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On the opposite side of the country (which only takes two hours to drive to), is the birthplace of golf and the storybook setting known as the town of St. Andrews. For those who haven’t been, it is not quite the enchanting, charismatic and idyllic golf funhouse others make it out to be. It’s that, times a thousand.

Unequivocally dissimilar to any sense I can relate about various golf experiences I’ve had, St. Andrews evokes an oxygen-depleting sigh that wrings golfers’ lungs of the preconceived notions as to what “it” will be like. The next, effortful attempt to expand the diaphragm typically results in a sensation that can only be attributed to what I like to call “the St. Andrews effect”—an eye-widening, brow-raising phenomenon that induces a satisfactory smirk.

Donning two pairs of pants and approximately five layers on top, we prepared that next breezy October day to play the newest layout on the block, The Castle Course. David McLay Kidd’s transformation of unexciting potato farms into a links-style layout equipped with a sprinkling of blind tee shots, fairways guarded by rugged mounds and magnificent views of the North Sea, are aspects not to be missed. Though brutal if you find yourself out of the fairway, The Castle Course remains a fair test if kept within the short stuff.

As the temperature rose and layers were stripped off, we found ourselves at the home stretch. Mike Woodcock, communications manager for the St. Andrews Links Trust, informed us of the acquisition of additional farmland in order to establish what are now the 16th green and 17th tee of the course. “David McLay Kidd spoke to the Trust about purchasing the land because he saw the potential for creating the 17th hole,” Woodcock says. “It is a spectacular par 3, which plays over a chasm in the cliffs to an undulating green.” This corner of the course has been likened to that of Pebble Beach.