Jubilee Course, St Andrews

The verdict

The Jubilee is the tough one. Of the courses on the great shared expanse of St Andrews links it occupies the strip nearest the sea, the most exposed and undulating ground, and that position alone makes it the sternest test in town. It opened in 1897 as a humble twelve hole course laid out by John Angus to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, was lengthened by Willie Auchterlonie after the war, and was transformed in 1988 when Donald Steel completely redesigned it into the full championship eighteen played today. The modern Jubilee is long, rolling and demanding, with greens that ask serious questions.

For the traveling golfer it is the course to take on when you want St Andrews to test you rather than charm you. It lacks the ancient quirks of the Old Course and the gentler welcome of the New, but it rewards good ball striking and a player who can handle the wind off the bay, and it is far easier to book than the Old. As one of the public Links Trust courses with no handicap requirement, it slots naturally into a St Andrews itinerary as the stiff challenge between rounds on the more famous links.

The holes worth the trip

What sets the Jubilee apart is the land. Donald Steel's redesign made full use of the big, rolling dunes on the seaward edge of the links, so the course has more elevation change and more dramatic terrain than its neighbours, with blind shots, tumbling fairways and greens perched on the high ground. The wind is rarely an afterthought here: this is the most open of the St Andrews courses, and a fresh breeze off the bay turns even the medium length holes into a genuine struggle.

The back nine is where the course bares its teeth. The fifteenth, a short par 4 of only around 356 yards, is the hole everyone talks about, an odd, awkward beast where length is no help and position is everything, the kind of hole that wrecks a good card with a single loose swing. Around it the closing holes demand precise iron play into firm, sloping greens, and the finish, returning toward town, asks for control and patience when the legs are tired and the wind is up.

What stays with you is the honesty of the challenge. The Jubilee does not have the history of the Old or the quiet perfection of the New, but it gives you the most physical, most exposed links golf in St Andrews, a course that makes you earn every par. For the golfer who wants the home of golf to push back, it is the round that delivers.

Where to stay nearby

Base yourself in St Andrews town, where the hotels run from grand links view resorts to small guest houses, all within easy reach of the first tees. The town puts every St Andrews course on your doorstep and keeps the restaurants, the old streets and the golf history close at hand, while Edinburgh is about an hour away for arrivals into Scotland.

Play the Jubilee as part of a full St Andrews links tour. Combine its stern test with the legendary Old Course if you win the ballot, the much loved New Course next door, and the dramatic clifftop modern links of the Castle Course for a few complete days in the home of golf.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts around St Andrews.