Earlier this week, the St Andrews Links Trust announced that it will take over control and management of the Duke’s Course. The group that currently manages seven public courses in St Andrews, including the Old Course, will take over a long-term lease on the Duke’s Course starting January 5, 2026 and will rename it the Craigtoun Course.
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The par-71 parkland course, located two miles southwest of the Old Course, was designed by five-time Open champion Peter Thomson. Formerly a working farm on the Craigtoun estate, hence the new name, work began on the course in 1993, and it opened for play in 1995.
In 2004, when the Kohler company bought The Old Course Hotel, they also took ownership of the Duke’s Course. Soon after the course was renovated by Tim Liddy, adding five new holes and giving the course more of a heathland feel.
However, from the start of 2026, the course will be run by the St Andrews Links Trust, who currently manage The Old Course as well as the New, Eden, Jubilee, Strathtyrum, Balgove and Castle Courses.
Peter Thomson looking over plans for Craigtoun Park at the Dukes Course in 1992. Brian Morgan
“The agreement for The Craigtoun Course will see the first new course added to the Home of Golf’s portfolio in 18 years and presents an ideal opportunity to expand the golf experiences we offer.”
Those were the words of Neil Coulson, Chief Executive of the Links Trust. Nearly 300,000 rounds of golf are booked on the Links Trust courses each year. With the addition of The Craigtoun Course, Coulson believes visiting golfers will now have more opportunities to play in the Home of Golf than ever before.
“Demand for golf in St Andrews has risen to unprecedented levels in recent years with more rounds played by ticketholders and visitors than ever before. The Craigtoun Course allows us to offer additional capacity and strategically invest in our facilities to offer more opportunities to play golf.”
Unlike the other seven public courses in St Andrews, The Craigtoun Course sits up high, playing down and through tall pine trees and around large, natural bunkerscapes and undulations. The course can stretch upward of 7,500 yards from the championship tees but has five tee options, tiering down to 5,216 yards from the gold tees.
The new course logo shows the trees that are synonymous with the site, while also following the recent rebrand of course logos within The St Andrews Links Trust.
Visitors will be able to book tee times on the St Andrews website in the new year.
