April 4th, 2024 —
After somewhat of a welcomed battering at the hands of Prestwick and Mother Nature, the boys found some refuge in clearer skies Thursday morning. Not only that, we were finally getting on property at St Andrews, the centerpiece of the trip. Though it’s not the famous Old Course, the quality of the New Course at St Andrews is certainly not to be discounted. Its clever mounding, beautiful views of the river Eden, and overall walkability made it such an enjoyable challenge.
The New Course begins with a short par 4 that lines the right side of the Old Course’s 2nd hole. With trouble to the right off the tee, we quickly learned a lesson that would benefit us on the Old Course—the driver miss is almost always left. After a firm handshake on the 1st, the front nine of the New had plenty of fun and challenging holes including one of our favorite par 5s of the trip, #8. With three pot bunkers across the center of the fairway about 270 yards from the tee, followed by a slight uphill approach between two mounds on either side of the green’s mouth, the 8th provides a truly formidable test. The par 3 9th would have been an equally enjoyable challenge had it not been for some errant tee shots from the fellas (and Luke cutting open is finger on a bottle of Tennent’s) but the views of the River Eden that revealed themselves as we walked up to the green immediately gave us some solace.
The 11th was another favorite. A short, scorable par 4, with room to the left off the tee and a receptive green sloping back to front, well protected by 4 pot bunkers. Luke made the most of a straight tee ball and nestled his approach close to pick up the bird, putting the pressure on Mark and I in what was a back and forth affair up until that point. And yet, it was Mark and I that would put together back to back birdies on the next 2 holes to begin our surge to victory.
Perhaps the most underrated part of our New Course experience was the view of the St. Andrews skyline on the back nine. The course itself was already one of the best walking courses we’d ever played, but the added clear sky views of this historic town were the cherry on top. The town of St. Andrews has this unexplainable charm, especially for golf lunatics like us, and to be treated to a panoramic view of it in its entirety was such a special way to finish our round.
The New delivered everything you could ask for from a Scottish links course and more. Not overly punishing but demands a thoughtful mind and a dash of creativity to score your best. We all agreed that if you picked up this course and placed it anywhere in the Northeast, it could easily be a top 100 golf course. Nonetheless, it belongs where it is, on hallowed ground in the best golf town in the world.
–Phil