In a world of big, bold, new links courses, Dumbarnie Golf Links stands apart

Clive Clark-designed links in Lower Largo celebrates fifth birthday

Article and photography by Matt Hooper

I have been very fortunate over the last 20+ years to play some of the UK and Ireland's greatest courses, many of them being magnificent links. I was a caddie at Royal County Down in 2004 and 2006, and managed to play the Championship course and Annesley Links on several occasions, through my time at Myerscough College I got to play Royal Lytham and St Anne's three times, and I have played the Championship course at Royal Dornoch twice, along with the Struie course. In 2011 I moved to St Andrews and I have played all of the St Andrews Links courses, including the Old Course, many times. During my summer in 2006 in Ireland I got to play the Glashedy Links at Ballyliffin, and over the years I have played Royal Aberdeen, the Kings Links, Cruden Bay, Conwy, Dunfanaghy, Crail Golfing Society's Balcomie and Craighead courses, the Kittocks and Torrance courses at Fairmont St Andrews, Fleetwood, Blackpool North Shore, and in 2011 I played The 2025 Open Championship venue, Royal Portrush.

In 2018 I played Kingsbarns for the first time, and through my time running SHANK Media I have had the opportunity to play Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen, and photograph several tournaments at Carnoustie. So I have played and worked at a variety of some of the oldest and most traditional links ever seen, and some of the most modern, luxurious links built in the 21st century. The St Andrews-area is blessed with a mix of the old and the new, and Dumbarnie Golf Links has some esteemed peers in Kingsbarns, the Castle Course at St Andrews Links, and the two courses at the Fairmont St Andrews. Designed by former Ryder Cup player, and BBC commentator, Clive Clark, Dumbarnie Golf Links is located on the 5,000-acre Balcarres Estate at Colinsburgh, near Elie and Lundin Links, and at the heart of an established golfing coastline including Golf house Elie, Lundin Links, and Leven Links.

New golf courses in or near the Home of Golf are highly anticipated, and the opening of Dumbarnie was no different, except it was, very different indeed.

"From this evening, I must give the British people one simple instruction. You must stay at home". The words of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, heralding the beginning of lockdown on March 23, 2020, as Covid19 spread across the UK. Under the terms of lockdown, construction on the clubhouse was halted, but work could continue to be done on the golf course, which was crucial as it approached its official opening. As the first steps to come out of lockdown were confirmed on May 11, the decision was taken to move the official opening back from May 16 to May 29, with Dumbarnie set to welcome its first ever paying golfers, all from the local area.

Earlier in the year I had contacted Dumbarnie Golf Links GM David Scott about the possibility of offering a photography service to the golfers visiting Dumbarnie, and as the weeks went by the possibility of photographing the Opening Day occurred. So on Friday 29 May I made the journey, by bus, from Cupar to Dumbarnie, becoming one of very few photographers to ever capture the course, and the first to capture play on the course at that time.

Symptomatic with the rest of 2020, the weather on Dumbarnie's big day was absolutely glorious.

My initial impressions of Dumbarnie, after having photographed its first day were "This, Scotland's newest golf course, will for sure rival Kingsbarns and Trumps Trump. A spectacular addition to the coast with the most, just 12 miles from St Andrews."

I got to experience the course with clubs in my hands for the first time on 8 June 2020, and it lived up to what I had seen and felt through my lens just weeks earlier. Again it was a stunning day, and it would go down as one of my greatest golfing experiences. The variety of teeing grounds, the unbelievable views, its playability for all levels of golfer and its remarkable condition. It may have come as somewhat of a blessing, if that is possible for anyone, in this time of lockdowns and the pandemic that the course has been lightly raced in the first 10 months. When I played Trump International Golf Links in 2014 I was less than impressed with the condition of the course, and it undoubtedly impacted upon my enjoyment of the round, along with the vast walks between some greens and tees. The condition of Dumbarnie, from the very start, was world class.

Dumbarnie Golf Links is the equal of Kingsbarns and Trump when it comes to modern, luxurious, world class hospitality and welcome, with whisky on offer on the first tee, and an ample welcome pack, and it runs on a seasonal basis from March to October. However, it stands apart from those other courses in terms of its playability. The course has breathtaking views, but each hole has an intimate feel, with a great variety of short and long holes. Dumbarnie has five sets of tees, catering for golfers from the novice to the elite, world class professional, measuring from 5296 yards to 7690 yards, and is strategic and enjoyable, whilst being challenging and fun.

The 1st hole seems friendly enough, with a generous fairway, but stray from that and you can be in trouble, with punitive rough and a deceptive burn running down the left side of the hole, which can and has caught many tee shots in the last five years. This opening hole has the feel of an older links course, harking back to the days when clubs didn't have practice facilities, and offers the first stunning view of the round.

The second hole is big and bold, a marvellous, uphill par five which requires strategic thinking off the tee and for the second shot, and once you have reached the green you are afforded a quite breathtaking panoramic view of the links ahead of you. The first but not the only similarity to Royal Dornoch at Dumbarnie is the view once you have moved from the second green to the third tee, with the links opening up for you to see. The Dumbarnie website says 'the extensive 345-acre site at Dumbarnie is particularly special. Its dual elevations, which are connected by a flowing escarpment, have provided the opportunity to create a number of elevated tees where holes play directly towards panoramic views of the expansive Firth of Forth.' Similarly Royal Dornoch's championship course has dual elevations, offering panoramic North Sea views.

The third hole is a magnificent, risk-reward, driveable par four with accuracy and length rewarded with an eagle opportunity. The next great strategic hole comes with the fifth, with a large bunker in the centre of the fairway posing the golfer a choice on the tee, do you take the gentler option of going up the right side, but have a longer approach, or do you be more aggressive up the left? The land rises once more to the fifth green, revealing a special view on the sixth tee, a wonderful short par three towards the Firth of Forth.

The next three holes are stunning, with the sweeping par-five 7th followed by the tremendous par-three 8th and the demanding par-four 9th, which take you inland and then back towards the water and back down to sea level. The back nine kicks off with a tremendous, testing and scenic par four, which is illustrative of the owners of Dumbarnie's vision to become one of the great golf destinations. Following feedback from golfers they have eliminated the burn, seen below, making the hole more playable than it was previously.

The back nine continues to provide a variety of challenge and fun for the golfer, with short par fours, risk-reward par fives and subtle par threes, accompanied by simply splendid views. Perhaps my favourite hole on the entire course is the 17th.

This hole can be a driveable risk-reward hole or a truly fantastic and fearsome strategic hole, measuring from 266 yards to 462 yards. The hole is split by a wall which was on the course when it was farmland, and the second half of the hole is pitted with deep pot bunkers, which adds to the challenge if the opportunity allows the golfer to take the green on off the tee.

The view from behind the green is remarkable.

Just over 14 months after opening, Dumbarnie hosted its first professional event, still under the restrictions of a Covid19 Pandemic, and not open to spectators, but shown live on television. The Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open was a tremendous success, with Ryann O'Toole coming out on top against one of the strongest fields ever seen on Scottish soil outside a Major Championship. I have absolutely no doubt that Dumbarnie is a championship venue of the future, and its location on a 5000-acre estate means that virtually no event is off the cards, including the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and maybe even The Open Championship or AIG Women's Open.

I for one would love to witness the likes of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler using their talents to navigate this course from the 7690 yard back tees.

Five years after opening, Dumbarnie Golf Links is now firmly established as a bucket-list course for visiting golfers, and is ranked as the 19th-best course in Scotland, according to top100golfcourses.com, ahead of Genesis Scottish Open host, The Renaissance Club, and the likes of Machrihanish Dunes, The Castle Course, Dundonald, Archerfield and Crail. I now offer full-round photography to visiting golfers at Dumbarnie, and I look forward to returning there on Wednesday to update my portfolio.

To check out the service I offer visit Matt Hooper - Golf

and book by using Matt Hooper - Contact