clark was both devel- oper and designer. It opened in the first year of Covid, so it missed out on interna- tional visitors for two years. Dumbarnie has a modest clubhouse with a restaurant and pro shop on a high point of the property. There are similari- ties with Kingsbarns, particularly its sce- nic views, although here you don’t return to the clubhouse after 9 holes. Instead, the holes meander over a sizeable 140 hectares through countless low dunes down to the shore, continually changing direction to various points of the com-
An array of bunkers guard the par-4 fourth hole.
96 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JUNE 2026
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator