The course was laid out on land leased from the Cambo Estate until 1850. At this time land was considered more valuable for farming than for golf. The golf course was reacquired by the Cambo Estate in order to add to their farmable area.
Prompted and inspired by Lady Erskine of Cambo, the old Kingsbarns Golfing Society was re-established and founded as Kingsbarns Golf Club in 1922 and Willie Auchterlonie laid out a nine-hole course on the links about Kingsbarns Bay. This course served the golfing needs of the locals and holidaymakers until the onset of the Second World War when the Links was mined in the national security defence effort and it quickly reverted to rough pasture.
Marilyn Cookes prepares to play to the par three 2nd hole.
Golf remained absent on the site until the year 2000, resuming again after the Kyle Phillips design was created, providing the first new course on links land in Scotland for over 70 years.
And what a stunning creation it is. Many links courses, although close to the sea, do not provide any view of it. Not here at Kingsbarns. A lot of work was done in the creation of the course to ensure that you can view the North Sea from every hole on the course.
Not only is it visually appealing, but it is also appealing as a golf course too. There is a sense of space from the tee, but penalty should you stray. It requires a lot of thought, and there are many risk / reward options waiting to seduce you into the wrong shot.
What a friendly group I was with today. Jenny Jones, Grant Nicholson and Marilyn Cookes all within a few feet of each other from the 11th tee. I wasn't quite as friendly, you can see mine further down the fairway.
One of the signature holes here at Kingsbarns is the par five 12th hole. The hole works it's way down alongside the North Sea coast, and the beach remains in play as a fairly sizeable water hazard. If you hit a poor shot, and the tide is out you can just pop over the stone wall and play it back off the beach.
Jenny Jones is helping me search for my ball. I am sure the caddy said keep it left of the wall!!
You can get a bit lost in the scenery here and forget about golf. This is from behind the tee of the par three 13th.
The other signature hole, the par three 15th. Grant Nicholson is pictured prior to successfully negotiating his way to the edge of the green. Right is not ideal, and can lead to your ball pinballing around on the rocks. This hole plays at a monstrous 212 yards during the Dunhill Links Trophy (being played in four weeks' time on this course, Carnoustie and St Andrews).
We were quite fortunate to have good weather here today. No rain, even a bit of sunshine, and enough wind to be a good test.
We ahve been fortunate to time our visit quite well. Kingsbarns is in between tournaments. The 2017 Women's British Open was held here a few weeks ago, and then the Dunhill Links Trophy is here shortly.
Melanie Hannon was our winner today, taking the honours with a finely constructed 35 points.
Tomorrow we leave St Andrews, heading west, and play at Ladybank before moving on to stay at Loch Lomond.
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