St Andrews Craigtoun: The Home of Golf Just Got an Eighth Course Worth Playing

The St Andrews Links Trust has quietly added an eighth course to one of golf's most famous portfolios, and it is not another stretch of linksland battered by North Sea winds. The Craigtoun Course -- formerly known as The Duke's -- officially joined the Trust's stable on January 5, 2026, and it brings something the Home of Golf has never had under one roof before: a heathland track.

If you have been to St Andrews and played nothing but links courses, Craigtoun will feel like a different planet. The course sits up high, playing down and through tall pine trees, around large natural bunkers and rolling undulations. On a clear day you can see St Andrews Bay. There is no wind whipping off the Firth of Forth here. There are trees. Real ones. Lots of them. Welcome to the inland version of St Andrews, and yes, it counts.

A Brief History of Awkward Names

The original course was designed by five-time Open champion Peter Thomson on what was formerly a working farm on the Craigtoun estate, with work beginning in 1993 and the course opening in 1995. It was named The Duke's after Prince Andrew, who attended the opening -- a branding decision that aged about as well as a knockoff starter set left out in a Scottish winter. The former prince's Duke of York title was formally removed by King Charles III, and nobody involved in the rebrand seems to be losing sleep over letting that name go.

The course was later renovated by Tim Liddy, who added five new holes and pushed it further toward its heathland character. The routing that exists today is a proper championship test. From the back tees it stretches to 7,512 yards, with five tee options tiering down to 5,216 yards. There is room for everyone out here, which is kind of the point.

Why This Deal Matters

The Links Trust runs Europe's largest publicly-owned golf complex, and demand has been chewing through available tee time capacity for years. A record 300,000 rounds are expected to be played at the Home of Golf in 2026, with around 26,000 of those coming from the newly added Craigtoun Course. The Trust took over a long-term lease from Kohler, which had owned the Old Course Hotel and the course since 2004. Kohler invested heavily in the property -- drainage, irrigation, general TLC -- and by all accounts handed it over in solid shape.

For visiting golfers, the addition means more realistic access to tee times in a town where booking windows fill up fast and the Old Course ballot has humbled many a well-organized travel planner.

What It Costs Now

Here is where things actually get interesting. The full-price summer visitor green fee has been reduced from 220 pounds to 155 pounds -- a 30 percent cut -- aligning it with New Course and Jubilee Course pricing. Fife residents can play from 45 pounds and Scottish residents from 55 pounds in the shoulder season. That is a meaningful price drop on a course that was previously running as a private resort facility. If you are building a St Andrews itinerary around more than just the Old Course -- which, for the record, you should be -- Craigtoun now makes strong financial sense as a fourth or fifth round during your trip.

How It Fits Into a St Andrews Trip

Most golfers who make it to St Andrews play the Old Course and the New Course, then maybe squeeze in the Jubilee or the Castle. Craigtoun gives you a legitimate reason to stay an extra day and play something that feels completely different from everything else on offer here.

I would slot it in the middle of the trip -- day two or three -- as a mental palate cleanser between links rounds. The heathland layout demands a different kind of shot-making. You are shaping tee balls through tree corridors instead of reading crosswinds, calculating carry distances instead of bump-and-run approaches off tight turf. It rewards precision in a way the links courses do not always require, and it will test parts of your game you have been ignoring since the fairways opened up at the last resort you played.

The clubhouse, driving range, and pro shop all transferred to Links Trust management. Around 300 existing members transferred with the course and were given guaranteed member times, which suggests the Trust understands this is a community asset, not just a visitor attraction to monetize.

The Bottom Line

St Andrews is already the greatest golf destination on the planet, and the Links Trust just made it better. Craigtoun is not the Old Course. Nothing is. But it is a proper heathland test with championship pedigree, a price point that will not require a second mortgage, and the full weight of the Trust's management behind it. If you are planning a St Andrews trip for 2026 or beyond, add a day, add a round, and give this one the attention it deserves.

The Duke is gone. Long live Craigtoun.