Kingsbarns may lack the clubbable atmosphere of Prestwick, the punishing layout of Carnoustie or Troon and the history and tradition on the Old Course but it is a sensational golfing experience.

The layout is an absolute delight for golfers of all abilities- no acres of whins or long grass to deter those of more modest abity and risk and reward for the better player. The views are truly fantastic, particularly on the holes that hug the shoreline. And the whole place reeks of class – from the excellent facilities of the clubhouse to the starter handing out the goodie bags.

All the great things you’ve heard and read about Kingsbarns are absolutely true.

+: a very classy operation; fantastic views; enjoyable by all
-: doesn’t have the heritage of our great clubs

This was it! The golfing experience of the summer, a week long holiday in Fife brought to a fitting conclusion by a round at what would surely be (Hotel Permitting!) an Open championship venue of the future. At £160 a 'pop' the three of us arrived at the course in good time to be greeted by a complimentary bucket of excellent quality range balls, it was noted that the practice bunker was probably in better nick than those at most local courses and the sense of anticipation increased. We arrived on the tee 5 minutes in advance of our allotted time, to then find that our threeball had become four with a french tourist called Phillipe joining us! Now Phillipe was a truly lovely man who was prepared to join in with our 'match' and our quest to avoid the dreaded 3 putt snake! (buy a cuddly toy snake from a toy shop, anyone who three putts has to carry it around on their bag, person with it on the 18th parts with a quid to the others, our putting stats have improved dramatically!). However, we were not told that we would be made into a fourball, having booked by phone and this on principal alone was disappointing. We played off the recommended tees and all enjoyed the day. The vistas were superb, the design of the course, truly magnificent, real risk and reward stuff with greens so big and undulating that the snake was positively hissing in ecstacy as he adorned all the bags at various stages. However, £160 worth? We had played Crail Balcomie, Ladybank, Lundin Links and Scotscraig before Kingsbarns and all four for only £20 more. All four had better greens, fairways and tees, all four had a better welcome as we were visitors to a golf club, not 'customers' as we felt at Kingsbarns, despite the nice little tartan bag with a pitchmark repairer in and a course guide. With such outstanding golfing glory around (not to mention 7 St Andrews courses and Carnoustie all cheaper) Kingsbarns must be grateful to a great course architect and lots of rich Americans or I feel it may not get the custom that it does. It will be a truly great course, if it is not already, but I sincerely wonder how many British golfers will end up experiencing it.