I walked the course not so long ago and I am willing to go out on a limb and say that it is better than Kingsbarns and I am a great fan of Kingsbarns.
It just felt even more like a Scottish course than Kingsbarns. What Paul Kimber and David Kidd has created there is pretty fantastic when considering the very poor quality soil they had to work with especially compared to the links sand that Kingsbarns could play with.
I have about 40 photos that I would post but I just don't have time to load them up to a website but I could email them if someone can be bothered to do it.
There is plenty of width on the course but it just doesn't look like it off the tee but they will have to fight the rough to keep it down with that fertile soil that they have.
The tees complexes are superb with many of them with slopes on them so that you can tee with the ball above or ball below. The greens are crazy (in a fun way) and maybe too small for the traffic (25 000 - 30 000 rounds a year) they are suggesting.
The biggest criticism that I have is the bunker sand which is almost pure white and looks (IMHO) awful and takes your eye from the course. I think it ruins what would have been a near perfect course.
They are using the same sand as found on the Jubilee course but the bunkers on the Jubilee are not flashed up like the ones on The Castle Course. It will look good on photos but it really hurts my eyes.
Brian
Brian,
I walked the Castle on Friday and agree 100% with your notes. I love the tees, having some deliberately not flat is a wonderful new design idea, ideal for playing a variety of tee shots. I called them tee-pods instead of decks.
I also like Kingsbarns and I consider the Castle a completely different course, it's the first of "the Castle" type of course, certainly a great addition to the Links and St. Andrews golf.
When you first look at it there is a Kingsbarns look, but once you get on the course it has its own uniqueness.
The local green keepers have been playing the course lately and their initial feedback seems to be "it looks harder than it plays" whatever that means.
To me the look from the tees is difficult and I expect will be softened before opening, the fairways have fantastic movement (great shaping work), the greens are going to be the most fun I've ever played, and the variety of bunkering is also wonderful. I was told the bunker sand is darker than the ones on display. They are topdressing fairways with some very bright white sand and I'm sure the procedure will be continuous for the next 10 years to improve the soil on at least half the holes.
they will have paths for some carts, so trollies and caddies will be in use.
Can;t wait to play it!