Dumbarnie Links

If you're building a new golf course, there are few tougher neighborhoods in which to do so than Fife, Scotland. Being near St. Andrews and a host of first-rate courses means stiff competition, and while being new has its advantages for a while, staying power is most important.

Dumbarnie Links seems well set up to meld into the deep field of golf in the St. Andrews area. Its main point of differentiation is its scale - it is a big ballpark in a region where many of the old links tend to be intimate, sometimes to a fault in certain golfers' eyes. Its wholly-manufactured dunescape is impressive and imposing, and the holes within are very stimulating, with all manner of rolling contours, pot bunkers and more rugged sandy blowouts. Golfers will surely flock to Dumbarnie as soon as it opens to the public in May 2020, at which time we will see just how well the masses believe it stacks up to the neighbors.