California Golf Club of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
In 2007 the California Golf Club of San Francisco, one of the Bay Area's oldest and most respected private clubs, was completely renovated under the direction of Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design. The original A. Vernon Macan design was architecturally restored within the current property boundaries, using 1927 as a benchmark, when Dr. Alister Mackenzie re-bunkered the course.
Del Paso Country Club
Sacramento, California
Del Paso Country Club celebrated its 90th anniversary when the new course redesigned by Kyle Phillips opened for play July 2006. Founded in 1916, Del Paso once hosted tournaments that included legendary players such as Sir Henry Cotton and Tommy Armour, as well as the 1982 US Women's Open. The architectural personality of the original course designed by Scotsman John Black has been maintained while regaining its championship status.
Dundonald Links
Loch Lomond Golf Club, Troon
This Kyle Phillips link course can be added to the list of Royal Troon, Prestwick and Western Gailes, all connected by the historic Ayrshire rail line. Making its debut when the world of golf comes to Troon for The Open Championship in 2004, Dundonald has already been mooted as the future venue for the future venue for the Scottish Open.
Golf Eichenheim
Kitzbuhel-Aurach
The majestic Wilder Kaiser or "Wild King" mountain range serves as the backdrop for the Par Five, Tenth Hole at Golf Eichenheim. This Kyle Phillips design is the site of the Austrain Masters and is already one of the top-rated courses in Austria.
Kingsbarns Golf Links
St. Andrews
Near St. Andrews, Scotland, Kingsbarns is a magnificent seaside links course ranked among the Top 50 courses in the world by Golf Magazine 2001. It also received Golf Digest's Best New International Course in February 2001. Kingsbarns opened July 2000 and began hosting the Dunhill Links Championship in 2001.
The PGA of Sweden National Golf Resort
Troup
Only 30 minutes from Copenhagen, Denmark and 15 minutes from Malmo, Sweden, this scenic southern location offers players a longer golf season. This spectacular facility features the highest quality golf and training experience in Scandinavia, consisting of two new Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design championship courses and a nine hole short course. The Links Course, with its classic links-style architecture and traditional fescue grasses opens for play in May 2009.
The Grove
London
Beautifully situated along the Grand Union Canal on the site of a 17th Century English Estate, this Kyle Phillips course has been designed in a traditional English style. This course is part of a 300 acre five-star country estate located within 40 minutes of London’s West End.
Incline Village Championship & Mountain Course
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Located on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The Championship Course at Incline Village enjoys views of Lake Tahoe and the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains. Originally designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1964, the course was completely remodeled by Kyle Phillips and reopened in the fall of 2004.
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Saturday, September 19, 2009
Bradley S. Klein. Goljweek's architecture editor. offers his opinion on one great hole:
Yards: 444. par 4
Architect: Kyle Phillips,1999
Where: Fife, Scotland
Event: Alfred Dunhill Links Championship,Oct 1-4
It's great because . .. Kingsbarns, now a decade old, revolutionized Scottish golf with a retro-links look that combines scruffy old dunes, deep bunkers and greens contoured to function as hazards when approached from the wrong angle. The finishing hole calls for a drive into a prevailing wind that quarters from the right and brings fairway bunkers into play on the left side. From there, the approach is to a steeply sloped green pitched above a nasty burn - the only forced-carry water hazard in play from a fairway shot at Kingsbarns - that will capture any approach
that comes up a little short.
It would be even better if... they would rebuild the steep back-to-front green and marginally modify its slope. As for highhandicappers
looking to lay up on their second shots, the fairway tilts toward the burn and
leaves an awkward third shot from a downhill lie to an uphill green - virtually impossible for the kind of player who has laid up. It would help here to counter slope the fairway and provide just a little more cushion for the high-handicapper,
lest he or she finish the round with golf ball in pocket (or in the water) on
the stem approach.
Brad Klein
Golfweek
September 19. 2009
www.golfweek.com
Labels: Kingsbarns
Thursday, September 6, 2007
R & A Golf Club News BulletinBy Kieth MackieA substantial interest free loan has been granted by the R&A to the developers of the new golf links at Kingsbarns. In return they will make a number of starting times available to local golfers in St. Andrews and north-east Fife.
The agreement has been reached after discussions between the R & A, St. Andrews Links Trust and local golf clubs identified the growing pressure for starting times on the St. Andrews courses.
There are clear indications that this pressure will continue to increase and the R & A's agreement will provide an additional course for local golfers at times when bookings for St. Andrews courses are strong.
Chairman of the St. Andrews Links trust, Bill Ritchie commented: "Last year, play on the links by local golfers jumped 16 percent to a record high of 122,000 rounds. The R & A's arrangement with the Kingsbarns golf development will certainly help towards relieving the growing pressure and provide local golfers with an additional option."
R & A Secretary Sir Michael Bonallack commented: "Kingsbarns might well be one of the last true seaside links sites capable of development in Scotland. It is an extraordinary setting and I look forward to my first round of golf there."
The high quality links course which is being constructed at Kingsbarns, just six miles to the south-east of St. Andrews , is based on the site of the nine-hole course which was the home of the Kingsbarns Golfing Society, established in 1793. The original course reverted to farmland after being used for military purposes during the second world war.
The new development is being carried out on a split level site which runs around the edge of a shallow bay towards Cambo Ness and covers more than one-and-a-half miles of sea coast. One hole is set spectacularly on a rocky promontory and there are uninterrupted sea views from every hole.
Prime movers behind the new course are American Mark Parsinen, who was responsible for the successful development of Granite Bay Golf Club in Sacramento , California , and Art Dunkley, a real estate developer with investments in North America and the United Kingdom. They share a great enthusiasm for links courses which dates back to the late 1960's when Parsinen was a student at the London School of Economics. He said of his project at Kingsbarns: "The site speaks for itself. I pray our hard work and commitment do it full justice."
Seeding of the site will take place during the summer of 1998 and the course will be open for restricted play in the year 2000.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Friday, July 1, 2005
Golf World 2005Why should I play it?
It's just about the closest thing you'll get to the 18th at Pebble Beach – in other words, a sweeping right-to-left par-five that skirts the rocky seashore of the North Sea. Its setting is eye-popping and at the end of it all, you'll find a wickedly sloping and enormous green that seems to keep on going round the headland. Because the drive is downhill, birdies are possible. But so are bogeys, double-bogeys...
Strategy:
Favour the right side of the fairway which cambers in – that way you'll avoid the trouble on the left and the ball should gallop on. The perfect shape for this is a draw, which will use the slopes on the apron and the green to swing the ball round to the hole. Otherwise, play down the right side and leave a pitch up the length of the green.
Now go and play it:
There are no members. It's a pay and play course or, as the club would rather have it, it's a "daily fee facility" only. Handicaps are limited to 28 for men and 36 for ladies. Permanent Fife residents get a preferential rate.
Expert View
"As you turn the corner onto the elevated tee the view of the coast is reminiscent of Pebble Beach.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Wednesday, October 1, 2003
GolfWebBy Robert ThompsonFor years Kyle Phillips toiled in relative obscurity, his name unknown to all but golf insiders who were aware of his work as an associate under Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Eventually, after 16 years, Phillips left the Trent Jones Jr. camp to head out on his own. But even then he found much of his work in Europe, removed from the eyes of the golfing multitudes and the sport's ever-present glossy magazines.
That all changed when Phillips dreamed up Kingsbarns Golf Links, a course whose location meant it would immediately garner the attention of the golfing world.
That's because Kingsbarns is located next to golf Mecca of St. Andrews. Phillips upped the stakes even further by creating a true links course just a few miles from the famed Old Course, largely regarded as the best seaside links in the world. The accolades have been feverish, with many critics calling Kingsbarns the best new course to open in recent memory.
Phillips had a lot to do with Kingsbarns, even before the golf course entered construction. Having heard there was a tract of land outside St. Andrews that might be available for a golf course, Phillips approached U.S.-based entrepreneur Mark Parsinen about the project. While the land was essentially a farmer's field, the land sat directly alongside the ocean and had remarkable possibilities, and Parsinen and partner Art Dunkley agreed to come on board as owners.
Phillips says that the land that he transformed into the wondrous dune-filled golf paradise that would become Kingsbarns did not contain any of the interesting landforms that now exist on the course. Golf had once been played at Kingsbarns, but had fallen into disuse in the 1930s. Afterwards the area had been used mainly for agriculture.
Most architects will tell you that creating a natural setting is much more difficult than starting with a great piece of land. Too often, designers fail in their attempt to create a natural look developing a course that looks overdone. This is probably even more the case with links courses, in which little land is moved and the natural landscape is a big factor in a course's creation.
Phillips knew that he had a great site for the course that would become Kingsbarns, given its proximity to the ocean. However, the land left a lot to be desired.
In fact, the designer had to convince his employers that his vision of a true links course could be created on a site where it should have naturally existed.
"When I first presented the Kingsbarns site to the eventual developers, I was able to convey to them my vision of transforming the fields at Kingsbarns into a course that would look and feel like a natural seaside links," Phillips says.
Phillips had studied natural land formations in university and had practiced what he'd learned first hand while working for Trent Jones Jr. in Germany. He felt he could create a natural setting at Kingsbarns.
He'd studied many of the great links courses (a hobby that became "an addiction of sorts," Phillips says) and felt he could develop a course that would appear as if it was just placed on the land.
There have been new courses developed in Scotland by American designers, but the creations of Jack Nicklaus at places like St. Andrews and Gleneagles always come across as U.S.-style layouts that just happen to be situated in Scotland. Phillips knew what he didn't want to do and that was to create another parkland-style American hybrid next to the heartland of the game.
After moving tons of land to create subtle elevation shifts and utilizing the remarkable scenery inherent in the area, Phillips completed what may be his masterwork. Rolling fairways lay between looming dunes and golfers hit approach shots to massive undulating greens. It looks both modern and classic at the same time. The course garnered universal acclaim right out of the gate. In 2000, soon after opening and with the British Open being held 8 miles away in St. Andrews, the new course had such a buzz that hundreds of golfers showed up to play it, according to David Scott, head professional at Kingsbarns.
"We went from not having anyone on the golf course to 150 golfers in a single day," he says. "It was remarkable."
Gushing reviews followed, with Kingsbarns entering Golf Magazine's top 100 course in the world at 46. It is currently ranked 13th in the United Kingdom by Golf World.
Was Phillips prepared for the accolades that followed? While clearly aware the project was something special, he claims to have been "cautiously optimistic" about how Kingsbarns would be received.
"Being familiar with some of the new courses in St. Andrews area, I had confidence that something greater could be achieved," he says. "At that point in my career as a golf course designer, I was up for the challenge."
While the success of Kingsbarns has awarded Phillips the opportunity to gain more interest from developers in North America, he's continued to work abroad, including courses in England and Scotland. Claiming that "value" is more important to European course owners who often are not selling real estate to subsidize their developments, Phillips appears content to work largely outside of the United States. New design work has slowed throughout North America, but Phillips has at least one project set to open that will likely turn some heads.
Originally called "Southern Gailles," Phillips has created another dune-ridden monsters in Scotland. But unlike Kingbarns, where the ocean looms over the entire course, Southern Gailles is more like its famous neighbor, Western Gailles, while Phillips says it has been compared to Carnoustie's venerable championship course.
He also says the site of the project, which has recently been purchased by the group that runs the celebrated Loch Lomond course, provided magnificent topography. Standing near to the renowned British Open sites of Turnberry and Royal Troon, Phillips has developed a course that looks and plays like those classics. Only time will tell if it gains a similar level of fame.
"I have really worked hard to create a walking course that feels old -- incorporating old areas of heather and gorse throughout the site," he says. "Even though, like Kingsbarns, almost all of the landforms were created, this course is architecturally as authentic of a links course as you will find anywhere in the world."
Scheduled to open this summer, Phillips can expect the course to be well scrutinized. Does he find it ironic that the best new Scottish courses are being built by an American? Phillips claims he has never seriously considered the issue.
"I haven't really thought about it like that, but there is a bit of irony in it all isn't there? On the other hand, many of the great classic American courses we still revere today were designed by Scottish architects early in the 20th century. These designers were able to apply their vivid imagination that came from their familiarity with links courses. I think I can do that as well." Labels: Kingsbarns
Thursday, February 1, 2001
Golf DigestBy Ron WhittenSix miles south of Scotland's Old Course at St. Andrews, along gentle coves of the North Sea, carved into hillsides that cant like a massive, curved amphitheater, is the new Kingsbarns Golf Links - so splendiferous in its concept and execution that we felt compelled to declare it our first-ever Best New International Course.
Nature provided its framework, but designer Kyle Phillips (a former Robert Trent Jones Jr. associate) and a construction crew reshaped nondescript slopes to create an uncanny faux-linksland of rumpled fairways and wind-swept dunes. Phillips and co-owner Mark Parsinen conceived its near flawless 7,110-yard routing. Five holes touch the shoreline, with the par-3 15th on a peninsula. Other holes run atop balcony-like shelves, 75 feet above the beach. The sea is visible from every hole.
The twists and turns of Kingsbarns' holes offer enticing gambles and occasional mysteries. Its greens, merged into the surrounding topography of humps and hollows, beckon bump-and-run shots. Pot bunkers, wind and the exhilarating salt-air scenery are all distractions. Kingsbarns is a rare American-designed course in Great Britain that doesn't look American.
Unveiled to the public last summer, Scotland's newest links is open April through November. Whatever it takes, get there. Kingsbarns is worth a king's ransom to play.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Monday, January 1, 2001
Golf and Leisure MagazineAll roads in golf history lead to St. Andrews, and although the town has six courses of choice, the Old Course is the one on which every golfer eventually wishes to test his or her game. Unfortunately, getting in a round there usually means getting lucky in the club's tee-time lottery, with odds running about 1 in 3 against you. But if you draw a short straw - or even if you don't - don't miss the entirely redesigned Kingsbarns Golf Links (001-44-1334/474-364). Just seven miles from St. Andrews, Kingsbarns was open as early as 1792, but was closed in 1939 to be used for military maneuvers (making bunker an ambiguous term).
The course fell into disrepair, and after World War II, farmers took over the land. Various developers looked at restoring the golf course over the years, but the project only came together in 1997. Since then, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club has given Kingsbarns its blessing in the form of a £1 million, interest-free loan. Kyle Phillips, once one of Robert Trent Jones's most talented designers, has risen to the R&A's challenge to create a bold links course: Every hole has ocean views and the sea comes into play on seven of them. "What struck me were the smells, sounds and strong visual contact with the sea," he says. Nevertheless, the 7,115-yard, par-72 course suits a variety of weather conditions and skill levels. Just as the ocean did, history played a big part in the design. One example is the 18th hole, where a burn (little river) required a bridge to link fairway to green. During the hole's construction, diggers unearthed a nearly intact stone bridge and water conduit: Phillips slightly changed his design to incorporate the finds. The course's debut is scheduled to coincide with the July 2000 British Open, which is being played at St. Andrews for the first time since 1995.
To play Kingsbarns, contact Perry Golf (800/344-5257), which also has guaranteed tee times on the Old Course.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Friday, December 1, 2000
Financial TimesWhen Alfred Dunhill recently announced that its Nations Cup tournament, hitherto held at St Andrews every October, was to be replaced next year by a pro-am competition over three links courses on Scotland's east coast, the name of one of the host venues must have caused a deal of puzzlement. The Old Course at St Andrews, together with Carnoustie, fitted perfectly into Dunhill's stated ambition of making the tournament a celebration of links golf, but Kingsbarns?
Situated six miles from St Andrews on a winding, craggy road that leads to Crail, Kingsbarns only opened for play last July. So, one was entitled to ask: what was a new course doing in such revered company? I had the good fortune to play it recently, and here is my verdict: it fully deserves to be bracketed alongside two of Scotland's mightiest links courses.
Indeed, I would go so far as to describe it as the best course built in Scotland since Turnberry was remodeled after the Second World War. It is even better than Loch Lomond, undoubtedly the best inland course built in Britain in the past 20 years.
What a wonderful day it turned out to be for this golf writer, who usually visits much-hyped new courses with a sense of trepidation. Three months ago I played the new Marquess course at Woburn , in Bedfordshire, which was equally laden with praise but for me was a huge disappointment. Big greens, big bunkers, cart-paths; if the weather had been 20 degrees warmer, I could have been in Florida.
So many new courses in Britain are too heavily influenced by architectural trends that have emerged in the US . Take another lavishly built new venue, the Wentwood Hills course at the Celtic Manor resort, near Newport in south Wales . Half the course is situated in the beautiful Usk valley while the other half threads its way around mature woodland. It ought to be a beauty but is not because its American architect has contrived a series of holes around two manufactured lakes. The holes should fit in with their surroundings, but they do no such thing: the designer has laid out the same kinds of holes all over the US.
Golf has been played at Kingsbarns since the late 18th century. The nine-hole course that existed before the Second World War was taken over by the Ministry of Defense, which saw the beach at Kingsbarns as a natural invasion point. In 1945, the village was given the option by the government of money to rebuild the town hall or the golf course. When the villagers decided on the former, the small Kingsbarns membership joined the nearby Balcomie links at Crail.
Efforts were made several times to resurrect golf at Kingsbarns in the early 1990s, before the right combination of people somehow came together in 1997. They were a mix of Americans and Scots, with the Royal and Ancient Club at St Andrews also offering financial assistance.
The architect was an American called Kyle Phillips . He used to work for Robert Trent Jones Jr's design company, and anyone who has played the Royal Westmoreland course in Barbados , the Four Seasons venue on Nevis or the Cabo Real course in Mexico will be aware of his expertise in garnishing windy layouts with seaside aspects.
Phillips' work at Kingsbarns stands as a textbook illustration of empathizing with the land he was given to work on. At the 18th hole, for instance, he does not seek a grandiose signature hole with which to finish. Instead, he studied the original plans and built a hole as close in keeping as he could to the 18th hole that was in place a century ago.
It features a burn in front of the green and, when the bulldozers were removing 30ft of earth to find it, they also discovered a delightful old iron bridge. Needless to say, it is now a feature of the hole. Kingsbarns offers some of the most outstanding sea views to be found on any British links course.
Just one hole reminded me of America , and Phillips can be forgiven for that. The hole in question is the par-three 15th, which sits snugly along the shoreline. It is similar to the spectacular par-three 16th at Cypress Point, which was built in California by a Scot, Dr. Alister Mackenzie.
At Kingsbarns, an American returns the compliment. We were lucky with the day. It was one of those crisp autumnal mornings, a gentle wind blowing from the east and the sun illuminating the bay. Like most golfers on such days, we pondered our luck in finding ourselves on a sublime links course with many good holes and a number of outstanding ones. The compact clubhouse also fits in well with its surroundings.
At Pounds 85 a round, Kingsbarns is as expensive to play as the Old Course, which will no doubt put off some who are unaware of what it has to offer.
It is worth it, however, for it is one of those links courses that, once seen, is not forgotten. The fact that it was built in the final years of the 20th century rather than the 19th or 18th centuries simply adds to the wonderment.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Wednesday, November 1, 2000
Golf World InternationalThe boom in golf course building is over. Only a handful of good new tracks have opened since 1998 and yet among them are some corkers. First among them is Kingsbarns, an amazing new links on the coast of Fife. Opened just this year, it may prove to be the last true links course ever built in the UK, and already it's being mooted as a possible future Open venue. If you think Loch Lomond has exploded like a grenade into our top 100, wait till you see what Kingsbarns does.
Just six miles from St Andrews, Kingsbarns is truly extraordinary. As probably the last links to be built on the Scottish coast, it has absorbed every smidgen of detail, every ounce of inspiration from 600 years of golf history - and improved on it.
The amazing thing about this course, though, is that it is totally man-made. What was once arable farmland sloping steeply down to a rocky beach has been transformed into windswept linksland, which fits as naturally into the scene as the sea itself. More than 300,000 cubic tonnes of earth were shifted to create the wildly rolling dunes, sweeping fairways, pot bunkers and heaving greens. Authentic fine fescue-bent turf grasses give that springy feel.
What makes Kingsbarns better than the real thing are the sea views. Most links, like St Andrews' Old Course down the road, sit behind waves of low-lying dunes, obscuring the waters. But there isn't a hole at Kingsbarns without the great expanse of the North Sea in sight. Pure exhilaration.
What's interesting about the course is that at heart it is a very traditional layout. Although created from arable farmland, with thousands of tons of earth shifted, it is the embodiment of the "natural" school of design. What's more, it seems to be the standard-bearer for a general shift back towards a more traditional golf landscape. This year's Top 100 ranking shows old-fashioned courses reasserting themselves in the list at the expense of newer, brasher designs. And leading design gurus think the trend runs deep. Everyone agrees that Kingsbarns is in the vanguard of this 'back-to-the-future' trend.
"I'm disappointed that an American designed it," says Howard Swan, "but it is a superb achievement. It's a remarkable piece of land now; and I'm very pleased the designer, Kyle Phillips, resurrected the old stream and the old bridge from years before. That's a wonderful touch. When Gold gives you a wonderful bit of land, you shouldn't be doing very much to it." "Kingsbarns is a gem," agrees R&A secretary Peter Dawson. "I think it is going to be one of the great links courses; and it may well be the last one built in the UK. There's no course I've been to where you can see more of the sea from every hole. The attention to detail is extraordinary."Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Saturday, July 1, 2000
Golf.comBy Ben Wright
St. ANDREWS , SCOTLAND -- My return to St. Andrews for the Open Championship has been more hectic than I could have imagined. I've been buzzing about the Auld Grey Toon like a blue-assed fly running into old friends, golfers and members of the media I haven't seen in years. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'm palpably excited to be back at the home of golf and back amongst those that play and cover the game. Though I may have been away from the game for a spell, the game has never left me and always occupied the fullest portions of my heart and soul.
I came to St. Andrews via London , where I attended the Millennium Dinner of the Lucifer Golf Society at the Savoy Hotel. I was invited to join HRH Prince Andrew and Sir Michael Bonallack, who is Secretary and Captain of the R&A as a guest speaker at the dinner. The Lucifer Society was founded in 1920 just after the First World War, and Lucifer, aside from being the devil's moniker, was a slang term used in World War I to refer to a light, or match. The function of the Society is to ensure that Commonwealth players have a game or that British subjects traveling to all corners of the empire have a place to play.
Representatives from Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda, Kenya, South Africa, and Canada listened to Bonallack recount some humorous tales and then heard me deliver a few of my own lighthearted golf stories. Andrew, the Duke of York gave a rousing toast to the Lucifers and longevity of the British Empire . At the end of the program, a woman entered the room and broke into spirited song, inviting all to join her in a chorus of " Land of Hope and Glory."
A few days later, and only a few miles from the Old Course, I was again in the company of Sir Michael when I visited what has instantly become a "must visit" site at St. Andrews : Kingsbarns Golf Links. Monday was the first day that the Kingsbarns Links were open for play, and Bonallack and his wife Lady Angela joined their children in a fourball as the first group to play the course.
"This may be the last stretch of seaside land in Scotland suitable for developing links," Bonallack said of the Kingsbarns site, located six miles east of St. Andrews on a bluff overlooking the Firth of Tay. In fact, I discovered that the sea might be viewed for literally every spot on these magnificent links.
Kingsbarns Golf Links collects 85 pounds per round from daily-fee players, and the club will make a pot load of money once the world discovers what will quickly become the second most- popular course in St. Andrews . American architect Kyle Phillips invited me to visit his creation, where two other American entrepreneurs, Mark Parsinen and Art Dunkley, are Managing Director and Director of the Links, respectively.
I covered the spectacular links with former South African Amateur champion Alan Jackson. My caddie was one of only two women caddies at Kingsbarns: Emily Thomson, a completely professional caddie who abandoned the old course to caddie on the links. She plays to a seven-handicap, and laughed heartily when I told her that I had to fire the last caddie I employed at the Old Course because he was plainly drunk. Thomson does not indulge. The seriousness with which this blond woman performed her duties is a sign of things to come.
I think I know my golf pretty well, and I find that Kingsbarns is like Pebble Beach and Ireland's Old Head of Kinsale combined. The greatest thing I can say is that this golf course looks as if it has been here for centuries. It rolls along the dunes and even has trees, though they don't play an integral role in the playing of the course. Countless deep bunkers with sod faces challenged for my attention while I was beguiled by the scenic views. Heather will be growing everywhere soon.
The signature hole is the par-three 15th, which played from the championship tees measured 212 yards, requires a shot across the bay to a green built on a headland. "Tighten yer kilt laddie, a good round can derail here," reads the Strokesaver guide. The course plays to a yardage of 7,126. I returned to the tented village at he Old Course and the grin on my face, evident to my media colleagues, told the tale of Kingsbarns.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Thursday, June 1, 2000
The Golf PageBy Dave PerkinsAs the saying goes, not everybody likes the same thing. That's why they have menus in restaurants.
Similarly, golf course rating is a personal game not everybody plays the same way. That said, a brand new golf course on the East Neuk of Scotland , named Kingsbarns, already rests at or very near the top of this personal list.
The sea-hugging course has been open officially less than two weeks, but the hype has built to considerable levels already and if a certain amount of skepticism was included upon approaching the links layout, some 13 kilometres south of St. Andrews , it evaporated quickly.
Kingsbarns is everything they say it is. Maybe more. Its developers, Californians Mark Parsinen and Art Dunkley, have hit a home run, no question. Its architect, Kyle Phillips, has produced a reputation-making course in his first solo project that one day may stand beside Pebble Beach as Jack Neville's first time wonder.
Certainly, Pebble Beach has places where the scenery is more breathtaking. St. Andrews is a more pure links layout, with its clear-cut-out-and-back layout. Carnoustie is a more difficult course, although from the tips with the wind blowing, Kingsbarns stretched to 7,126 yards would give any calibre of player all they wanted. Augusta National has that manicured finery that no course can duplicate.
Yet, pound for pound, Kingsbarns can stand up to any golf course that this enthusiastic, if untalented, player has tried. My list is far from complete; in Scotland alone, Western Gailes , Muirfield, Turnberry, Cruden Bay and Royal Dornoch all await. The whole of both Irelands and Australia still beckon. But even for a golfer with only a partially complete education, Kingsbarns sent up serious shivers.
All 18 greens and 18 tees offer a view, usually memorable, of the North Sea and a generally rocky tidal coastline that, denuded of water at certain times of the day, presents a sculptured face that looks almost of lava rock. Fabulous scenery, in other words.
When a handful of Canadian reporters played last week, most of them for at least a second time, they teed off bright and early, second group of another stunning morning. Leading off was a foursome including U.S. touring pro Duffy Waldorf. His succinct comment: "This place is just spectacular."
Waldorf shot 69, from the championship tees, with mostly centre-cut pins on the generally enormous greens. Fairways are wide open and generous at this point. Developers were trying to attract members of the world press to play and enjoy it, not suffer on it. It wasn't only the press arriving; several touring pros, including Mike Weir and Gary Player, headed over for a round.
The design is what's most striking about Kingsbarns. The marriage, in terms of layout to the gently sloping piece of land available, is just about flawless.
You could run out of words describing all 18 holes, but two particularly invite description. The par-five 12th resembles the 18th at Pebble Beach slightly, left-bending around the sea, but stretches to 606 slightly downhill yards and ends with a green a whopping 72 yards from front to back, pinched by bunkers left front and right rear. There is also a world-class short hole, the par-three 15th , that plays across water to a narrow point of land and plays 212 yards, almost all carry, from the back tees. It's a less daunting 185 from the medal tees, which are recommended for golfers with handicaps of 12 or less.
There are no truly weak holes. The finishing hole, the 18th , is the least favourite here because of a downhill lie on the second shot across the burn and the stone bridge to a two-level green, but it provides great action for viewers nestled deep into the leather chairs at the (needless to say) comfortable and beautiful clubhouse.
It's high-end public and a budget-denter at £85 (about $205 Cdn.) but, even in its infancy, no serious golf trip to Scotland could be considered complete without a round at Kingsbarns. Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Monday, May 1, 2000
Travel and Leisure Golf After an agreeable, inland six-mile drive south on the A917 from St. Andrews, turn left past a rusty old gate, meander through a towering grove of beech trees and emerge onto a brief porch of land revealing, not a mile distant, the shimmering teal and gray of the North Sea. In the space between you and the sea sits the world's newest ancient golf course, Kingsbarns Golf Links, which is routed beautifully across land on which golf was played as early as 1793. In 1939, the site was usurped by the British Ministry of Defence during World War II and was left unrestored until now.
Thanks, in part, to an interest-free loan of one million pounds from the R&A, American entrepreneur Mark Parsinen hired former Robert Trent Jones Jr. associate Kyle Phillips to transform this unique littoral property into a course created less by the elements than for them. A par-seventy-two layout measuring a punishing 7,100 yards, Kingsbarns has a true linksland sensibility. Not a single hole is without an ocean view, and nowhere will you find shelter from the gales. Man-made swales bow gently toward the sea like monks kneeling for prayer. Or perhaps they are genuflecting to such eye-popping holes as the 590-yard par-five twelfth that scythes hard along the shoreline, or the 215-yard par-three fifteenth, which calls for a Cypress Point-like carry across a ragged elbow of an inlet.
Although the price of playing this gem ($135) will be similar to that of the Old Course, Kingsbarns will have to cope with a problem the Old Course manages well: the pace of play. Kingsbarns is a very difficult test. If the wind howls (Scotland 's meteorological equivalent of death and taxes) and you are finding the thatched fescue, a round could last considerably longer than the four hours locals consider the outer limits of acceptability. Still, it's a problem worth having. There have been rumblings of one day slotting the course into the Open rota. There's a new temple in St. Andrews. Let the pilgrimages begin. For a tee time, call 011-44-1334-880222.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Wednesday, March 1, 2000
The ScotsmanBy Mike AitkenKingsbarns the most eagerly awaited new Scottish golf course since Loch Lomond, will attract worldwide attention this summer by inviting Tiger Woods, Mark O'Meara and other leading players to enjoy exclusive use of the links in the week before the Open.
Due to open officially on Monday, 17 July, the course in St Andrews, regarded by many as the last great Scottish links, plans to throw open its wide fairways to those golfers who prefer to acclimatize for the Old Course by practicing on a links rather than competing in the Standard Life tournament at Loch Lomond.
In recent years, the top Americans, notably world No.1 Woods and No. 2 David Duval, have prepared for the Open by spending the previous week on the links land of Ireland.
Kingsbarns believes it can aid the preparations of the game's top players even more by setting up the new layout in St Andrews to match the playing conditions and speed of the Old Course.
"We will be getting in touch with the top players and offering them exclusive use of our course because we think it could be good for them and us," said David Scott, the Kingsbarns professional.
"The course doesn't open to the public until the week of the Open, so we're hoping to let the players have the run of the place the week before.
"Thanks to the expertise of our course superintendent, Walter Woods, we can prepare the course any way they like. But obviously we're in a good position to provide a set-up similar in speed to the Old Course. We think we can offer a special one-stop destination at the home of golf."
Quite apart from delivering an ideal practice venue for the forthcoming Open, it is thought many of the game's best players will want to experience Kingsbarns for themselves. With views of the sea from every hole and six which cross water, word of mouth about the course designed by American Kyle Phillips has been universally favorable.
The new links was the talk of last month's golf trade show in Florida and has already taken 3,000 advance bookings at 85 pounds a round. Demand to play the layout is currently running 300 per cent ahead of schedule. That figure is expected to rise even higher after the course figures on next month's cover of the American golf magazine Links.
Partly funded by a 1 million pound loan from the Royal and Ancient, which received the rights to 2,000 rounds at the course in return, the links has already been hailed by Sir Michael Bonallack, captain of the R&A, as a potential championship venue. "Kingsbarns," he says simply, "is very, very good."Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Saturday, January 1, 2000
Sunday PostBy Doug ProctorThe home of golf is to have one of its original jewels restored. The resurrection of Kingsbarns Links, just outside St. Andrews , has been given the green light. It's sure to rival the Old Course itself for a place in the hearts of golf lovers the world over.
Gordon Begg, a retired merchant banker and golf fanatic, has been the driving force behind Kingsbarns re-incarnation.
As we walked over the Links, where golf was first played over the original nine-hole course before Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815, I realized why he had spent so much money chasing his dream.
There is one hole in the 18-hole layout which I confidently predict will become world-famous from the first day cameras are able to record it.
Shoreline
It is a 210-yard par three, where the tee shot must carry across the shoreline and land on a small target area surrounded on three sides by the North Sea. Blustery East Coast winds promise to reduce some players to nervous wrecks before they complete it!
Gordon admits this was his goal. "You can still see the old course at Kingsbarns, which was never re-constructed after being used for maneuvers during the last war," Gordon told me.
It's a traditional Scottish links, and we aim to re-model it as the ultimate tribute to Scottish traditions. "So many of America 's finest golf courses were created by Scottish designers at the beginning of the century. Now we will start the nest millennium with, perhaps, the last pure links ever to be built in Scotland .
Traditional
"Kyle Phillips, a prominent American architect who specializes in the true traditional golf-course designs, has come up with a wonderful lay-out which will totally complement one of the world's oldest clubs.
"The American company who have helped me take my dream to fruition are equally passionate to re-establish Kingsbarns. They want to make it a world-famous links. This truly is an exciting development for Scottish golf. After walking the layout twice in different conditions, I simply cannot wait to play it. Links golf IS golf, as far as I'm concerned."
With seven holes playing directly down on the shoreline and the rest all having splendid views of the North Sea and distant Angus coastline, Kingsbarns will become a new 'must play' for Scottish golfers and everyone else!Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Golf MagazineBy Mike Purkey I hate to be the one to break the news, but we're getting golf all wrong in this country. I made a trip to St. Andrews, the home of golf in Scotland, in the fall and I must report that I love it more every time I go. For instance.
It's the edge of dusk and the last foursomes of the day are making their way over the final few holes. All are walking; some carry their own bags, some pull a trolley along behind, and some are accompanied by a caddie.
As we briskly walk the fairways, navigating from shot to shot, there is an underlying calm that lets us know that this is the way golf was meant to be.
In the streets of St. Andrews, people walk with golf bags slung over their shoulders - either on their way to or on their way back from a round of golf. After dark, they gather in their neighborhood pubs to turn up a pint of their favorite beverage and celebrate the birdies and commiserate over the bogeys.
I love the Scottish attitude toward golf. They believe the game was meant to be played in 3 ½ hours - preferably less. They believe the proper mode of transportation is the feet. And, the Scots are often puzzled by Americans and their predilection to what they call "pencil and scorecard golf."
We spend much of our time holing every putt and recording every shot because our handicap system - based on the best 10 of our last 20 scores - insists that we post every round. On the other hand, the British handicap system is based on what is called the "monthly medal," when golfers play from the back tees and record a medal score - once or twice a month. That score determines whether a player's handicap is adjusted up or down. The rest of the time, their casual rounds consist of match play. When you're out of the hole, you put it in your pocket. To my mind, theirs is a much superior system.
Then, there are the golf courses. It's true that we have more good courses in our country, but we have some definite drawbacks about the way we build ours. You won't see many houses bordering British courses nor will you see any cart paths. We play cart ball and most of the time, we must keep the buggies on the paths.
Even the new courses built in Scotland are in keeping with tradition. Case in point is Kingsbarns, built by American developers and an American architect about six miles from St. Andrews. Although a considerable amount of dirt was moved to create this links-style course, it looks as if it has always been there.
California businessmen Mark Parsinen and Art Dunkley teamed with architect Kyle Phillips, along with local businessman Gordon Begg, to create nothing less than a spectacular design on an incredible vista. Five holes border the sea, joining the rest to form what will be one of the best courses in Scotland.
Kingsbarns is set to open right before next year's British Open, which will be contested over the Old Course at St. Andrews . And, Kingsbarns will no doubt be filled with visitors that week who will see first hand what a jewel that has been added to the region of Fife.
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews thought so highly of the Kingsbarns project that it gave the developers an interest-free loan of £1 million in exchange for 2,000 starting times that the R&A could use at its discretion during the year.
There is no question that Kingsbarns will be a tournament course at some point in the near future. At the very least it will be a qualifying course for future British Opens at St. Andrews . At best, it could be the site of a Walker Cup or Scottish Open, should the European Tour decide to resurrect that event.
However, the best part of the Kingsbarns project has been the loving hands the developers have used to create it. Although they have seemingly deep pockets, they feel no pressure to hurry things along. They are taking as much time as needed to produce the kind of course that will not only fit in with the seaside landscape but will be accepted by the locals as a project that fits in as part of the tradition of Scottish golf.
And, that means treating the game with reverence instead of as a profit center. The bottom line in Scottish golf is not the bottom line. That's where we could most take a lesson.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Wednesday, December 1, 1999
Travel & Leisure GolfGolf course architect Kyle Phillips has successfully completed work on Kingsbarns Golf Links near St. Andrews, Scotland. The course design is a tribute to its Scottish links heritage. It is based on the site of the nine-hole course, home of the Kingsbarns Golfing Society, established in 1793. The original course was used for military purposes during World War II. The land was taken over by farmers after that.
Seven holes play directly down on the shoreline of the rugged Scottish coast. The remaining holes all have splendid ocean views. It will measure 5,610 to 7,175 yards.
The course's grand opening is planned July 2000 to coincide with the British Open, which is being played at St. Andrews.
Also, Kyle Phillips Golf Design has recently completed the remodeling work for the 2000 President's Cup on behalf of the prestigious Robert Trent Jones Golf Club near Washington, D.C.
Current work under construction includes Golfsocieteit De Lage Vuursche, near Amsterdam, as well as Golf Eichenheim, a magnificent new mountain course in the Austrian Alps.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Golf MonthlyBy Lorne RubensteinIn a place, St. Andrews, Scotland, where all things royal and ancient are embraced, a thoroughly modern links called Kingsbarns makes a bold statement...
"Kingsbarns might well be one of the last true seaside links sites capable of development in Scotland. Mere words cannot convey just how extraordinary the place is. It must be seen to be believed. And once seen it will never be forgotten." --Sir Michael Bonallack Captain, Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
It's so easy to jump on a bandwagon. "Have you seen the latest Gwynneth Paltrow/Matt Damon film? You've just got to check out the new Carlos Santana CD. Man, this Atkins Diet is going to be THE ONE that works for life!" Universal truths are few and far between, but surely one of them is that most folks get awfully excited about something that's new and wonderful. A new car. A new driver. A new necktie. It's all good. A shiny new object adds a splash of fun, a spark of hope, a gleam of optimism into our everyday lives. Face it: Change is exciting.
I, on the other hand, generally like things just the way they are – and were. I'm quite happy driving the car I've had for the past seven and a half years. I'm more than content to flip to American Movie Classics and catch a Alfred Hitchcock thriller or Marx Brothers comedy in black and white. I'd be perfectly fine wearing my old Topsiders into the next millennium if I could just locate a reputable cobbler in the small resort town where I reside. I like doing first drafts in longhand on yellow legal pads before I turn to a mouse, keyboard and monitor.
It follows, then, that I prefer my golf the same way. I'm a history buff and an unabashed fan of classic golf courses. I love all things old. Therefore, it shouldn't surprise you that I am absolutely enamored with the Old Course at St. Andrews. Indeed I am. My first trip around I was so awed on the first tee that I nearly hyperventilated. It was the first golf course on Earth. It was home to the game's first professional, Allan Robertson, who was also the first man to break 80 there. It was also home to the Tom Morrises, Young and Old, victors in eight of the first 12 British Open championships ever played. Names such as James Braid, Bobby Jones, Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus all have won major championships over the Old Course.
However, my most recent visit to St. Andrews opened my eyes. The object of my attention, and affection, was not the Old Course at all. It was a new course, called Kingsbarns. After two trips around the infant Kingsbarns Golf Links, I can tell you that it's not greater than the Old Course – yet – but it's easily more spectacular. And it's significantly better than the other layouts in and around the Auld Grey Tourn, including the New, the Jubilee, the Eden, the Strathtyrum, the Balgove and the Duke's. Combining the best of the old and the new in design and setting, Kingsbarns provides 18 fresh reasons to visit and linger in St. Andrews. It may very well be the most important new Scottish course since Turnberry was rebuilt after World War II.
Kingsbarns Golf Links lies six miles south of St. Andrews on the curvy A917 road near its namesake village on the way to Crail. The village name dates to the 11th century, when Scotland's King Malcolm visited St. Andrews to collect his dues. In the case of grain, notes St. Andrews golf historian Bobby Burnet, he would store it in barns on land just outside of town in the 'King's barns.' Today, dues and grain have been supplanted by green fees and grass seed. But much of the richness of the present tapestry can be traced to events that took place between then and now. One of the reasons Kingsbarns possessed such strong character and presence right from the get go stems from the site itself, which is steeped in golf tradition.
Historian Burnet points out that on this same ground lay a rudimentary links where the game was played as early as 1793. What is verifiable is that Kingsbarns was home to a golf club and nine-hole course in 1815. Now that Kingsbarns is up and running again, this makes it the 12th oldest United Kingdom club still in existence with its own course. Vestiges of the old nine-holer remain in the present course's "Lower Bowl," comprised of holes 6,7,16 and 17. This plot of golfing ground is simply marvelous links land, rumpled to perfection, which provides an endless variety of lies, stances and shotmaking opportunities.
The little old nine-hole course was, like many European subjects, a victim of World War II. In 1939, the Ministry of Defense pulled the plug on golf at Kingsbarns. The land and adjacent beach were used for military exercises for the remainder of the war. Following the cessation of hostilities in 1945, the government gave the village a choice: reclaim the links or build a new town hall. When the vote fell to the latter, the three dozen or so remaining members joined the nearby Crail golf Club to the south. From several holes at Kingsbarns, you can clearly see the distant Crail clubhouse perched on a rise.
After several aborted efforts beginning in 1994 to revive the course, the right team settled into place in 1997. a combination of local businessman Gordon Begg, american developers Mark Parsinen and Art Dunkley, and architect Kyle Phillips breathed new and vibrant life into a fallow ground. Begg is a retired merchant banker, Parsinen a Stanford MBA and Dunkley a Harvard MBA. Don't think for one minute, however, that the three are a trio of stone-faced bean counters. No sir. They're as passionate, interesting and genuinely warm as any player - or - caddie you'd find on the first tee of the Old Course a few miles down the road. The affable Phillips is no slouch himself, having designed courses in more than 20 countries on behalf of his own firm or as vice-president of Robert Trent Jones Jr. Golf Course Design, where he worked for 16 years.
Whether the near-scratch handicap Parsinen is listed as co-designer or consultant, the only thing that matters is that he and Phillips crafted a truly incredible layout. Parsinen became enamored with classic British golf courses while taking other kinds of classic courses at the London School of Economics, then cut his teeth as developer and design consultant at Granite Bay Golf Club near Sacramento, Calif., a LINKS "Modern Classic" in 1996. Phillips is a master at routing windy, seaside courses, as illustrated by his efforts at Aruba's Tierra del Sol, Mexico's Cabo Real, the Four Seasons Resort course on Nevis and Royal Westmoreland in the Barbados.
Honestly, they got everything right. Every hole provides views of the sea, and seven holes play over it or adjacent. There are modern touches of the spectacular – witness the Pebble Beach-like, left-curving, 590-yard, par-5 12th, and the all-carry, have-your-camera-ready, 215-yard, par-3 15th. Needless to say, the aesthetics at Kingsbarns are sensational.
What makes it truly great, however, is the design itself, which is varied, fun, challenging and sophisticated all at the same time. Large greens and wide fairways, both edged in tawny and wispy "lion's mane" fescues, are properly proportioned to receive wind-blown drives and approaches. The variety in both routing and pacing is superb. I love the views from the "Upper Bowl" holes, but I also am bowled over by the traditional "linksy" contours of the lower holes. The 330-yard, par-4 sixth can be negotiated in a half-dozen ways, while the very next hole, a 470-yard par-4, features two fairways and demands brute force.
Kingsbarns has been supported with financial assistance from the Royal & Ancient, no doubt because the course will provide an attractive alternative for its members, who otherwise play the majority of their golf on the overcrowded Old Course. Trust me, this newcomer is a worthy substitute. Says Kyle Phillips of Kingsbarns, "When I first saw the property, I wondered how the guys at Pebble Beach felt when they first walked on the site." Kyle, in 85 years, folks may be wondering the same thing about you. Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Monday, November 1, 1999
By Bobby Burnet, Golf Historian
The early history of golf at Kingsbarns is illuminated by one shaft of light. On September 4, 1793, a year after their near neighbor Crail Golfing Society had adopted an official uniform of a scarlet jacket with a plain yellow button, Crail's minutes "agreed that members of the Kingsbarns Golfing Society be allowed to appear on the links at Crail in the uniform belonging to their own society, Blue Jackets." It would suggest that, like Crail Golfing society (1786), Kingsbarns formed its Society at least as early as 1793.
There is one piece of evidence pointing towards the 1790's as the likely date of the institution for Kingsbarns. The earlier of their two medals is 1829 and on the obverse side it has a scroll bearing the motto "Palmam qui meruit (spelled 'meriut') ferat," meaning, "Let him who has won the palm bear it."
Now, this was the motto of First Lord of the Admiralty during the Napoleonic Wars, Horatio, Lord Nelson, who was at the height of his fame in the 1790's. He had entered the navy in 1770, lost his right eye at Calvi in Corsica in 1794, taken a prominent part in the battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797, and lost his right arm at Santa Cruz in the same year.
Dalrymple wrote of the 1829 motto, "but whether it formed the Society's motto I have not been able to ascertain." But then he didn't know of the Nelson connection. Strangely enough, the first winner of Kingsbarns' 1841 medal, Mr. Robert Haig of Seggie, was the grandfather of a famous soldier, Field Marshal Earl Haig, Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1920.
The article, which carried the information I have used about these Kingsbarns medals appears in Golf Illustrated in 1909 and tells us that the club was wound up by August 3, 1849.
Yet the second edition of Farnie's Golfer's Manual (1862) has the club still flourishing thirteen years later. "KINGSBARNS - this links is small and of a sandy soil. The grass grows rather coarse for the finer shots of the game and there are few, if any, hazards. The Kingsbarns GC was instituted in 1815; and members meet four times a year, on the first Fridays of February, May, August and November. In May, the "Bachelor Medal" is played for, open to regular members only, and in November, the Feilden Medal, open to members of the St. Andrews, Leven, Hercules (i.e. Colinsburgh) and Crail Golf Clubs: Post Town, Kingsbarns."
The Kingsbarns name itself goes back to the 11 th Century, its royal connections genuine and documented. King Malcolm of Scotland visited St. Andrews to collect his dues; in the case of grain, he would store it on land at Cambo-in, of course, the "King's barns."
As I have said, there was golf at Kingsbarns before Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Other later battles took their toll on the links, for, at the outbreak of World War II in 1939; the nine-hole course was taken over by the Ministry of Defense. They saw the beach at Kingsbarns as a natural invasion point and used the land for maneuvers for the duration of the War. In 1945, the 40 or so members of Kingsbarns were unable to finance the course reconstruction, so joined nearby Balcomie Links at Crail, where they still play today.
Kingsbarns lies on one of the many East of Scotland areas where, it is safe to assume, links golf originated, with its feature, which distinguishes our club-and-ball game from all others - the hole. That never figures in the Old Dutch paintings adduced as evidence that we borrowed our game from Holland . In any case, these 17 th century works, however beautiful, are utterly irrelevant, since the famous Statute banning golf and football dates from 1457. The only valid evidence available at present is in a Book of Hours at Bruges, published in 1510, and containing a picture which includes a player hitting a ball with a club towards what is undoubtedly a round hole, four or five inches in diameter. Now Bruges is a Belgian seaport, in the Flemish or Flanders area, and from at least the 14 th century it was engaged in trade with many Scottish ports, right up our East coast. Included are, of course, St Andrews, whose first Provost, in the 12 th century, was Mainard Fleming, and Crail, whose north barns came to be called "Kingsbarns." The main authority on Scottish surnames, Black, begins his entry on "Fleming with: "a surname sufficiently indicative of the nationality of its original bearers."
He goes on to list bearers of that name in many parts of Scotland, from 1147 onwards. I am not suggesting for a moment that our game probably originated in Fife or Angus - although the current number of "Flemings" in the residential section of the Tayside and North Fife telephone directory stands at 262! But surely it is reasonable to argue that our game with a hole was taken back by a Fleming to Bruges, and Belgium. Labels: Kingsbarns
Sunday, September 6, 1998
Golf Course News InternationalBy Mark LeslieKINGSBARNS, Scotland - How many golf course architects do their first solo design on true links land...in Scotland ...7 miles from the Old Course at St. Andrews ? Number Kyle Phillips among them, if there be more.
Phillips , who started his own company in July after 16 years as a lead designer for Robert Trent Jones, Jr., begins construction in October on Kingsbarns Golf Links here, on a site that hugs the rugged Scottish coast "I feel humble and very fortunate," said Phillips , whose only other design in the United Kingdom was the highly ranked 27-hole Wisley Golf Club outside London in 1991. "You have to admit, St. Andrews is the Mecca for us golf junkies. To be able to do something on the sea this close to the Old Course is a phenomenal opportunity and an incredible experience. It's pure golf, and open to the public."
"When I first saw the property, I wondered how the guys at Pebble Beach felt when they first walked on the site."
Kingsbarns Golf Links is one of the world's oldest golf Clubs around, having started in 1815. But after World War II, its nine-hole course fell into disrepair and little is recognizable today outside remnants of some bunkers.
Giving the club new life is American Mark Parsinen, developer of Granite Bay (California) Golf Club. And Walter Woods, retired after many years as head green keeper of the Old Course, is a consultant.
Sitting on 180 acres that run in a linear shape along the ocean, the new track will boast ocean views from every hole and five greens on the water, either at sea level or atop 20-foot cliffs.
It will measure 5,610 to 7,175 yards when it opens. That may be in 1999, but the grand opening is planned for July 2000 to coincide with the British Open at St. Andrews.
Phillips described the Kingsbarns Golf Links design as "modern links as opposed to the older links courses, which were designed primarily for medal play.
"We're trying to maintain the elements of links-style golf but think more about stroke play."
Phillips likened the design to remodeling an old home and having "functional obsolescence."
"We still have short walks between a green and the next tee, because it's part of the walking game," he said. "In the old days, tees were on the greens. We will have a little more space there. There will be fewer hidden bunkers. The greens will be 8,000 to 10,000 square feet, which is large but not on the scale of the Old Course, where the average is 20,000 square feet. Fescues will be predominant."
Another modernism will be a practice facility, with chipping area and driving range.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Saturday, December 6, 1997
The Sporting Life
By Dave Wik
Invited as a special guest, personable Kyle Phillips of Granite Bay took advantage of the opportunity with a third-place among low gross honors at the annual California Golf Writers Association Tournament held at the Resort at Squaw Creek in Olympic Valley near Lake Tahoe.
But for Phillips, who posted two rounds in the 70's, his skill on the golf course was dwarfed by winning another prize with his real-life job - recently being commissioned to design the new Kingsbarns Golf Links, just seven miles from The Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.
Established in 1815 as the Kingsbarns Golf Club, the abandoned nine-hole course is being redesigned by Phillips into a par-72, 7,175-yard championship venue.
"The course, which will be accessible to the public, has views of the sea from every hole, including six holes directly adjacent to the sea," said the enthused Phillips . "The site in many ways is reminiscent of Pebble Beach . However, the architectural style will be 100 percent Scottish."
What makes the assignment even more dear to Phillips is that it represents his first solo design since departing from the noted Robert Trent Jones II Group golf architect firm in Palo Alto in June. "It is an incredible opportunity, and pure joy for me to give this land the thoughtful attention it deserves," he said.
Since leaving the Jones company, Phillips set up his own golf course design office in Granite Bay , near the Granite Bay Golf Club, just outside of Roseville in the Sacramento Area. He previously served as vice president and golf architect for Jones for 16 years.
Phillips' work has taken him to more than 20 countries - on behalf of some 60 clients - throughout Europe , South America , Asia , the Caribbean and North America . During that time, he developed an appreciation for a classical style of architecture patterned after legendary golf course designer such as H. S. Colt, Alister Mackenzie and Albert Tillinghast.
With the Jones Group, Phillips designed more than 25 courses, several of which have been the site of professional tour events and national championships. In addition, he has developed a reputation for solving difficult environmental and planning problems through projects, such as Squaw Creek, widely considered to be the most environmentally responsive course ever constructed with two-thirds of the layout dedicated to wetlands.
Phillips graduated with national honors from Kansas State University in 1981, with a degree in landscape architecture. A single-digit handicap player, he was a member of the K-State golf team for two years and was runner-up in the 1975 Missouri State Junior Golf Championship.
Phillips is a member of the American Society of Golf course architects (ASGCA) as well as the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). He has been a speaker at conventions held by the golf course superintendents in the U.S. and Europe.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
Thursday, May 1, 1997
R & A Golf Club News BulletinBy Kieth MackieA substantial interest free loan has been granted by the R&A to the developers of the new golf links at Kingsbarns. In return they will make a number of starting times available to local golfers in St. Andrews and north-east Fife.
The agreement has been reached after discussions between the R & A, St. Andrews Links Trust and local golf clubs identified the growing pressure for starting times on the St. Andrews courses.
There are clear indications that this pressure will continue to increase and the R & A's agreement will provide an additional course for local golfers at times when bookings for St. Andrews courses are strong.
Chairman of the St. Andrews Links trust, Bill Ritchie commented: "Last year, play on the links by local golfers jumped 16 percent to a record high of 122,000 rounds. The R & A's arrangement with the Kingsbarns golf development will certainly help towards relieving the growing pressure and provide local golfers with an additional option."
R & A Secretary Sir Michael Bonallack commented: "Kingsbarns might well be one of the last true seaside links sites capable of development in Scotland. It is an extraordinary setting and I look forward to my first round of golf there."
The high quality links course which is being constructed at Kingsbarns, just six miles to the south-east of St. Andrews , is based on the site of the nine-hole course which was the home of the Kingsbarns Golfing Society, established in 1793. The original course reverted to farmland after being used for military purposes during the second world war.
The new development is being carried out on a split level site which runs around the edge of a shallow bay towards Cambo Ness and covers more than one-and-a-half miles of sea coast. One hole is set spectacularly on a rocky promontory and there are uninterrupted sea views from every hole.
Prime movers behind the new course are American Mark Parsinen, who was responsible for the successful development of Granite Bay Golf Club in Sacramento, California, and Art Dunkley, a real estate developer with investments in North America and the United Kingdom. They share a great enthusiasm for links courses which dates back to the late 1960's when Parsinen was a student at the London School of Economics. He said of his project at Kingsbarns: "The site speaks for itself. I pray our hard work and commitment do it full justice."
Seeding of the site will take place during the summer of 1998 and the course will be open for restricted play in the year 2000.Labels: Kingsbarns, Press
