St Andrews, Golf e il Sentiero Costiero di Fife
St Andrews (the small city on the east coast of Fife, 55 km northeast of Edinburgh, accessible by train via Leuchars in approximately 1 hour) is simultaneously the birthplace of golf (the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A), founded 1754, the oldest golf club in the world, and the Old Course (the oldest golf course in the world, in use since at least the 15th century)) and the oldest university in Scotland (the University of St Andrews, founded 1413, where King Charles III and Queen Catherine met as students).
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St Andrews — The Home of Golf Since 1457
St Andrews (60km from Edinburgh by bus or car) has been the home of golf since 1457, when James II of Scotland banned the game because it was distracting men from archery practice — the Old Course (the oldest golf course in the world, 18 holes, first played in its current form in 1764) requires a handicap certificate or ballot entry; the Royal & Ancient Clubhouse (1754) overlooks the 18th green.
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The Old Course — The Road Hole, 17th
The 17th hole of the Old Course (the 'Road Hole') is the most famous and feared par 4 in golf — the drive must carry over the corner of the Old Course Hotel (formerly the railway sheds); the approach is to a narrow green with a deep bunker on the left (the Road Hole Bunker, from which escaping upward is nearly impossible) and a road and wall on the right.
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St Andrews Cathedral Ruins — Once Scotland's Largest
St Andrews Cathedral (founded 1158, consecrated 1318) was once the largest church in Scotland (119m long) — it was systematically stripped of stone after the Protestant Reformation of 1559 and is now a dramatic ruin overlooking the North Sea; the attached St Andrews Castle (sea-cliff fortification, siege mine and counter-mine tunnels from 1546 still intact) is 200m away.
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Fife Coastal Path — 117 Miles from Kincardine to Newburgh
The Fife Coastal Path (117 miles along the north shore of the Firth of Forth) connects 15 historic fishing villages including Crail (crab and lobster boats landing daily), Pittenweem (the largest active fishing harbour in Fife), and Anstruther (the Scottish Fisheries Museum and the best fish and chips in Scotland at the Anstruther Fish Bar).
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Kingsbarns Golf Links — New Course with Old Course Character
Kingsbarns Golf Links (5km from St Andrews, opened 2000) was designed to resemble a centuries-old links course using modern construction — it is ranked in the world's top 100 golf courses and is more accessible than the Old Course (public green fee: £225); the course runs along 3km of clifftop coastline with sea views on every hole.
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Scottish Golf Museum — 500 Years of Club History
The British Golf Museum (next to the Old Course, St Andrews, 1990) covers 500 years of golf history — the evolution of golf balls (featherie to gutta-percha to Haskell rubber-core), the history of caddies (an Edinburgh tradition since 1660), and the biographies of Tom Morris (professional since 1851) and Bobby Jones (amateur, helped create Augusta National after his 1927 Old Course victory).