Dumbarnie links - 17 POINTS
The third hole at Dumbarnie Links - one of three driveable par 4s
It would be fair to say that opening of Dumbarnie Golf Links has been the most anticipated golf course opening in Scotland since the inauguration of Castle Stuart over ten years ago. The buzz around this new course, tucked onto the Fife coast close to such historic names as Lundin Links, Leven and Crail, has been growing in the last year.
Photographs have been drip-fed into social media, sneak previews have been given to select journalists, tour operators have been declaring it a ‘must play’ for their clients. Probably the most eye-catching thing had been the audacious pricing strategy. The green fee for this new-build course on a farmer’s field was a barely credible £235. At £40 a round more than The Old Course at the time, this surely had to be one of the true wonders of the golfing world?!
There have been great articles written about the origins of the Dumbarnie project and its construction which I won’t try to rehash here. In short, a consortium of investors was inspired by ex-European player and BBC-commentator-cum-course-architect Clive Clark to support the project – turning a field into an American-managed, high-end, pay-and-play golf course on the Fife coast.
I was due to play the course on the original opening day in mid-May 2020 but Covid-19 and subsequent travel restrictions knocked that on the head. But a few weeks later I made the drive from Gullane (a mere 12 miles away but an hour and a half drive around the Firth of Forth).
It’s very clear as you play Dumbarnie that Clark has designed a course made for fun. He describes his philosophy thus, “As my old friend, Peter Alliss, once said, ‘I have yet to hear a golfer come in from his round and declare: ‘I really enjoyed a great round of golf today – I only lost 6 balls and 3-putted five greens!’”. Clark has clearly decided to build a course that players of all abilities will enjoy having the chance to score well on.
Firstly, the fairways are wide. On average they are 45 yards from side-to-side. Beyond the fairways you will find mounds that cocoon you in, and the rough isn’t exactly punishing there either. This means that wherever you hit it from the tee you are likely to find your ball and have a good chance to advance it green-ward.
There are a lot of elevated tees too – not exactly a common feature of Scottish links courses, but one that means you will get a really good sense from the tee of what is to come, and lots of wonderful photo opportunities.
Another crowd pleaser is the use of short par 4s. There are three of them here. The third, eleventh and seventeenth holes are all driveable for long hitters and shorter hitters will be going in with something short. However, all three are peppered with bunkers and swales which mean you can’t just hit it and be assured of getting close. The seventeenth is one of the most bewildering holes from the tee – a fairway way to the left to lay up on, or a carry over a wall, heavy rough and bunkers to get close to a huge green. They really are fun holes you want play again and again.
The seventeenth at Dumbarnie is something of a head-scratcher from the tee!
In fact, few of the par 4s at Dumbarnie will beat you up. Playing off the blue tees (measuring 6,421 yards) only two of the par 4s come in at over 400 yards and they are both visually interesting holes. The 474 yard 10th introduces a lake (or should that be loch?) which required a long second shot to carry all the way to the green, with a bail-out to the left. The 18th brings you home with a sweeping downhill hole where you will be greeted by a devilish two tier green – a tough finish for most.
The eighteenth is a challenging par 4 that swoops down to a plateaued green
Equally pleasant is that Clark has foregone the 240 yard par 3. Off the blue tees, the four par 3s range from 138 to 185 yards. Having said that, the wind and pin positions on the huge greens could make a ten club difference depending on the day’s conditions and course set-up! All four were lovely holes to play. A lot of land has been moved to create the elevation for these par 3s which means you’ll have no problem seeing the ball go in if you manage a hole in one! The eighth may be one of my favourite par 3s in Scotland - it’s a beautiful hole down the hill, over a burn to a well protected green framed by the most magnificent backdrop.
The gorgeous par 3 eighth hole at Dumbarnie
A huge amount of land was moved all over this vast site to create Dumbarnie – some 500,000 cubic yards of earth. One quibble I have is that I think the shaping has been overdone in parts. It’s said that Tom Doak moved a lot of earth at Pacific Dunes to make it look like he moved very little. Here you can tell they have moved a lot.
The front 9 particularly is riddled with little pyramid mounds along the sides of each fairway and behind the greens that are a little monotonous and look pretty artificial. Maybe time will soften these but they are a bit jarring to the eye. It’s a bit niche, but if you have been to WINSTONlinks in Germany you will know what to expect.
The first gives you a good sense of what’s to come with a wide fairway and ‘chocolate drop’ mounds framing the hole
On the back 9 these are less evident and I think the holes have a more natural feel to them as a result. When you reach the par 3 16th you actually see the adjoining farmland and it feels good to be more closely connected with the wider landscape again. Dumbarnie follows a trend in some modern course designs to have every hole feel self-contained. Most of the world’s greatest courses don’t have any such concern however - think of Merion, Muirfield or St Andrews - and sometimes it’s nice to know where you are on the course!
In other parts of the course though the shaping works well. There are plenty of two tiered greens which means that you have to think with your approach and brings a challenge into the putting. However these aren’t Doak-esque greens in their complexity (I didn’t have one three putt in my round) though when the balls are rolling a little faster, things may be different.
The 16th has one of many two tier greens
The routing means that you will get plenty of lovely views of the Forth and over to East Lothian though the course itself doesn’t actually get that close to the coastline at any stage. Planning permission is incredibly hard to get for new golf courses that get close to water but Clark has worked around that. The 8th tee box was a particularly beautiful spot but there are plenty of them. I don’t think I’ve played many courses which have had me reaching for my camera so often.
It would be impossible to write about my visit without mentioning the conditioning. This course was being laid out only 18 months ago and is already playing like it’s been here for years. The whole course, from tee to green, was in great condition. The attention to detail is fantastic too, for example the paths were grassed wonderfully.
I thought the bunkering worked well. You will see both natural-looking ‘blown out’ type bunkers as well as revetted pot bunkers. The combination isn’t traditional but it works just fine. More importantly for me was the consistency of the sand and they were lovely to play out of.
There is a mix of bunker styles at Dumbarnie
As it matures, it will be interesting to see whether Dumbarnie plays differently. For now it would be hard to characterise it as a links golf. Of course it is near the water but that’s not enough. The ball ran well enough on the fairways but for every single approach shot I played the yardage to the pin. There was no need to try and run it in from 40 yards or worry about a bounce through. The ball pretty much stuck where is landed (and I’m not renowned for generating crazy amounts of spin!).
There are plenty of decisions to be made from the tee, with split fairways and risk and reward shots, but there are few surprises waiting round the corner when you get to your ball - there are no blind tee shots at Dumbarnie.
And you know what? That’s just fine. If this was another Carnoustie then Clark would have failed in his aim. Instead he has absolutely succeeded. I hadn’t been in a rich vein of form coming into my round but shot an 81 off my 12 handicap that left me happy. Many of the holes will live long in my memory and this is a golf course which all but the most dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist will enjoy.
It will be interesting to see where Dumbarnie enters the various Scottish rankings when they are next produced - I think this is one of the Top 20 courses in Scotland for sure. Is it worth £286 a round? Well, each to their own. Many will find it hard to ever justify that kind of sum for a round of golf. The car park was pretty full when I was there with Scottish voices availing themselves of the local £137 green fee. At that rate I would say Dumbarnie will be a very popular place for many years to come.
Choose your tee carefully at Dumbarnie - there should be something here for everyone with a spread of 2,400 yards from front to back!
BOOKING THE COURSE
Dumbarnie isn’t a cheap tee time. If you are coming from outside Scotland expect to pay £286, falling to £207 in the wniter months. Scottish residents can get a game for £137 and Fife residents for £105. Booking is really easy - everything you need is on their website.
The course is unashamedly aimed at the overseas market. The American golfer is their prime target for sure. But I really hope they look at their pricing policy for other British golfers. I have friends in Newcastle who would love to play here, and would love it I know, but the green fee makes it hard for me to tell them it is a ‘must play’.
I imagine it will be worth keeping eyes peeled on some bespoke tour operator sites and Twitter feeds to see if there are some special offers coming up in the weeks ahead. I imagine they’ll be keen to get plenty of play while we await the resumption of international travel.
The welcome I got was really warm, and I am sure the clubhouse will be finished to a very high spec when done. So while the tee time is expensive, you will get both bells and whistles.
Prices correct as of August 2023.
TOUR TIPS
Many visitors to Dumbarnie Links will be based in St Andrews, only 25 minutes away by car. That probably makes sense - for a golf tour St Andrews is pretty hard to beat. Have a look at my review of The Old Course for some tips of where to stay and some places to visit.
When it comes to other courses to play there are the obvious candidates - The Old Course and Kingsbarns - but down this way there are so many other great options it would be a crime to miss. Crail and Elie are the obvious choices, along with Leven Links and Lundin. Stay posted for reviews of all of those in the months ahead!
