Carnoustie Golf Links: One of Golf's Greatest Tests
Long, narrow, and deeply unforgiving — this is links golf at its most challenging.
Carnoustie, Scotland
Carnoustie sits about 40 minutes from St. Andrews along the Scottish coast. It may not carry the same name recognition with casual golf fans as the Old Course, but most serious golfers recognize Carnoustie as one of the most challenging golf courses in the world.
The course is an easy walk, with few significant changes in grade. Its brutality comes from the combination of length, narrow fairways, and deep, strategically placed bunkers. The course stretches past 7,400 yards from the tips, so its patrons are frequently hitting long irons and fairway woods into heavily defended greens. The first hole has the widest fairway on the course. From there, the margin for error only tightens. Precision is the price of admission.
Carnoustie has hosted the Open Championship eight times, most recently in 2018. The routing along the Angus coast brings the wind into play from multiple directions, turning manageable iron shots into serious decisions. The Barry Burn, a creek that winds its way through the course and resurfaces at critical moments on the back nine, adds another obstacle to an already demanding layout.
For golfers planning a trip to St. Andrews, Carnoustie is an obvious choice. The contrast between Carnoustie and the courses at St. Andrews gives you a broader picture of Scottish championship links golf.
Hole 10 ("South America"): Par 4
According to local caddie lore, a caddie celebrating a planned move to South America had too much to drink, passed out in a bunker on this hole, and never made the trip. The hole is now called "South America."
Multiple bunkers threaten off the tee on the right side, and the single bunker on the left is also reachable. If you've hit a strong drive and found the fairway, you face a risk/reward decision – the Barry Burn crosses the hole about 40 yards short of the green, and a big enough carry can take it out of the equation entirely. The green has bunkers surrounding it, but it's one of the more approachable on the back nine.
After you finish, stop by the halfway house and take a moment. The remaining holes at Carnoustie are going to ask a lot of you.
Hole 16 ("Barry Burn"): Par 3
Tom Watson famously called this "the hardest par 3 in golf." Conditions can demand as much as a driver off the tee just to reach the putting surface, and bunkers crowd the front sides.
When we played it, the best shot was well short of the green, with enough to roll the ball over the ridge in front of the green and get it onto the putting surface. But, as with any hole at Carnoustie, your hole-by-hole strategy will need to adapt to the conditions.
Hole 17 ("Island"): Par 4
The Barry Burn returns here for its most dramatic appearance on the course, winding back and forth through the hole to create an island in the fairway. The tee shot requires you to lay up onto that island unless you're carrying a long driver and a high tolerance for risk. There is no middle ground here – you either know you can clear the burn, or you play for position and accept the longer approach that comes with it.
The approach is more manageable from the left side of the fairway, but the pathway to the green is narrow enough that bunkers on the front side collect anything that drifts off line. This hole punishes hesitation at both ends and rewards golfers who commit to their play and execute it precisely.
Tips For Your Round