(Photo: (9th tee at Castle Course, with town in the distance)
You may have heard of the Castle Course. Opened in 2008, it is the newest course in the home of golf. Designed by Scotsman David McLay Kidd, it is situated 5 minutes east of town, with jaw-dropping views of the North Sea and St Andrews.
The Castle opened to - and still receives - very mixed reviews. Many visitors love the course, many locals despise it. The former likely for the amazing vistas and the latter likely for the forced carries and difficult greens. As a student and "pseudo-local," I partially agree with the locals. I concede that there are some extreme, and sometimes unfair, mounds in the fairways which I believe were intended to be 'natural' but are anything from it. The locals call these mounds "Don Kings," as they are mounds with fescue growing out the top. (Picture Don King's haircut and you'll get it...) These DK's seem to interrupt the natural flow of the hole and most importantly limit the variety of shots one can play into the green. Since this is links golf, one should have the option to hit a lofted spinning shot, or a low running shot. Options are what makes links golf fun. Secondly, some of the greens are a bit extreme. The 4th and 17th are a bit unfair and take away from otherwise great golf holes. I am, and will never be, a fan of having to land the ball off a green in order to keep it on the green - unless it is a bump and run shot up the front of the green.
However, it must be noted that the Castle is much more difficult than any other course in St Andrews. I believe the locals sometimes seem to equate difficult with unfair. However, I believe 'different' is a more accurate adjective versus 'unfair.' Courses with forced carries and severely undulating greens exist all over the world. It is just that all the other courses in St Andrews are much more traditional links style with very few forced carries, but not at the Castle.
After playing there recently, it appears they are softening up the greens and are also planning to remove many of the DK's. So thankfully work is being done to improve the course, I just hope that they use a fine scalpel and not dynamite to do the work. Because if they get too carried away it will surely take some of the charm out of it.
As Alistair Mackenzie once said, any course that generates opinions and discussion is good for the game. And my opinion is that while it's nowhere near the best course in St Andrews, it is well worth the visit. And hey, if you don't agree with some of the greens, just turn your head to the left or right - it is some of the best golfing scenery anywhere.
Hit 'em well.
- MG
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