Jubilee Course - St Andrews

St Andrews now has four entries listed in the Top 100 Courses Outside the United States. Not before time, The Jubilee Course has moved into this elite category and is ranked at No. 92.

The course was named in honour of Queen Victoria, whose Diamond Jubilee fell in 1897. Originally a nine hole course, it was extended to the regular quota of eighteen in 1905 at a cost of £150. Through this period, it was widely regarded as a course for juniors and ladies, but in 1988 Donald Steel was brought in to develop the Jubilee into a championship layout. He stretched it to 6742 yards and raised many of the tee boxes, affording golfers panoramic view of the surrounding links and also to bring the wind more into play. Further changes were made at the turn of the century to the opening holes. The 1st used to play 440 yards into the wind, while the 2nd was a relatively weak par 4 that could be reached with a single blow. The difficulty of these two holes was evened out to provide a fairer test.

The course has went on to hold a selection of tournaments including The Scottish Amateur Strokeplay, The British Mid-Amateur and The Boys Home Internationals. It has also played host to the qualifying rounds of The Amateur Championship, and The St Andrews Links Trophy.

I believe it to be the toughest of the courses in St Andrews. When you combine the length with the ever-changing winds, it forces you to adapt your game on a regular basis. Unlike the Old Course, with it's severely undulating greens, the Jubilee's seem to slope in one direction and not short-siding yourself is crucial here.

Red numbers can be made on the way out, especially at the two par 5's, No. 3 and No.6. But some of the shorter par 4's require a degree of course management off the tee, and driver may not always be the correct choice. You certainly need to build the foundation of your score on the front nine because the closing holes pose a much more serious threat.

No. 15 in particular can be particularly lethal to the well-being of your scorecard. It may only play 360 yards, but you must hit the correct segment of a tight fairway to have a view of the green. A small green that tilts from back-to-front is surrounded by gorse to the back and sides. Strike your approach too well and the ball can screw back into a large gulley at the front, but leaving yourself above the hole will see you face a nightmare two putt. It's a fantastic matchplay hole because birdies are sometimes offered up, but doubles and triples just as likely.

When including the Old Course on your itinerary, Connoisseur Golf also require that you play one of the other St Andrews courses. If you want to take on the challenge of St Andrews most difficult links course, I suggest you include the Jubilee. It's a beautiful rugged track and when played you will scratch your head, like me, and wonder why this glorious golf course only just creeps inside the Top 100. The boys at Golf Digest have some answering to do.