The Re-Tee Review | St Andrews, Fife, Scotland
There’s something pretty special about arriving in St Andrews knowing you’re about to play golf at the Home of Golf. Even though we weren’t playing the famous Old Course, getting the opportunity to play the New Course was something I was really looking forward to on our Scotland trip.
The New Course might not have the recognition of its famous neighbor, but it’s a fantastic example of traditional Scottish links golf. You’ve got rumpled fairways, deep bunkers, thick gorse, and plenty of opportunities to get creative with your shots. It’s the kind of golf I absolutely love playing, and after spending a morning on the course, I could easily understand why someone living in St Andrews would want to play it regularly.
What made the experience even better was knowing that the Old Course was right next door. Throughout the round, I found myself looking over at one of the most famous golf courses in the world, which added another layer of enjoyment to an already fantastic day.
The Golf
The New Course is exactly what I think of when I imagine traditional Scottish links golf. The fairways are full of humps and swales, the bunkers are strategically placed, and the thick gorse can make things difficult pretty quickly if you get out of position. Add in the Scottish wind, and you’ve got a golf course that requires quite a bit of thought and creativity.
I don’t know that the New Course has a collection of holes I’d consider visually spectacular. There aren’t necessarily a bunch of individual holes that make you stop and think you’ve just played one of the greatest holes in golf. Instead, it’s a consistently enjoyable test that asks you to hit different shots, manage your misses, and understand how to use the ground to your advantage.
One of the things I really enjoyed was how much the course challenged you without becoming frustrating. The bunkering and gorse certainly punish poor decisions, but there are opportunities to recover and make good scores. You have to think about where you’re aiming, where you can afford to miss, and how the contours of the fairways and greens might influence your shots.
We played in some serious Scottish wind, with gusts around 25 to 35 miles per hour. There were shots where we were taking three or four extra clubs just to get the ball where we wanted it to go. But that’s part of playing links golf, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. The wind forces you to adapt, control your ball flight, and occasionally hit shots you wouldn’t even consider playing back home.
The Stretch Along the Sea
My favorite part of the golf course was the stretch around the eighth and ninth holes, where the routing takes you out near the sea.
The eighth is a fantastic par 5 with a really interesting approach into a punchbowl-style green. There’s an opening you can play through to feed the ball toward the putting surface, and I loved the creativity that hole offered. Rather than simply flying an approach directly at the flag, you can think about how to use the ground and the contours to get your ball into position.
Then you move to the ninth, an extremely difficult par 3 that runs right along the sea. With the wind blowing as hard as it was during our round, it was a tremendous challenge. It’s a beautiful setting and one of the more memorable shots on the course.
Those two holes were probably my favorites on the entire layout. They’re great examples of what makes Scottish links golf so enjoyable, particularly when the wind is up and you have to think your way through every shot.
A Shot I Won’t Forget
One of my favorite memories from the round actually came on the 14th hole, a par 4 that was playing straight downwind. I hit a drive that went somewhere around 360 yards, which is pretty incredible, but with that much wind behind us and the firm links fairways, the ball just kept running. Even after that drive, I still had about 70 yards left to the green, with a mound between me and the hole.
Rather than trying to fly a wedge onto the green, I pulled out my 3-wood and played it almost like a putter. I rolled the ball up and over the mound, using the ground to carry it toward the green, and ended up about 20 feet from the hole.
So on a downwind par 4 in Scotland, I ended up going driver, 3-wood, with the second shot coming from just 70 yards away. It’s not a combination of clubs I’d ever expect to use on a par 4, but that’s exactly what I love about links golf. You’re constantly presented with opportunities to get creative, and sometimes the best option isn’t the most obvious one.
I ended up shooting an 84 that day, which I was pretty happy with considering the conditions. The wind was a significant factor, and the course demanded quite a bit of patience and creativity throughout the round. I also managed to beat Barry, bringing our competition for the trip to 2–1, which certainly didn’t hurt!
A Course That Would Make You Better
One of the things I kept thinking about after the round was how much I’d enjoy playing the New Course regularly.
It’s a challenging layout, but not so difficult that it becomes frustrating. The gorse, bunkering, firm fairways, and changing wind constantly ask you to make decisions about how to play each hole. I think spending enough time on a course like this would genuinely make you a better links golfer.
Compared to Dunbar and Winterfield, the New Course doesn’t offer quite the same spectacular coastal views. I also found it to be a more demanding test than either of those courses. That’s probably what keeps it a notch below Dunbar for me, but I still really enjoyed the challenge.
If I lived in St Andrews, I could absolutely see myself playing the New Course all the time. I think it’s the kind of layout that would continue to challenge you and keep you interested no matter how many times you played it.
The Experience
There’s something about playing golf in St Andrews that makes the entire experience feel a little bigger. You’re surrounded by so much history, and even though the New Course isn’t the famous Old Course, you’re still playing one of the courses operated by the St Andrews Links Trust.
The New Course shares its clubhouse with the Jubilee Course, and I thought the facilities were excellent. There’s a pro shop, a restaurant, and a separate starter hut where you check in before your round. Everyone was welcoming, and we enjoyed breakfast at the clubhouse before heading out. We liked it enough that we ended up returning for lunch afterward.
It was a comfortable, enjoyable atmosphere, and I appreciated that the New Course still felt like a place where people simply came to play golf. There was plenty of history and tradition surrounding us, but nothing about the experience felt intimidating or overly formal.
Playing Alongside the Old Course
One of the coolest parts of the New Course is just how close you are to the Old Course.
Throughout the round, I found myself constantly looking over to see what was happening next door. I’ve watched the Old Course on television countless times, and being able to see it while playing my own round was pretty special.
I even managed to hook a drive onto the Old Course at one point, which gave me an unexpected opportunity to walk over, find my ball, and hit it back toward the New Course.
I certainly wasn’t planning on visiting the Old Course that way, but it ended up being one of the funnier memories from the round. Not many places in the world can you hit a bad tee shot and find yourself standing on one of the most famous golf courses ever built.
We spent the rest of the day enjoying St Andrews, including some of the other famous golf experiences around town. It was an incredible day, but I don’t think those additional experiences are what made me enjoy the New Course so much. I would have loved the round regardless of what we did afterward.
The golf itself was good enough to stand on its own.
The Re-Tee Verdict: Run It Back
The New Course is absolutely somewhere I’d want to play again. If I lived in St Andrews, I think it would be one of those courses I’d play regularly and never really get tired of.
I love the challenge of traditional links golf, and the New Course offers plenty of it. The firm fairways, bunkering, gorse, and constantly changing wind make you think about how to approach every shot. It’s a golf course that rewards creativity and good decisions, and I think the more you played it, the more you’d appreciate its design.
Would I prioritize playing the New Course again on my next trip to Scotland? Probably not, but that has very little to do with how much I enjoyed it.
There are simply so many incredible golf courses around St Andrews that I’d love to experience. Several of the other St Andrews Links courses are still on my list, and when you’re traveling all the way to Scotland to play golf, it’s difficult to pass up the opportunity to experience somewhere new.
But that’s different from whether I’d want to play the New Course again. If someone offered me another round tomorrow, I’d happily head back to the first tee.
Re-Tee Verdict: RUN IT BACK
The Reality Check
One of the things I really appreciated about the New Course was the value. We paid £155, which worked out to roughly $205 at the time, and I thought that was a fantastic price for the experience.
You’re playing traditional Scottish links golf in St Andrews, on a course operated by the St Andrews Links Trust, right alongside the famous Old Course. Considering the history, location, quality of the golf, and overall experience, I thought it was money well spent.
Barry arranged our tee time in advance, so we didn’t have to worry about availability when we arrived. However, one of the great things about the New Course is that walk-up tee times are also available. If you’re visiting St Andrews without a reservation, you can check with the starter to see whether there’s an opportunity to play. Availability isn’t guaranteed, particularly during busier periods, so I’d still recommend making arrangements ahead of time if playing the New Course is a priority.
I also think the New Course should be one of the first places you consider if you’re visiting St Andrews and can’t get onto the Old Course.
I haven’t played the Old Course myself, so I can’t directly compare the two experiences. But the New Course gives you the opportunity to experience traditional St Andrews links golf in the same historic setting, without having to rely on getting an Old Course tee time.
You get the firm fairways, challenging bunkering, unpredictable wind, and an opportunity to play right alongside one of the most famous golf courses in the world. If someone told me they were heading to St Andrews and couldn’t get onto the Old Course, I’d absolutely encourage them to play the New Course.
For the price we paid, I think it’s an excellent value and a golf course that’s well worth including on a Scotland golf itinerary.
Final Thoughts
The New Course was one of those golf experiences that reminded me just how much I enjoy traditional Scottish links golf. It doesn’t have the same spectacular coastal scenery as Dunbar or Winterfield, and I don’t know that it has as many individual holes that I’d consider truly unforgettable. But it’s an incredibly enjoyable golf course that challenges you in all the right ways.
I loved the stretch around the eighth and ninth holes, the creativity required throughout the round, and the opportunity to play golf in St Andrews with the Old Course right next door. Going driver, 3-wood on the downwind 14th after hitting a drive around 360 yards is a shot combination I’ll remember for a long time, and so is the unexpected walk onto the Old Course after hooking my drive.
What I appreciate most about the New Course is that it’s somewhere I could see myself playing regularly. It’s challenging enough to keep you interested, but enjoyable enough that you’d want to come back the next day and do it all over again.
I don’t know when I’ll get another opportunity to play the New Course, especially with so many other Scottish courses still on my list. But if I found myself standing on that first tee again, I’d be pretty happy about it.
Run It Back.
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