Tom Doak
I spent this past weekend in St. Andrews, and the Castle clubhouse is not obviously visible from the town, the other courses or the beach (I didn't notice it, but wasn't really looking either). I did drive through the Castle for a look, and the clubhouse is very weird-looking, like something left over from the 1964 World's Fair on Long Island (viz. the climatic scenes of"Men in Black"). The road down to the clubhouse is weird too. There is very little evidence that you are driving through the middle of a golf course, because the road is lined on both sides by those 5-10 foot Don King Hairdo mounds that (from the pictures) "grace" the course. The clubhouse is settled into those mounds, as Tom Dunne says. Overall, it looks and feels more like a back lot for the old Star Trek series than a golf course, but I'll reserve final judgement until when and if I play the course. I say "if," because at £120 I'm not paying the rack rate. Has anybody on here played the course without being comped? If so, was it value for money?
Rich
Hello Rich, I've played it five times, once comped, once on opening day (invite) and three times using my Links Ticket. The Castle is included on the Links ticket for an extra 10 pounds per year. 160 total is the best deal in golf! Because it is a mile from town it didn't seem to get used by many of the Links ticket holders although almost every other time is available for local play within certain dates.
I don't think the greens have been altered this winter, they were not as bad as many people, including myself, said. They have softened some of the in-fairway Don Kings.
The clubhouse is unusual from the outside and the design caused many difficulties but overall I think it is quite good, the retail area is bigger than the F&B area but it helps raise money for the "charity". Altho it is "hidden" from town, it is very hard to miss from the Torrance Course and our clubhouse is very visable from most of the Castle Course. The spaceship design fits with the seafood restaurant in town, two "modern" buildings.
I doubt seriously that the Links would consider expanding further, the Castle will be their last venture in that direction. Hopefully the Eden and Jubilee could see some improvements with any surplus.