Hi,

Im heading to St Andrews this August for 5 days to play. Besides Carnoustie, The Old Course, The Duke's Course and The Castle Course, Im getting a 3 day pass which allows unlimited play on the other St Andrews Links courses (New Course, Jubilee, Eden, Strathytrum and Balgrove) My question is which of the above St Andrews links courses are the nicest; which should I make a point to play? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ben

Well Balgrove is a short 9 hole course, i don't think you've come to St-Andrews to play a course like that
I've only played the Old and the New course, and i actually liked playing the New Course better. The old course is magical because of it's history and it is of course a great layout. But the New Course was more enjoyable. In my opinion of course.
The Jubilee is a good one too. Many Amateur qualifiers and other prominent amateur tournaments are played there. So i'd say one of those two, the New Course and the Jubilee.

I say play the jubillee also its a tough but sweet course with pure greens i was there a couple weeks ago and it was in good shape.

The Jubilee and The New (which was built in the 1890's) are the two I would play after TOC. Have not played the Castle yet.

^^Agree. I played Old, New & Jubilee which is the toughest. Enjoy, you'll have a blast.

I would love to hear a report back from The Castle. I walked it in April and was absolutely blown away by it. If I was to go back there, I think I would play 6 games on the Castle and 4 on The Old Course... Exactly!

You should check out the new and the jubilee (which is by far the toughest test in town) for sure. The eden is also a nice wee course, like all the links it is very well maintained and should be checked out if you have a spare moment.

As for the castle... played that a couple of times now and it is (or rather will be) a great course, it just needs more time to bed in. It is very picturesque with lots of blind tee shots. But be warned... if the wind is up it is truly a stern test of your mettle especially the 12th which is positioned shooting directly into the prevailing wind

OK, trip is pretty much set. Schedule looks like this:

Wednesday: Carnoustie Championship and Burnside
Thursday: Old Couse and Castle Course
Friday: Kingsbarns and New Course
Saturday: Dukes and Jubilee

Might try to play the Old Course again Friday afternoon and push the New Course to Sunday, will have to see.

Im going to be in Edinburgh on Monday, so might swing by Musselburgh and play 9 with a set of old hickories.

Looking forward to it, Ill let you guys know how it turns out when I get back!

I think you have chosen the best line up there. When you play anywhere in Scotland, but particularity that part of the East coast the history and tradition of the game really strikes you so like you suggested it's well worth a trip to Musselburgh to play the oldest course in the World. I enjoyed it so much that I played the nine twice the evening that I was there, and was treated to some bagpipes off in the distance coming down the last couple of holes. The only slight disappointment was that because I was playing later in the afternoon/evening I couldn't borrow hickory clubs because there would have been no one there to hand them back to, so if you want to do that it's worth ringing ahead to check when you need to arrive by.

Waouw ! sounds good.... Did you take a local trip planner in order to have all tee times arranged ? and if I dare, the cost of your arrangement...

You will love Kingsbarns. Trip looks great.

No, I booked them all myself. Im going by myself, so not sure how much harder it would be to get tee times if it weren't just me. I was able to get good (before 10AM) tee times on all of the non St Andrews courses with about 2 weeks notice, not hard at all. Pretty much whatever I asked for. The St Andrews courses dont accept tee times for a single, so Im hoping getting on wont be a problem. Im assuming it wont be judging by the others. For the Old Course Im just going to get up super early and squeeze in where I can, which most people seem to have success doing.

The cost is decent, not cheap, but considering the courses, I think it is justified. Carnoustie is £140 for both rounds. £160 for Kingsbarns. Old Course is £120 I think. I think Dukes is around £100. The B&B Im staying at is in St Andrews right down the road from the Old Course and £75 a night I think. For courses other than the Old Course, you can get a 3 day unlimited play pass for £145. All of this info is on the websites for the courses as well. Hope that helps!

I just got home from Scotland and St Andrews. I played New Course, Old Course, Kingsbarns, Kilmarnock and Prestwick. Not cheap, but a fantastic trip. And best was Kingsbarns.

I try to catch up and will be publishing photos on my blog. So far there is pictures från New, Old and Kingsbarns.

The blog is in Swedish, but it is possible to use Google Translate if you hade problems understand Swedish.

http://www.google.com/translate_t

And the blogadress is:
http://golfers.blogg.se
...and the blog I used during the week: http://golfersblogg.blogspot.com

Met brlambert by chance at the range at St Andrews today, while ogling his Scratch irons.

Hope you enjoyed your week Ben.