Earlier this year, the St. Andrews Links Trust announced that its No. 7 course,
currently under construction on a clifftop two miles southeast of town, would be
named the Castle, in recognition of the fact that a medieval stronghold had
occupied the approximate site of the intended 9th and 18th greens. The name was
one of several hundred entries in a contest that elicited more than 4,000
responses from around the world. (Among the other, slightly more inventive
suggestions were Fairway to Heaven, Dragon’s Lair, Sevinfauld, Ruggedoon, and
the Back and Beyond.)
While the Castle surely is the most highly
anticipated, it is far from the only major course on the Scottish horizon.
Indeed, it may not even be the best of the new batch. In every corner of the
country, high-profile designs are taking shape—and at least three will also have
“castle” in their names!
Truth be told, the Castle’s own designer may
quickly top himself on Scotland’s west coast. Barely had David McLay Kidd
completed his routing and shaping at St. Andrews when he turned his talents to
the Kintyre Peninsula and the creation of Machrihanish Dunes. Hard by the famed
original Machrihanish but on even more spectacular terrain, the new links will
have six greens and five tees on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The developer,
Australian Brian Keating, is also building 32 lodges and renovating one of the
local hotels, in hopes of transforming this remote outpost into a major golf
destination. The course is scheduled to open in the spring of next
year.
Venerable Muirfield also is getting a new neighbor as the game’s
hottest architect, Tom Doak, makes his U.K. debut with the Renaissance Club,
literally a stone’s throw from the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.
The course will be a hybrid, its opening and closing holes winding through
stands of tall trees with the middle stretch opening onto linksland with
commanding views of the Firth of Forth. Several ancient stone walls will add to
both the character and challenge.
American Jerry Savardi heads a consortium of
owners whose goal is to produce the premier private club in Scotland, with most
of the members coming from overseas. The initial memberships went for
$50,000 but already have risen to $75,000. As at Muirfield, a few tee times each
week will be set aside for visitors, with play set to begin next
spring.
