Leven Links	Leven, Fife, Scotland
Course Review
• Founded:	1846
• Designer:	Tom Morris
• Championship Length:	6,506 yards
• PAR:	72
• SSS (Course Rating):	72.2
• Type:	Links

 

Located 30 minutes from the Olde Course at St. Andrews is Leven Links Golf Club. The history is rich, staking claim as the 11th-oldest golf club in the world.

The course is challenging - enough to be a qualifying course for the British Open. It plays longer than 6,400 yards from the championship tees with the longest hole, the par-5 sixth, at 567 yards. Visitors are welcome any time other than Saturdays.

The club expanded to 18 holes in 1868 and retained its layout until 1909 when part of the grounds were taken over by a football and bowling ground. The course is still historic.

The last hole, "Home Green," remains intact, despite a new green that replaced the old, small square one. The green is still fronted by "Sconnie Burn." It's one of the finest classic finishing holes in Fife.

There are three sets of tees here, with 700 yards separating the back from front. The front is much longer, however, at 3,400 yards compared to 3,000 yards.

Holes 12 and 13 are back-to-back par 5s, both reachable at

The following is provided by Leven Links:

Leven Links is in part one of the oldest pieces of golfing ground in the world with golf being traced back to 1846 amongst the ‘bents, sandhills and windlestraie’ west of the Mile Dyke. It is known that Tom Morris was involved in the design of the course which was originally nine holes and extended to 18 holes over the Mile Dyke continuing to play eastwards to the sandhills of Lundin Links in 1868. Players and their families maintained it until 1876 when a paid green keeper was employed.

The extended course held an Inaugural competition played over two rounds on October 2^nd 1868. Young Tom Morris won this with a score of 170. This was a good score as the first plans of the extended course drawn up in 1878 show a par of 72 or73.  

The layout was retained until 1909 when pressure of players forced a division at the Mile Dyke with Lundin Links extending the eastern section. Leven Links section taking over the football ground north of the bowling green and decanting the playing ladies to a new course at Lundin.

The following is an except from The Leven Advertiser and Wemyss Gazette of 27^th January 1909.  

A glance at the sketch which we are able to publish to-day shows that Nos. 1,2,3 holes remain as at present; No 4 goes to the south corner of the Mile Dyke; No. 5 is a short hole, running south and north from the southern boundary to the present Mile green; No.6 is in Silverburn park; Nos. 7,8,9,10 and 11 are on the ladies’ course or ground immediately adjoining ; No. 12 on Silverburn; Nos.13, 14, 15, 16,17 and 18 on the course and football field of to-day. The course works out a total of 6176 yards as against 5463 yards at present.   

This is the ground that the present day play uses, though not strictly in the layout originally planned.  

The strength of Leven Links lies in its fine variety of links holes with undulating fairways, wonderful approaches and large true running greens.

Turning into the prevailing wind at the 13^th leaves the golfer with a lot of work to do before reaching ‘one of the finest finishing holes in golf’. Prior to 1893 Home Green was small and square but is now a large putting surface fronted by the ‘demonic’ Scoonie Burn. This wide natural water hazard described in part as ‘yellow as Paotobus or as black as Styx’ not as bad today but it will need two great golf shots to reach the putting surface in regulation.  

Alterations were made in 2005 to counteract technology with the installation of new strategic bunkers and a slight lengthening.  

Leven Links has hosted many national and international competitions.  

It has hosted local final qualifying for The Open Championship in 1978,1984,1990,1995,2000, and 2005.  

Played every year in August the Links hosts The Standard Life Assurance Company’s Amateur Champion Medal, gifted by them in 1870 and as such lays claim to the title of “The Oldest Open Amateur Strokeplay Championship in the World”.  

The Links also hosts The Lindsay Shield an interclub competition between Leven, St. Andrews and Carnoustie a matchplay competition of 50 a side (25 home and 25 away) the oldest of its type and can be traced back over 150 year