Eleven rounds worth crossing Fife for sit within about an hour of St Andrews, and almost every one is booked a different way. The Old Course runs a daily ballot drawn 48 hours ahead, so a time is never certain unless you buy a package. Kingsbarns takes requests for the following year from 1 June, Carnoustie books online with a strict handicap limit, and Gleneagles in Perthshire changes its single rate every month. Closer in, the Castle Course, Dumbarnie and Crail’s Balcomie links take visitors with fewer rules. South-west of town, Elie, Lundin and Leven Links line the Firth of Forth for well under half the Kingsbarns fee, though Elie and Lundin keep visitors to set hours, and Ladybank adds a sheltered heathland round inland. This page sets all eleven side by side, so you can anchor the week on the hardest tee time to get and fill the other days with courses that suit the weather, the budget and your group.
Tap a pin for photos, prices and a booking link.
| Course | Green fee from | What’s included | Getting there | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 1The Old CourseHistoric links | £240Checked October 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 2Kingsbarns Golf LinksChampionship links | £430Checked October 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 3Carnoustie Golf LinksPublic championship links | £249Checked October 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 4GleneaglesThree-course resort | £115Checked October 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 5The Castle Course, St Andrews LinksPublic clifftop course | £95Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 6Dumbarnie LinksModern pay-and-play links | £256Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 7Crail Golfing SocietyHistoric two-course links | £90Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 8The Golf House Club, ElieHistoric par-70 links | £90Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 9Lundin Golf ClubBraid-remodelled links | £100Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 10Leven LinksOpen qualifying links | £50Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide | ||
 11Ladybank Golf ClubChampionship heathland | £95Checked November 2026 · details | Bookpackage via GolfbreaksRead the guide |
Prices are the lowest published or listed visitor rates we found, with their source and date on each guide. Partner links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. How we work
The Old Course. Most visitors get on through the ballot, so stay at least four nights to give yourself several draws, or buy a package with a guaranteed time. Closed on Sundays.
Green fees & bookingKingsbarns. Requests for the next year open on 1 June, no handicap certificate is needed, and the club will refund the caddie fee if you feel your caddie did not help.
Green fees & bookingLundin and Leven Links meet at a boundary on Largo Bay. A summer morning at Lundin and a weekday afternoon at Leven, where the fee drops to £110 from noon, together cost less than one Old Course round.
Green fees & bookingLadybank, 16 miles inland among pine, birch and heather. It staged Open final qualifying in each of seven St Andrews Open years from 1978 to 2010, and its caddies can be booked at £65.
Green fees & bookingElie, a par 70 with no par fives, where the starter checks the blind opening drive through a submarine periscope. Visitors play 11:00–12:30 or 14:30–16:00, and never from mid-July to mid-August.
Green fees & bookingCarnoustie’s Championship Course, with a handicap limit of 28 for men and 36 for women. A three-day ticket covers all three Carnoustie courses for £480 in summer.
Green fees & bookingEach package names its rounds, nights and hotels, so you can see which of the courses above it includes before you ask for a quote.
7 nights B&B, 4 rounds plus an Old Course ballot attempt
Rounds: Kingsbarns · Carnoustie Championship · Gullane No. 1 · North Berwick West Links
Stay: 4 nights in St Andrews, 3 in North Berwick
Four nights in St Andrews gives you four chances in the Old Course ballot, with Kingsbarns and Carnoustie confirmed either way.
7 nights B&B, 5 rounds including an Old Course ballot attempt
Rounds: Turnberry Ailsa · Royal Troon Old Course · Muirfield · Carnoustie Championship
Stay: 2 nights in Troon, 2 in North Berwick, 3 in St Andrews
Four Open venues confirmed and a ballot try at a fifth, crossing Scotland west to east in one week.
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.
10 nights B&B, 6 rounds
Rounds: St Andrews New Course · Kingsbarns · Moray Old Course · Royal Dornoch · Cabot Highlands
Stay: St Andrews, the Highlands and Edinburgh
Fife and the far north in one trip, for golfers who want Royal Dornoch and Cabot Highlands as much as the Home of Golf.
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
All St Andrews stay & play packages on Golfbreaks
In high season a round on the Old Course costs £355 in 2026 and £380 in 2027, plus £80 for a caddie and a tip the Links Trust suggests should start at £35, so budget about £470. Kingsbarns charges £524 from May 2027 and £590 in Open week, plus its own £80 caddie fee. Carnoustie’s Championship Course is £360 from May to October; its three-course ticket, valid for three consecutive days, is £480. Gleneagles moves by month, from £115 in mid-winter to £260 in May and £500 in July 2027, and hotel guests pay less than visitors. A package adds beds and transfers to the same rounds, and it is the only way to fix an Old Course time in advance. South-west along the coast the fees step down: Elie is £200 from May to September, Lundin £175 before 1:30pm and £150 after, Leven £125 on a summer weekday morning, and Ladybank £145 a round or £215 for the day. Of those four, only Ladybank books caddies, at £65 plus a tip.
Edinburgh Airport is the usual arrival point: about an hour and a quarter by road to St Andrews or Kingsbarns, an hour and a half to Carnoustie and an hour to Gleneagles. By rail, Leuchars station is around five miles from St Andrews; Carnoustie station is a short walk from the first tee; and Gleneagles station, two miles from the hotel, is served by the Caledonian Sleeper from London. For the Largo Bay courses, Leven station reopened in 2024 with direct trains from Edinburgh Waverley; Leven Links is about a mile from the platform and Lundin about two, while Elie, with no railway into the East Neuk, is a taxi ride of roughly ten miles. Ladybank has its own station on the Edinburgh–Perth–Dundee line. A car is still simplest for a mixed week, though taxis meet the trains.
Peak demand runs from late April to mid-October. Kingsbarns opens for 2027 on 27 March, and the Old Course is played from fairway mats in winter at a lower fee. The Alfred Dunhill Links closes the Old Course and Kingsbarns for a week around the turn of September and October. In 2027 the Old Course also hosts The Open from 11 to 18 July, when it is closed to visitors and every bed in Fife is in demand. Elie hands its course to members from mid-July to mid-August, so it drops out of an Open-week plan entirely, while Lundin (£175) and Ladybank (£195 if booked by 31 May) publish separate Open-week fees. In winter Leven’s weekday rate falls to £50 with mats in play, and Lundin takes no visitors on Saturdays.
Enter the ballot 48 hours before play, online, by phone or in person before 2pm, with two to four named players and handicaps up to 36. To guarantee a time, buy the Links Trust’s Swilcan Package or an Authorised Provider’s package.
£355 in high season 2026, rising to £380 in 2027. A caddie is £80 plus a gratuity starting at about £35. Winter rounds from November to March cost £180, played from fairway mats.
Kingsbarns, Carnoustie and Gleneagles all take advance bookings: Kingsbarns opens the following year’s requests on 1 June, Carnoustie books online and Gleneagles takes prepaid bookings. Elie, Lundin, Leven Links and Ladybank also sell visitor times online, though Elie keeps visitors to two daily windows and Lundin opens Saturdays only after 3pm.
About 40 minutes by road across the Tay. Carnoustie also has its own station on the Edinburgh–Aberdeen line, a short walk from the first tee.
No. It is closed to visitors for The 155th Open, from 11 to 18 July 2027, and for the setup either side.
In summer, Leven Links at £110 on a weekday from noon, or Ladybank’s £95 twilight rate after 3.30pm. Out of season, Leven charges £50 on weekdays from December to mid-March, and Elie’s round falls to £90 from November to March.
Yes, for several courses. Carnoustie station is a short walk from the first tee. Leven station, reopened in 2024 with direct trains from Edinburgh Waverley, is about a mile from Leven Links, and Ladybank has its own station on the Edinburgh–Perth–Dundee line. Leuchars, the station for St Andrews, is around five miles from town.