The approach to the 6th green at the new Castle Course at St. Andrews offers a commanding view of the North Sea. (Photo by Golf Odyssey)
The seventh St. Andrews golf course, the Castle Course, officially opens tomorrow for public play. This, the most significant golf course opening of the year, has global ramifications. It is the first championship-style course to become part of "the home of golf" in nearly 100 years.
Architect David McLay Kidd, a native son of Scotland, has done an excellent job creating a course worthy of golf's most prestigious address. And we do mean "created," because the land over which the Castle Course is routed had been a flattish potato farm. No longer. Now the land twists and turns, heaves and hovers, plunges and punishes. Its conversion into what will be one of world's most talked about golf courses is almost unfathomable.
We find it ironic that Kidd, who gained fame for his minimalist work at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, moved an ungodly amount of earth to create the Castle Course on his return home. In some respects, his work at St. Andrews is similar to Pete Dye's transformation of the land on which he built Whistling Straits.
The Castle Course appears genuinely intimidating, since only portions of the generally wide landing areas are visible from the tee. What is visible is trouble-in the form of tall grasses, an occasional burn (or stream, as we call them here in the States), and sand bunkers. And only when one makes the walk from tee to fairway does the spaciousness of the landing areas come into focus.
As for the greens, they too are large and extremely undulating; the 4th is a perfect example of both characteristics. The putting surface is 123 feet deep and about 140 feet wide. Believe it or not, this remarkable green actually plays host to four "mini-greens," and, it need scarcely be added, if your approach finishes in one of the sectors that doesn't happen to be the home of the hole that day, two-putting is not at all as likely as four-putting. It could reasonably be claimed that the Castle Course places too much emphasis on putting. In truth, from time to time we find ourselves wondering whatever prompted David Kidd to fashion such astounding greens. Perhaps it was nothing more nor less than a determination to design great golf holes. We can only hope that the greens consistently putt at a reasonable speed. Otherwise, a number of potential hole locations will be unusable.
Bunkering was another of the arrows in Kidd's quiver, but by and large this weapon has stayed right there-in his quiver. The course has only 93 sand traps: 50 going out, 43 coming in. And not one of these hazards is either particularly large or enticing. No Hell's Half Acre here. Indeed, there would be nothing unusual about playing an entire round without ever being beached.
From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the Castle Course, set upon the cliffs along the North Sea for about a mile, is a stunner. Probably no hole is more dazzling than the 400-yard 6th, which showcases a dramatic view of the medieval quarter of St. Andrews and of its tiny harbor. And the 17th, a 174-yard one-shotter that forces a nerve jangling shot over the coastline, is certain to become one of the most photographed holes in all of golf.
A round on the Castle Course is well worth a special return to St. Andrews. Until the course matures, however, play will be restricted to the period of April through October, and tee times will doubtless be difficult to secure because everyone will want to play this great new addition to the Links Trust. The green fee is £120 ($240), the same as for the Old Course.
Will St. Andrews' Castle Course someday host the British Open? A view of the 8th green,
surrounded by a bed of flowers and links-style dunes. (Photo by Golf Odyssey)
