Old Tom Morris’s Balcomie and Gil Hanse’s Craighead on the eastern tip of Fife.
Crail Golfing Society was founded in 1786, which makes it one of the oldest golf clubs in the world, and it plays on the most easterly point of Fife, 12 miles beyond St Andrews. It has two courses. Balcomie, laid out by Old Tom Morris, runs around the rocks at Fife Ness. Craighead, designed by Gil Hanse, sits on the higher ground above it. Visitors can book either online, the green fees are well below the big names along the coast, and the clubhouse looks straight over the sea.
Tee times for 2027 are open now. Groups of two to four can check live availability and book directly on the club’s website. Day tickets, catering and groups of more than 12 are arranged through the Reservations Department (info@crailgolfingsociety.co.uk, +44 (0)1333 450686). The week of The Open at St Andrews, 12–19 July 2027, has its own booking conditions, and groups of five or more must email for those dates. The visitor pages set no handicap limit. On arrival, check in at the pro shop on the left before the main car park. Buggies are for medical need at £45; power trolleys cost £22 a round, push trolleys £6, and Titleist hire sets £49. The dress code is relaxed: no replica football shirts, beachwear or sleeveless tops.
Single round, 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. From 1 May to 30 September 2027: Balcomie £180, Craighead £120, or a day ticket on both for £240. April 2027 £120. Juniors £60.
| Winter, 1 October 2026–31 March 2027 | £90 |
|---|---|
| April 2027 | £120 |
| Balcomie, 1 May–30 September 2027 | £180 |
| Craighead, 1 May–30 September 2027 | £120 |
| Day ticket, both courses, May–September 2027 | £240 |
The Old Tom Morris course, par 69. The 1st, Boathouse, is named after an 1884 lifeboat shed that still stands, and the 5th, Hell’s Hole, is rated the hardest. The 12th is a three-shot par five with a burn about 90 yards short. The round ends on The Quarry, a par three. In summer it is the dearer of the two.
Gil Hanse’s clifftop course, par 72 with four par fives. The 15th, Danes Dike, has a table-top green and a wall that a good second can carry. The 17th, Signal Point, is a 197-yard par three that demands an accurate strike, and the 18th asks you to favour the left off the tee to stay clear of the bunkers.
Golf on Balcomie is first recorded in 1857. Old Tom Morris laid out nine holes in 1895 and extended them to eighteen in 1900, and the course still has the stone walls, shared greens and railway-sleeper bunker faces of that era. It is a par 69 of about 5,860 yards from the back, short by modern standards but rarely calm, and on the 2nd the North Sea is out of bounds all the way down the right. Craighead opened in 1998 as Gil Hanse’s first design outside the United States, years before his Rio Olympic course, and he threaded it through the remains of medieval drystone walls along the clifftop. It is the longer and broader test, around 6,650 yards and par 72, and the club lists it as a Scottish Golf and R&A championship venue. Members play the two about equally.
The summer day ticket is the best value here: Balcomie in the morning and Craighead after lunch for £240, against £300 for the two rounds bought singly. Book the restaurant in the Balcomie Clubhouse ahead on summer days on +44 (0)1333 450278; it serves local dishes with views across the courses to the sea. Changing rooms, showers and towels are free to visitors, with door codes from the pro shop. Allow extra time for the last stretch of road, which is single track.
Edinburgh Airport is 51 miles away, about an hour and a quarter by road via the M90, A915 and A917. Dundee Airport is 25 miles but has only UK flights. Leuchars, 16 miles away, is the nearest station. From the centre of Crail, leave the A917 at the roundabout by the Golf Hotel and follow Balcomie Road for about two miles; the final section has passing places.
Nearby: 1. Kingsbarns Golf Links (4 km) · 2. The Castle Course, St Andrews Links (12 km) · 3. The Old Course (15 km) · 4. The Golf House Club, Elie (17 km) · 5. Dumbarnie Links (20 km) · 6. Lundin Golf Club (24 km) · Compare all St Andrews & Fife tee times
The club has no rooms of its own, but its list of local places to stay includes the Balcomie Links Hotel on the road out to the course, Seahorses in Crail, Craighead Farmhouse Cottage beside the links and the agency Fife Cottages. Crail itself is a small fishing town with a walled harbour and a handful of cafés, so a cottage there makes a peaceful base. St Andrews, 12 miles north, has far more choice and puts the Old Course ballot within reach.
Kingsbarns is ten minutes north along the A917, and the Castle Course lies between there and St Andrews, so three different coastal rounds sit on one road. Elie and Dumbarnie are 20 to 30 minutes west along the East Neuk coast. Off the course, boats from Anstruther cross to the Isle of May nature reserve in summer, and the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther is a good wet-weather stop.
These packages have a confirmed round at Crail Golfing Society in the itinerary, with the other courses, nights and hotels listed so you can compare like with like.
10 nights B&B, 8 rounds
Rounds: Western Gailes · Prestwick · Royal Troon · Dunbar · Crail Balcomie · Carnoustie · Kingsbarns · North Berwick
Stay: Ayrshire, East Lothian and Fife, including Rusacks St Andrews
Eight links in ten nights, mixing Open venues with Prestwick and Western Gailes, which many first trips miss.
Prices are Golfbreaks’ published per-person guide prices in US dollars, checked November 2026; your quote depends on dates and group size. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How we work
Balcomie closes for winter maintenance; on 9 November 2026 it was shut and Craighead was open, at the £90 winter rate. April is priced in between, and the full summer rates run from May to September. Open week in July 2027 will bring heavy demand from visitors staying in and around St Andrews.
Explore golf by monthYes. Both Balcomie and Craighead take visitors, and groups of two to four can book online with live availability. Larger groups, day tickets and catering go through the Reservations Department by email or phone, and Open week in July 2027 has separate conditions.
They suit different days. Balcomie is the 1895 Old Tom Morris course, short at par 69 but tight beside the sea, with shared greens and stone walls. Craighead is longer, par 72 on the clifftop, and costs £60 less in summer. The day ticket lets you play both.
From May to September 2027 a round on Balcomie is £180 and on Craighead £120, or £240 for both in a day. April is £120, and from October to March a single round is £90. Juniors aged 17 and under pay £60, with up to two juniors per round.
Not always. Balcomie closes for winter maintenance, and in early November 2026 the club showed Balcomie shut and Craighead open. The live course status sits at the top of the club’s home page, so look there before you drive out to Fife Ness.
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.
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