Strathtyrum Course

The Strathtyrum Course is one of seven courses at St Andrews Links, the 'Home of Golf,' designed by Donald Steel to give golfers a gentler alternative to the Old Course and its championship neighbours. Opened on 1 July 1993, it was the first entirely new 18-hole layout built at St Andrews in almost 80 years, occupying former farmland from the Strathtyrum estate that the Links Trust purchased from Mrs Gladys Cheape in 1986.

Playing to a par of 69 over 5,620 yards from the back tees (course rating 66.2, slope 107), Strathtyrum is deliberately less punishing than its stablemates, with only 15 bunkers scattered across the property — a rarity by St Andrews standards. Two loops of nine holes run broadly east to west, so the prevailing westerly wind plays a significant role in how the course scores, even though its hazards are comparatively forgiving. Large, undulating greens put a premium on approach-shot accuracy and putting rather than sheer power.