St Andrews Links Blog

Castle Course Q&A

The newest addition to St Andrews Links, The Castle Course opened in 2008 becoming the seventh course at the Home of Golf and part of the largest public golfing complex in Europe. Set on a rugged cliff-top with spectacular views over St Andrews, The Castle Course offers a memorable golfing experience.

Earlier this month we invited your questions on Twitter to put to our Operations Manager at The Castle Course, Kevin Mackay.

I caddied there in the ’09 season. Loved it! Any more alterations in the works? 14th green?
14th green was done in 2012 and going forward we’re looking at alterations at the front of 11 and possibly 12.

How many rounds are played on The Castle Course every year?
This year has been our busiest year to date. We’ll have had approximately 25,000 rounds for the 8 month season.

The course was unbelievable and service superb. What a setting. Thank you!
Thanks for the great feedback and hope you can return in future.

With it being relatively new, how long did it take for the course to properly bed in?
Probably 3-4 years although it’s a continually maturing and growing course.

How does The Castle turf differ from the other courses at St Andrews Links?
The ground the grass is grown on is not true links as its soil rather than sand based. We refer to The Castle Course as a ‘clifftop’ rather than a links course despite it having the playing characteristics and looks of a links.

How many balls are lost out of bounds on 17th?
Thousands. It’s a very common occurrence.

Find out more about The Castle Course here: http://www.standrews.com/Play/Courses/The-Castle-Course.