Go Ahead Given For Seventh Course at Birthplace of Golf


In late March 2004, the St Andrews Links Trust received permission from planning authorities to create a new golf course on the edge of the St. Andrews, Scotland, the so-called “Birthplace of Golf.”

The new 18-hole layout will join the Trust's portfolio of six courses, which includes the Old Course, the venue for the 2005 British Open. The new facility will be a public course, open year-round and with affordable green fees. Work will start on the project this summer and, while progress is dependent on weather conditions, it is hoped the course will debut in 2006.

Following the coastline east of St Andrews, the seventh course will be exposed to sea breezes. The course’s designer, David McLay Kidd, creator of the heralded Bandon Dunes in southwest Oregon, intends to create a typical Scottish golf experience with tee blocks allowing the layout to be played from 5,000 to 7,000 yards.

Around 210,000 rounds are played on the six courses on St. Andrews existing six links every year, with the peak reaching 215,000 in 2001, the year after the previous Open held at St. Andrews. The new course is being created in response to rising demand to ease congestion on the existing courses by offering golfers an alternative high-quality layout to play, with spectacular views of the town.

"This is good news for the tens of thousands of golfers making their pilgrimages to St Andrews," said Alan McGregor, general manager of the Links Trust. "Our courses are just about at capacity, which is putting both golfers' access to the courses and their enjoyment at risk. The seventh course will ease this unrelenting pressure and ensure that the quality of the golfing experience is maintained."