The first golden era of golf course design was in the 1920s when some of the best all time architects were alive and designing: Alister Mackenzie, Seth Raynor, A.W. Tillinghast, H.S. Colt and George Thomas. "The Roaring Twenties" were also a time of unprecedented global prosperity with markets booming around the world. Of the 100 top courses in the world an astonishing 28 are were built in the 1920s.
We are lucky to live in the new golden era of golf course architecture. Kingsbarns (ranked #65 in the world) is one of the new generation of courses that have graced the world in the 1990s and 2000s, specifically having been built in 1999. The new golden era is characterized by architects such as David Kidd, Tom Doak, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and Kyle Phillips, the designer of Kingsbarns. This new group has designed many new courses that rank in the top 100. This new generation of world-ranked courses follows a dearth in good design. During the entire forty year period between the 1940s and the 1970s only nine courses were worthy of inclusion on the top 100 list and most of them were toward the latter half of the period and were designed by Pete Dye.
Part of the reason we are in a new golf course design renaissance is the favorable economic environment we find ourselves. A new generation of multi-millionaires, fueled by entrepreneurship and rising real estate and capital markets, have had both the vision and the money to put together some of the these great new courses.
Kingsbarns, located in the Kingdom of Fife, south of St. Andrews in Scotland, is a course I like very much. I have been fortunate enough to have played Kingsbarns twice on two different trips.
The course is varied and interesting. Memorable holes include the par five 12th hole that is often compared to the 18th at Pebble Beach. In my opinion, the views at Kingsbarns are better than those at Pebble Beach. The 6th hole is also worthy of a mention. It is a 337 yard par four that plays down-hill and to the left and is driveable. You really have to think before hitting your tee shot here as well. You can't just get up and hit the ball into the fairway and lay up, either. You have to hit it to an appropriate place or you will have a blind shot to the green. The hole reminds me of the 16th at Royal County Down because you have to hit your ball over a valley to land it on the green if you are going for it.
What do I like so much about Kingsbarns? It has everything I like in a course:
1. An interesting routing, not just an out-and-back layout
2. Holes of varying length which test your skill on short shots as well as long. I'm not a big fan of having to hit 80% of your shots all day as long shots.
3. Six holes along the Ocean that rival any course in the world for scenic beauty
4. The ability to hit a variety of shots - bump and run, pitches, and a variety of wedge shots
5. Challenging but fair greens - some contoured significantly, some not, but appropriate for the size of the green and the type of hole
6. An intelligent use of terrain and elevation - some uphill shots, some downhill, but not overdone.
7. Lots of good caddies
The course should rank higher in the world rankings in my view. It is, I believe, the first modern course worthy to be put on the rotation to hold an Open Championship. To me, the place the feel of a Scottish equivalent of Bandon Dunes.
We are lucky to live in the new golden era of golf course architecture. Kingsbarns (ranked #65 in the world) is one of the new generation of courses that have graced the world in the 1990s and 2000s, specifically having been built in 1999. The new golden era is characterized by architects such as David Kidd, Tom Doak, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and Kyle Phillips, the designer of Kingsbarns. This new group has designed many new courses that rank in the top 100. This new generation of world-ranked courses follows a dearth in good design. During the entire forty year period between the 1940s and the 1970s only nine courses were worthy of inclusion on the top 100 list and most of them were toward the latter half of the period and were designed by Pete Dye.
Part of the reason we are in a new golf course design renaissance is the favorable economic environment we find ourselves. A new generation of multi-millionaires, fueled by entrepreneurship and rising real estate and capital markets, have had both the vision and the money to put together some of the these great new courses.
Kingsbarns, located in the Kingdom of Fife, south of St. Andrews in Scotland, is a course I like very much. I have been fortunate enough to have played Kingsbarns twice on two different trips.
The course is varied and interesting. Memorable holes include the par five 12th hole that is often compared to the 18th at Pebble Beach. In my opinion, the views at Kingsbarns are better than those at Pebble Beach. The 6th hole is also worthy of a mention. It is a 337 yard par four that plays down-hill and to the left and is driveable. You really have to think before hitting your tee shot here as well. You can't just get up and hit the ball into the fairway and lay up, either. You have to hit it to an appropriate place or you will have a blind shot to the green. The hole reminds me of the 16th at Royal County Down because you have to hit your ball over a valley to land it on the green if you are going for it.
What do I like so much about Kingsbarns? It has everything I like in a course:
1. An interesting routing, not just an out-and-back layout
2. Holes of varying length which test your skill on short shots as well as long. I'm not a big fan of having to hit 80% of your shots all day as long shots.
3. Six holes along the Ocean that rival any course in the world for scenic beauty
4. The ability to hit a variety of shots - bump and run, pitches, and a variety of wedge shots
5. Challenging but fair greens - some contoured significantly, some not, but appropriate for the size of the green and the type of hole
6. An intelligent use of terrain and elevation - some uphill shots, some downhill, but not overdone.
7. Lots of good caddies
The course should rank higher in the world rankings in my view. It is, I believe, the first modern course worthy to be put on the rotation to hold an Open Championship. To me, the place the feel of a Scottish equivalent of Bandon Dunes.
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