After joining the St Andrews Links Trust’s portfolio at the start of the year, the course formerly known as The Duke’s is enjoying a new lease of life under its new name, The Craigtoun, writes Nick Bayly
When golfers picture St Andrews – golf’s spiritual home – the images that immediately spring to mind are almost invariably those of links golf: the Swilcan Bridge, the enormous double greens of the Old Course, the pot bunkers of the New and the dunes running alongside the Jubilee. But the latest addition to the St Andrews Links portfolio offers something altogether different.
Formerly known as The Duke’s Course, the newly renamed Craigtoun Course officially came under the management of the St Andrews Links Trust at the start of 2026, becoming the eighth course in its portfolio and the first new addition since the Castle Course opened in 2008.
Located around three miles from the centre of St Andrews, Craigtoun is significant not simply because it increases the number of courses managed by the Trust. Its real point of difference is that this is emphatically not another links course. Instead, the course is being marketed because of its distinctive Scottish heathland identity, adding another style of golf to a destination already blessed with arguably the greatest concentration of links courses anywhere in the world.
Tee-time pressures
Given the vast number of visitors who make their way to this magical corner of Fife each season, the pressure of trying to accommodate them alongside meeting the demands of local ticketholders – numbering in the thousands – who are all jostling for tee times, the addition of the Craigtoun has helped to alleviate some of the heavy traffic being carried by the Old, Jubilee, New, Eden, and Castle courses, and to a lesser extent the more accessible Strathyrum and 9-hole Balgove courses.
Recent years has seen around 280,000 rounds played annually across the Links Trust’s seven other courses, and with Craigtoun expected to host around 22,000 rounds during its first year under the Links Trust’s management – compared with approximately 16,000 in 2025 – the combined figure across all courses will push beyond 300,000 rounds a year for the first time.
From The Duke’s to Craigtoun
The Craigtoun course itself is no newcomer to the St Andrews golf scene. Originally designed by five-time Open champion Peter Thomson, work began on the former Craigtoun estate farmland in 1993 before the course opened in 1995 as The Duke’s. It subsequently came under the ownership of Kohler Company alongside the Old Course Hotel, with American architect Tim Liddy carrying out substantial alterations in the mid-2000s. Those changes included the addition of five new holes and helped move the character of the course towards the heathland style that is now being developed further.
The Links Trust began operating the course under a long-term lease in January this year, with the management of the clubhouse, driving range and pro shop also moved under Links Trust management, with existing staff remaining in place to provide continuity as the venue enters its next chapter.
Heathland golf in the Home of Golf
Occupying a lofty perch over 400 feet above St Andrews, with stunning views to the town below, the Craigtoun course has more in common visually with the great heathland layouts of southern England than the exposed linksland lying beside the North Sea below.
Its bunkering is particularly distinctive. Large, irregular sandy hazards frame many of the holes, while pine trees and elevation changes create an altogether different challenge. There are more than 100 bunkers, so while generous driving areas can give players confidence from the tee, poorly judged approaches are frequently punished by a trip to the sand.
Further work is intended to further enhance the course’s heathland identity, with additional heather planting, new bunkering, and new drainage and irrigation infrastructure designed to improve year-round conditioning and create firmer playing surfaces.
Wider fairways and enlarged approaches are also planned, encouraging golfers to use the ground and open up alternative routes into greens, while longer areas of rough will provide greater definition and make Craigtoun look and play more like a heathland course.
A serious heathland test
At its maximum length, the par-71 course stretches to an imposing 7,512 yards – making professional tournament hosting a distinct possibility – while the white tees measure 6,550 yards. Five sets of tees take the course down to around 5,216 yards, giving golfers plenty of scope to select a suitable challenge.
The course features significant elevation changes and several longer walks between holes, so buggies are taken by most visitors and are worth considering for anyone concerned about the physical demands of the round.
The routing now begins with a tight dogleg-left par four rather than the uphill par five that previously opened the course, allowing players to settle into the round before encountering some of its more muscular challenges. The fourth hole, appropriately named ‘Braw View’, features a dramatic downhill tee shot with St Andrews forming the backdrop. From this lofty position, golfers can pick out many of the town’s landmarks, including the university and cathedral, while the famous red sandstone Hamilton Grand beside the Old Course is also visible in the distance.
Large greens, attractive par threes, elevation changes and the rugged bunkering ensure the visual interest rarely disappears. The 18th provides a suitably demanding conclusion, climbing back towards the clubhouse to a green guarded extensively by sand. Anyone finding one of the greenside bunkers faces a difficult final examination – potentially with an audience watching from the clubhouse balcony.
The Craigtoun Course is unquestionably demanding, but the proposed widening of playing corridors and approaches suggests the Links Trust understands that challenge and enjoyment need not be mutually exclusive.
Golf package rates
In its first season, visitors can play Craigtoun for £155, putting its peak-season green fee alongside the New and Jubilee, while discounted rates provide Fife and Scottish residents of just £70 have resulted in a big uptake from local golfers.
Links golf will always define St Andrews, and nothing is going to displace the Old Course as its principal attraction, but a destination with eight courses doesn’t need every layout to deliver the same experience, as the Castle Course so clearly demonstrated when it opened in 2008. The Craigtoun Course now broadens the proposition again and adds a further string to St Andrew Links Trust’s already impressive bow.
For more details, visit standrews.com/golf/courses/the-craigtoun-course
To check out a range of packages to play a variety of St Andrews Links Trust courses, go to standrews.com/offers-and-packages
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