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The
Duke’s Golf Club debuted in 1995, on a piece of land
just up the hill from the famed Old Course at St. Andrews.
Fittingly, Peter Thomson, the man chosen to design the
course, had ties to St. Andrews, as one of his five British
Open victories came here in 1955.
Thomson’s design philosophy mirrors his own style of
play that made him so successful in the Open, in
that golf
is a game played along the ground as well as through the
air. Borrowing from the pages of many of the classic
links, it is easy to see why this great Open champion
was deemed the man to add one more course to the Fife
landscape. In actuality, the Duke’s Course plays
like a cross between an American course and a links.
The terrain, set on
the hillside, does not bode well for comparison to
typical flat linksland, and stands of trees mingle
with many of the traditional features of links golf.
The Duke’s
provides something very different than the rest of the
courses in St. Andrews, and inevitably that will come
to be its
greatest asset.
Thomson
introduces the golfer to the course with a 517-yard
par five. Three central bunkers
in the fairway about 100 yards apart can wreak havoc
on the lay-up, so the sides of the
fairway should be the favoured line. The green will
concede good birdie chances if the proper tier is
found.
The
third hole showcases the departure from links golf that the
Duke’s Course offers. Heavily treed, the 156-yard par
three provides a buffer from the wind, which generally
is across the hole (if the ball rises above the tree
line). The water hazard and small bunker short guard
the shallow green, so a play to left of center offers
the best chance at birdie or par.
As
the golfer graduates to the back nine, they are faced
with the stiff test offered by the 11th hole – a
610-yard par five. With out of bounds running the
length of the right side, the challenge is heightened
because the tee shot needs to be played down the right
to avoid a bunker on the left side. The approach will
cross a stream that sits some 50 yards shy of the of
the two-tiered green that slopes diagonally away from
the golfer.
The
14th represents the most demanding hole on the course,
and it might be the best as well. This downhill dogleg
to the right has a cairn located in the centre of
the fairway, indicating a burn that runs down the
fairway before cutting across the right side. The
drive must be exacting, as if you go down the right
side, the burn can be reached where it cuts back
across, but from the left side, which is the better
angle, shots must negotiate a narrow fairway with bumps. Laying
back will leave no chance at the green, which is 45
yards deep and very receptive.
The
finishing hole at the Duke’s may be the longest
404-yard hole in the world. The hole plays directly
uphill and requires two long shots to reach a tricky green. The second in
particular requires two
extra clubs, as the fairway in front slopes back into
the green that bisects the fairway just short. The
green's two tiers are essentially separate greens, as
a ball coming to rest on the wrong
tier will mean a very difficult two put.
Whether
Thomson knowingly set out to create a different
experience within golf’s kingdom or not, he has done
it with the Duke’s Course. While the course does not
remind the golfer of any course they will play during
their time in St. Andrews, it affords the golfer the
ability get a round on a course that might remind them
a bit more of their home course. What better way to
complete a golf trip of a lifetime to the home of
golf?
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