St Andrews Cathedral, Fife, Scotland
Golf & Tourism in Fife
It is impossible to imagine a place in the world more
associated with golf than Fife… and St Andrews in particular.
The town lives and breathes the game. Mention the Old
course and most golfers go weak at the knees and stories
of golfers queuing overnight for a tee time are manifold.
A round on the Old course is typically treated as a religious
experience. Less well known is that the St Andrews Links
Trust manages seven ‘St Andrews’ courses in all, with six of
them all wrapped up in this magical piece of golfing terrain.
There is more to Fife than St Andrews, of course, and golf
stretches from the 200 year old Scotscraig to the north to
Pitreavie in the south, on the outskirts of Dunfermline. In
all, there are 50 courses stretched across Fife with inland
beauties like Ladybank complimenting the world-revered
links that wrap around the coastline from St Andrews to
Crail to Lundin and beyond. Even within St Andrews, the
Duke’s course offers a mesmerising heathland experience.
Is it any wonder that Fife is named ‘The Kingdom’?
The region of Fife lies just over the Forth Bridge, north of
Edinburgh. The capital city’s airport makes the region easily
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accessible and with several clusters of courses you are
spoiled for choice when it comes to locating a base. The
history of St Andrews makes the town an easy choice
with the R&A based here and the British Golf Museum,
opposite. Over 16,000 items of golfing memorabilia are
on display, dating back to the dawn of the game. This
is a delightful town with the remains of a 12th century
cathedral standing over centuries of history and St
Andrews Bay. Just to the south, the Fairmont St Andrews
resort promises five star luxury and facilities as well as
two immaculate golf courses. There can be few better
places to relax and take in all that Fife has to offer.
There are distilleries here – you can make things easy
for yourself by visiting the Kingsbarns Distillery, which
lies next door to one of the greatest pieces of modern
golf architecture in the world – and beaches sprinkle the
coastline. There are castles and galleries, forest walks and
hiking trails, and charming villages which flash by as you
navigate your way through golf’s greatest kingdom.