The Castle Course is the St Andrews Links course you can plan a trip around without a ballot. It opened in 2008 as the seventh course run by the Links Trust, on farmland and cliffs at Kinkell, a couple of miles east of the town centre. From its fairways you look back across St Andrews Bay to the town’s spires and towers, and down to the Rock and Spindle, a volcanic sea stack below the clubhouse. It needs no handicap certificate, books online like any other Links course, and costs a little over half the Old Course fee.
The Castle Course, St Andrews Links green fees and tee times.
Book through the St Andrews Links online tee-time system, the same one used for the New, Jubilee and Eden, or through the Links Trust reservations office. There is no ballot. Visitor tee times start at 9.10am; earlier slots are kept for Links Ticketholders, the local season-ticket members. The Old Course is the only Links Trust course that asks for a handicap certificate, so any golfer can book the Castle. Pull trolleys, PowaKaddys, Callaway hire clubs and shoes can be arranged through the Links Trust, and soft spikes are expected. A Castle time is a sensible fixed point on a St Andrews trip: book it for a day when you are not waiting on a ballot result, and leave the other mornings free for Old Course draws.
INDICATIVE GREEN FEE · CHECKED NOVEMBER 2026From £95
Visitor green fee in March 2027, with fairway mats in use. Shoulder season £145 (1–18 April and 18–31 October 2027); high season £205 (19 April–17 October 2027). The 2026 high-season fee was £190.
1–31 March 2027 (fairway mats)
£95
1–18 April 2027
£145
19 April–17 October 2027
£205
18–31 October 2027
£145
Prices change by season and booking route, so confirm the current rate with the operator. Official rates ↗
The round, in perspective.
David McLay Kidd, the Scottish architect who made his name with Bandon Dunes in Oregon, designed the Castle on a headland that is higher and more open than the flat links in town. The result is a par 71 of 6,759 yards from the back tees, with big shaped contours, rumpled fairways and greens set close to the cliff edge on several holes. It plays more like a modern resort layout than an old links: you see most of the trouble, and the challenge is choosing a line in the wind. The opening hole, Ford, sets the tone. The Links Trust’s own notes describe it as a left-to-right dogleg where the drive should stop short of the fairway bunkers, and an approach from the right has to clear two greenside traps, so take an extra club. Expect the sea to be in view for much of the round.
Know before you go.
Handicap
No certificate needed
Visitor tee times
From 9.10am
Juniors
Half the adult fee (under 16; under 18 from April 2027)
Spikes
Soft spikes or plastic cleats
Hire
Trolleys, PowaKaddys, Callaway clubs and shoes
Make the trip work.
The Castle sits apart from the other Links courses, and the free Links shuttle bus, which links the Links and Eden clubhouses, the Old Pavilion and the Golf Academy, does not run out to it. Plan on a car or a taxi. The circular Castle Clubhouse has a glass front and a terrace, serves breakfast before early rounds and gastropub dishes later, and takes table bookings online or on +44 (0)1334 464505. In July 2027 the 155th Open is played on the Old Course, so beds and tee times across the town will be under pressure for that whole week.
The course is on the A917 Crail road, a couple of miles east of St Andrews town centre and about five minutes by car. Edinburgh Airport is roughly an hour and a quarter away over the Queensferry Crossing, and Glasgow Airport is also a practical arrival point. Leuchars station, on the Edinburgh–Aberdeen line, is about ten minutes from St Andrews by car.
Staying in St Andrews keeps the Castle a short drive away and puts you on foot for the Old, New and Jubilee. The Old Course Hotel, Rusacks and Hotel du Vin on The Scores are the established choices in town; guest houses on Murray Park and Murray Place cost less and are close to the clubhouses. Fairmont St Andrews is a little further along the same A917 clifftop, with its own two courses on site, which makes it the closest large hotel to the Castle.
Make a trip of it.
Kingsbarns is about ten minutes further along the coast road, and Crail’s Balcomie Links waits at the end of it on Fife Ness, so the Castle slots into an east-coast day. The Fairmont’s Torrance and Kittocks courses are next door. The New and Jubilee in town fill the days when the Old Course ballot fails. Off the course, the Fife Coastal Path runs along the edge of the Castle above Kinkell Braes, and the ruins of St Andrews Castle and the cathedral are a short walk from the harbour.
Find your season.
The published rate table skips November to February, and the 2027 season opens on 1 March with fairway mats in use at £95. Shoulder rates apply in early April and the second half of October, and high season runs from 19 April to 17 October 2027. Caddies are only available from 1 April to 31 October.
No. St Andrews Links only asks for a handicap certificate on the Old Course, where the limit is 36. The Castle, New, Jubilee, Eden, Strathtyrum and Balgove can be booked by any golfer, which makes the Castle a good choice for mixed-ability groups.
How much does the Castle Course cost in 2027?
The adult visitor fee is £205 from 19 April to 17 October 2027, £145 in the shoulder weeks either side, and £95 in March with fairway mats. Under-16s pay roughly half, and the junior rate extends to under-18s from 1 April 2027.
What time do visitor tee times start on the Castle Course?
From 9.10am. Times before that are reserved for St Andrews Links Ticketholders, the local residents and members who hold season tickets. Morning visitors usually get the first half of the day, with the clubhouse terrace for lunch afterwards.
Can I get to the Castle Course on the St Andrews Links shuttle?
No. The free shuttle runs between the Links and Eden clubhouses, the Old Pavilion and the Golf Academy, Monday to Saturday in season. The Castle is about five minutes out of town on the A917, so take a taxi or drive.
Last checked 10 November 2026. This is an independent planning guide, not a first-hand review or a booking service. Check live availability, access, fees and travel details with the operator before booking. Airport suggestions are starting points for route planning.
