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Pete Boyce (England) 24/10/07

Played the both the Torrance & Devlin Course this weekend on two breezy days, which was not too disastrous for my first experience of Links Golf.

The Torrance Course was ‘easier’ than the Devlin. The Greens were in excellent condition and were fast, the fastest I have played on for some time. The Devlin Greens were larger, more undulating and much harder. The Devlin also has more water features than the Torrance. It was extremely hard to hit the Greens and stay on them and also easy to pitch on and see them roll off, great fun !!!! As with all Courses, some holes needed local knowledge and one would play the Course’s differently when playing again. Both Courses meander there way around the Coastal edges & cliff tops with some great views.

The Devlin Course itself is quite undulating with some minor walks between some Greens & ‘T’s. Both Course’s were well manicured and well defined. The Devlin Course had denser rough than the Torrance and a few more balls were lost on the Devlin. The Bunker positions were in the optimum positions on and off the Fairways and around the Greens.

The Clubhouse is quite impressive with a good Pro Shop albeit both a bit pricey. The view from the Clubhouse over the Course’s and St. Andrews in the distance is excellent.

We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel (about 350 Yards from the Clubhouse, the Front 9 on the Torrance Course plays around the Hotel) on the Saturday night and got the Hotel Courtesy Bus directly into St.Andrews. The Driver recommended where to eat (Ziggys, Mexican was good food and reasonably priced) and where to go to watch the Rugby World Cup Final. Apart from the result and we had a great night out in St. Andrews …… plenty of pubs and restaurants to choose from. The Courtesy Bus picked us back up from the Pub where we were and dropped us off back @ the Hotel. The Hotel is a bit pricey, but it has a superb layout and is excellent inside. We could not fault the rooms and it is also ‘dog friendly’ i.e. plenty of people with dogs in and around the Hotel.

ALL the staff were all very friendly, helpful and courteous in both the Hotel and Clubhouse.

Value for Money	8
Challenge	9
Off Course	9

Patrick Wassel (Germany) 06/10/05

Intro:

I visited Scotland together with my father in the middle of September this year (hcp 5 and 15). We stayed near Anstruther in a woderful cottage and played 9 out of ten days. Planning the trip I tried to find a interesting mixture of course typs for reasonable prices. I bought 5 bunkered coupons (2for1) which I highly recommend, if you want to play good courses for small money.

Before this trip a had allready been to Fife once and to Scotland and ireland.

All in all, the trip was just great and can not be compared to usual trips to Spain, Portugal or elsewhere, mainly because of:

- the tradition of the courses and the different layouts

- the value for money

- the ease on the course, playing mostly two-balls in less then 4 hours

- and even the weather...

Main Part:

The locals recommended to play the Devlin instead of the Torrance. So we got a teetime after 1 pm, earlier you can not use the coupons, on a windy but nice day. Greenfee: 95 GBP. The course was not busy at all. I played from the white tees, avoiding the the challange from the black ones. The first 6 holes are pretty straight foward, interesting but could be found anywhere in the world. Some of the others are pretty spectacular and challenging, especially No. 11 and 17.

Tees, fairways and greens where in very good shape. The rough, which is pretty high in some places, needs another 1-2 years to mature. It is not really an easy walking course and therefore you have this ugly buggy paths beside each fairway.

Sure, it is a challenging, modern and spectacular golf course but playing this modern style of courses an a typical links ground felt unfamiliar at first and later even unfair because you can often not play a bump and the greens felt much harder than on other courses.

Resumee:

The Devlin is a good choice, if you want to play a modern course with links characteristics and own some coupons. Otherwise, I would recommend to play the modern wonder some miles south which can not be compared to the Devlin in any aspect, to my mind.

Overall: 6 out of 10 Balls

Have Fun out there, and sorry for my poor English.

Value for Money	7
Challenge	8
Off Course	9

James Mccann (Scotland) 14/05/04

Returned two months after playing the Devlin to play the Torrance. Weather conditions were a lot better this time, just blustery. Pro in the shop

said choose your own tees (why dont more allow this?)so we played off the blues at the back which was a hefty 7k total yardage! The greens were in absolutely mint condition - PROPER links course grain and speed - wonderful. So many hole designs offered marvellous risk/reward challenges with bunkers placed strategically in abundance (sand could do with topping up as most bunkers that we were in had sand compacted). Stay on the fairways as even slightly stray shots are gobbled up by thick grass which just devours golf balls.

It is a great course (better than the Devlin, in my opinion) and can be played half price with Bunkered two for one coupons (unlike the Devlin).

The clubhouse service was first class. Its easy to see why there were so many large visiting parties being catered for. A must play in Fife.

James Mccann (Scotland) 18/03/04

Four of us played the Devlin course on a VERY blustery day for a special winter tee rate of £99 which was great value for money. They have spent a fortune on the layout and clubhouse (which is very modern). Although very young, the fairways, tees and greens were in fabulous condition for mid-March. Could not believe a new course would have no yardage markings, though. Will be back in the summer to try the Torrance course next door.

Scott Morton (Scotland) 27/08/03

I had the pleasure of playing the 'Torrance' course recently. It was an absolute joy. You have to think your way round the course rather than blast your way round. The setting of the course and clubhouse is stunning. The condition of the course was excellent and the staff were cordial. I'll certainly be back.

Robert Karlson (Hong Kong) 18/08/03

The Devlin Course:I had the privilege to play this course at its best on a beautiful calm summers day. Taking advantage of any tee policy, we chose the Championship course, which despite being over 7000 yds did not seem like a physical ordeal for our mixed handicap group. The fairways are wide and inviting and the rough only truly savage in places the most determined explorer would shy away from. Drives must still be positioned correctly however to combat some very protected pin positions particularly on the par fives. Fast but receptive greens means that well struck shots are rewarded without the bad bounces of many links courses. As a Scratch and well-traveled golfer I consider this course rates in my World top ten. A refreshing design change from the current trend where the Driver and attacking golf is discouraged.