In St Andrews, a course opened in 1895 is called the New. Old Tom Morris laid it out beside the Old Course as the town's appetite for golf outgrew a single famous eighteen. Its place in history is quieter, but the setting is unmistakable: open linksland, the North Sea close enough to command the weather, and a traditional outward-and-home routing on ground made for running shots.
The New Course has no Road Hole or Swilcan Bridge to distract from the golf. Instead, compact landing areas, pot bunkers and exacting green approaches turn apparently simple holes into problems of placement and patience. Its severe short holes and testing finish make it particularly interesting to golfers who enjoy precision more than spectacle.
Why You Should Play St Andrews New Course
If you want to understand what Old Tom Morris could accomplish without the Old Course's centuries of accumulated mythology, the New is a compelling place to begin. Its strategic demands are easier to see at first glance than the Old Course's enormous overlapping corridors, but that clarity can be deceptive. Fairway bunkers often occupy exactly the landing area you would choose with a careless driver; the ground around the greens asks whether you have arrived from a useful angle, not merely how far you have hit the ball.
The New suits golfers who like a defined line from the tee, links turf that brings the running ball into play and greens defended by position rather than water. The out-and-back arrangement makes the wind a different opponent on the return journey. A player comfortable taking less club off the tee, playing away from a bunker to earn a better approach, or using a putter from short of the green will find plenty to admire.
It is not the right substitute for someone whose overriding ambition is to stand on the Old Course's first tee and trace its landmarks. Nor does it provide the theatrical cliffside scenery of Kingsbarns or Dumbarnie. Its pleasures are more architectural: decisions hidden in ordinary-looking ground, a rhythm that rewards concentration and a closing stretch that rarely permits an easy finish.
A Route Built on Restraint
The course works outward across the St Andrews links before turning toward town. Old Tom's bunkers and the natural movement of the fairways give that straightforward plan its interest. At the par-five third, a long tee shot is not automatically the best opening move. Sand in the driving zone and farther forward can turn a nominal birdie opportunity into a recovery sequence, while the third and fifteenth share a double green, a reminder of how economically traditional links could use their land.
The sixth is among the course's notable par fours, curving gently right toward an elevated green with gorse shaping the view. Its difficulty rises in exposed conditions, when a confident-looking line from the tee can leave a much less inviting approach. The ninth, a long par three near the Eden Estuary, belongs to another family of St Andrews tests: a one-shot hole where the tee-shot number is only the beginning, and the cost of missing the correct section of turf can be much greater than the apparent length suggests.
The tenth, a long par four, brings a tighter dune corridor and a less immediately obvious line, one of the course's more demanding transitions. On the inward side, the par threes are especially revealing. The seventeenth is a long one-shot hole, protected by bunkers that make a straightforward running approach anything but automatic. A golfer who dislikes blind or semi-obscured targets will generally find the New more visually legible than some older Scottish links; a golfer who expects every green to welcome a high aerial approach will still need to adjust.
What 1895 Added to St Andrews
The Old Course was already central to the town when the New opened in 1895. Morris's second layout gave the Links another serious eighteen without severing the public, everyday character of golf in St Andrews. Its identity is that of a working links rather than a monument: locals, visiting enthusiasts and golfers who missed the Old Course ballot have long shared its fairways.
Top 100 Golf Courses ranked the New Course No. 69 in Britain & Ireland in 2026. That standing reflects enduring architectural substance, not the fame of its next-door neighbor. Comparing the courses by celebrity alone misses the point. The Old's genius depends heavily on width, overlapping holes and unfamiliar strategic geometry. The New asks more direct questions with narrower targets and prominently placed sand. Playing both reveals not two versions of the same round, but two different ways of making the golfer think.
The New Course, the Jubilee and a Proper Fife Golf Trip
For a visiting golfer, the sensible pairing is the Old Course on one day and the New on another, with the Jubilee Course offering a third, particularly demanding links experience on nearby ground. Unlike a substitute chosen at the last minute, the New deserves a dedicated place in an itinerary if classic ground-game architecture matters to you.
Farther along the Fife coast, Kingsbarns brings a more expansive seaside presentation, while Dumbarnie offers a modern interpretation of links shapes. Carnoustie adds a notably stern championship examination across the Tay. Together they make a stronger golf journey than a trip organized entirely around one uncertain Old Course result.
Staying in St Andrews itself preserves the distinctive pleasure of finishing your round and returning to a town shaped by golf. Rusacks St Andrews overlooks the famous closing stretch, and the Old Course Hotel sits beside the Road Hole. The Dunvegan and Jigger Inn are part of the town's golfing conversation; the university streets, cathedral ruins and West Sands give a longer visit life beyond the tee sheet.
Visitor Golf, 2027 Green Fees and Caddies
The New is a public St Andrews Links course with its own visitor arrangements. The Old Course ballot is not required. A substantial share of New Course tee times has traditionally been managed as walk-on play, alongside a limited reservation programme.
The 2027 adult single-round green fees are £80 for January–March (with winter fairway mats), £115 for 1–18 April and 18–31 October, and £165 for 19 April–17 October. These are New Course round prices, not the separate Old Course Swilcan Package. Caddies are optional and can be requested ahead of time; caddie services have a separate charge.
The New's matched men's White tees are 6,625 yards (6,058 metres), par 71; Yellow men's tees are 6,362 yards (5,817 metres), par 71. The Red women's setup is 5,992 yards (5,479 metres), par 75. Different tees and pars should not be collapsed into one generic course measurement.
The 155th Open at St Andrews, 11–18 July 2027, will bring unusual pressure on local accommodation and access. Treat the championship period as a different sort of visit, not an ordinary summer tee-time week.
A Different Kind of St Andrews Memory
There is a particular satisfaction in discovering why a less-photographed course holds its own so close to golf's best-known ground. On the New, the memory may be an approach threaded between bunkers or a par saved with a running chip, rather than a photograph on a bridge. For golfers who love the decisions of links golf, that is a strong reason to play it.