The Dukes Course ( Pics )

[Brian_Ewen]

THE DUKES COURSE at St.ANDREWS


Havent seen too much written about this course on GCA (or much about Peter Thompsons work) , so thought I would post these .

As a lover of old quirky links courses , its said through gritted teeth that I really enjoy a round here . I have played it each year since it opened and each time it impresses me a little more . I think I enjoy it because even though its a modern course , you always know you are in Scotland.

Only complaint is its a long walk with a couple of serious climbs and a ridiculous hike from the 9th green to 10th tee .

The question is , is it enough to tempt golfers away from the Links ?.

The First Par 5


The Par 3 third .


Par 4 4th , I wish someone would cut that ugly tree down .


4th Fairway


4th Green


The short par 4 5th . Right side of fairway sees the green , Left side bunkered or blind approach .


Par 5 6th


Approach to the 6th


Another long walk between 6th green to 7th Tee , brightened by this view .


Par 3 8th


The 9th an uphill par 4 to a long unusual green , the photo is taken from the balcony of the clubhouse .


Looking back down the 9th


Par 4 10th


Approach to the Par 5 11th


Par 3 12th


Front of the 12th Green


The 13th Braw View , probably my favourite hole on the course , Par 4 of 366 yards , driveable but has a tough green that falls left to right and has a spine running from front to back . A little similar to Cruden Bays 3rd ?.


The 13th Green


Par 4 14th Fairway.


Uphill Par 5 15th


Par 4 16ths Approach


Par 3 17th


Par 4 18th .


Three tier 18th green , photo taken from the clubhouse balcony , a nice spot for a beer !.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

When in Rome..................................

[Paul_Turner]

Brian

Thanks for the pics.

It certainly look like a course that's interesting.  Just that some of the shaping makes the holes look like they "sit on" the natural terrain rather than being part of it.

[Evan_Green]

Is this course in any way connected to the Old Course in terms of management? how far from the old course is it?

[Brian_Ewen]

Evan
Yes , the course is owned by the Old Course Hotel .

I have seen some of the package deals for Tourists that the Old Course Hotel offers and most have  , " If you fail in the ballot for the Old Course , you are entitled to a complimentary round at the Dukes " . I wonder how many people get the wrong idea about the course , or play it in the wrong frame of mind after missing out on the ballot.
The Course is about a 5 minutes drive from the centre of StAndrews .

Paul
I do agree with you your comments , yet I find for every bit that I dont like , there is something done that I do like . For example , take a look at the photo of the 16th and tell me , how many modern day architects would have routed the pond around the front of the green , which would have been so wrong and so unScottish .

Brian

[allysmith]

Excellent photos Brian and an interesting take on the 13th Being like CBs 3rd.

The Dukes is indeed a beautiful course and the perfect antidote to the 'Buried Elephant' mounding seen in other nearby courses.

[Robert Emmons]

great photo's...wonderful comparison...more thoughts are always interesting

[Joel_Stewart]

Thanks for the pictures, the mounding on 17 looks pretty bad but overall it looks pretty good.

[tonyt]

I'm with Joel on #17.

Thank you for the photos Brian. The course looks attractive, and not without some merit.

Is the overall look of this course something that realistically could be used in the same paragraph as "St Andrews"? If I went over to play 3-4 of the courses, I might find the Dukes nice, but totally unlike what I came for.

[Tyler Kearns]

Brian,

    Nice photos. How did the 9th hole play, from the pictures it looks similar to the road hole at its sister course, with everything funnelling into the front left bunker. Pictures tend to flatten out contours, and still that front edge looks mighty severe. All in all the course looks great, gulp!, until I saw the view from the 15th fairway. Those condos definitely look out of place, and mar the view. Infact, I barely noticed the golf course in that picture, my eye was so quickly pulled away.

Tyler Kearns

[Thomas_Brown]

I really liked the photos, but I can't believe I'm the first to point out how green this course looks.

Perhaps, Dukes is marketed as the Parkland alternative to the Old?  

Tom

[Brian_Ewen]

Joel / Tony
I am not much a fan of the 17th either , it looks totally alien to what looks like to me a natural green site situated next to the old Icehouse .

TKearns
I cant say I am too much a fan of the 9th , its maybe down to , that I am already bracing myself for that ridiculous walk from the 9th to the 10th .
The green is interesting though and I am sure they could find some tough pin positions from that long green , but it plays pretty easy because you can miss it quite a bit right and the ball will bounce down with the slope onto the green .

As for the housing at the back of the 15th , I have no idea where that came from as they werent there when the course first opened and I am sure its nothing to do with the golf course .

Thomas
I blame my camera a bit for making it look vivid and green , the photos were taken around May , so it was before the start of the long dry summer , but it definetely played firm and I cant remember it being overally green .
In fact the condition of this course is one thing I have never complained about it . There was a problem with drainage when it first opened but since then its always been in fantastic condition each time I have played it.

As I said I wanted to post these as there is so very few "Modern" courses I enjoy a round on . Please dont turn a round down on the Links for this course , but if you have the time then dont turn your nose up at it either .