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The St Andrews Golf Courses
Old | New |
Jubilee | Eden | Dukes
| Strathtryum | Balgove
The New Course
was the second golf course to be constructed at St Andrews and was named "The
New" simply to differentiate it from the existing course "The Old".
 Now
over 100 years old, it is probably the oldest "new" course in the world.
Opened in April 1895, the course was built in response
to increasing demand for golf at St Andrews, both from locals and from the ever-increasing
numbers of visitors who were flocking to the town in increasing numbers on the
recently constructed railway.
The construction of the New Course was paid for the
Royal and Ancient Golf Club as part of an arrangement under which the club was
allocated the right to certain starting times on the Old Course.
These arrangements were enshrined in the first Act
of Parliament concerning the Links which was passed in 1894 and was the forerunner
of the current Act of 1974 which specifies how the links are to be run.
The R&A engaged W Hall Blyth, an Edinburgh civil
engineer, to design the New Course, and entrusted the layout to "Old" Tom Morris
and his right-hand man David Honeyman.
The result is a classic links course which uses the
natural features of the land to create a first class golfing challenge. The course
has the traditional out and back layout, with the 18th green just to the right
of the first tee. It also has, in the great St Andrews tradition, shared fairways
and even a double green at the 3rd and 15th holes.
It has frequently been said that if the New
Course were not situated next to the Old, then its star would have shone with
a far greater degree of brilliance. Located as it is in the shadow of its illustrious
neighbour, the New Course can be considered one of St Andrews' best kept secrets.
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