Golf Club Lane,
Elie, Fife KY9 1AS
Office
+44 (0)1333 330 301Pro shop
+44 (0)1333 330 955Fax
+44 (0)1333 330 895Website
Visit websiteGolf pro
Michael Bradfield (Head PGA Professional).The Course:
18 holes. Seaside links. Undulating terrain - several slopes to climb.
Surroundings:
Seaside and rural countryside.
Designer:
Old Tom Morris and later James Braid are thought to have had the biggest influences on the design of the current Elie & Earlsferry Links.
Above distances are for the Elie course. Also at The Golf House Club is the nine-hole par-32 Elie Sports Club course, also known as the Ladies' course (2080 yds).
56.191615
-2.829092
13 miles S of St Andrews
Elie is located on the south coast of Fife, on the A917, between Anstruther and Leven. In the center of Elie, where the A917 turns sharply, head west on Bank St. After o.4 mls yards turn right into Golf Club Lane. After 100 yds Visitor Parking is on your left.
Elie Links
The Golf House Club - Elie Links: members and visitors to the Golf House Club (and other local clubs that use the course), ply their golfing skills on what are variously known as the Elie Links, or Elie & Earlsferry Links, or just Earlsferry Links. Suffice to say, the layout connects the adjacent villages of Elie and Earslferry, with most of the golf holes to be found to the north of Earlsferry Beach.
Name differences aside, here you'll find a thoroughly enjoyable links layout, complete with wonderful seaside scenery and bracing sea air. From the opening hole, where a blind tee shot requires that the starter consult with a 30ft periscope (from HMS Excalibur), the layout's many charms become apparent. And this beguiling seaside gem is tantalisingly located just 13 miles south of St Andrews.
Occupying a wide and open expanse of treeless terrain, the out-and-back layout features smooth undulations rather than towering sand dunes. Although absent of towering dunes, the fairways still roll and tumble, as on any great linksland layout.
The best of the course (and coastal views) come in the middle section, from the par-4 6th thru' to the par-4 16th. This stretch of holes takes you out to the Firth of Forth's rocky shoreline, embracing some of the layout's most exciting holes.
Pick of the holes: the short, blind par-4 10th, stunning par-3 11th, beach-hugging par-4 12th and signature par-4 13th are a fabulous seaside foursome. This sublime quartet of holes, offer views across the Firth to North Berwick's pudding-bowl hill (The Law), out to the gannet colony of Bass Rock, and closer to home, a line of rugged cliffs that form a dramatic headland to the west.
Visitors welcome on weekdays and weekends.
Must book in advance.
Contact club for full details, discounts, packages, etc. [Last updated: 2023].
Players generally walk this course. Caddies available if pre-booked.
Good
Golf has been played on the Earlsferry links, possibly as early as the 15th century. The first recorded mention of an official course here came in the 1770s. By 1896 enough land had been leased allowing an 18-hole course to be laid out, which bar a few minor alterations is the course played today.
The first official club to use the links was the Elie & Earlsferry Golf Club, formed in 1832 and later disbanded in 1912. To provide permanent facilities for local and visiting players, a "golf house" was built in 1875. In that same year a new club was also formed, adopting the name The Golf House Club. Other clubs also still enjoy playing rights on the Elie course, notably the Earlsferry Thistle Golf Club (1875) and Elie & Earlsferry Ladies Golf Club (1884).
It was here, on this wonderfully open and often windy course, that young James Braid developed the skills that would see him become one of Scotland's greatest ever professional golfers and course designers. The five-time winner of The Open Championship grew up in the village of Earlsferry, developing his golfing skills on the Earlsferry links.
Scotland's 26th best course (Golf World, 2025).
Britain & Ireland's 85th best course (Golf World, 2025).
Bankwell Road, Anstruther, Fife KY10 3DA
+44 (0)1333 310 691
Visit websiteThe Craw's Nest Hotel & Restaurant is located in the small coastal town of Anstruther, one of the beautiful Royal Burghs in the East Neuk of Fife. The hotel is a former manse (Church Minister's house) and is the perfect base from which to explore the breathtakingly beautiful rugged scenery of the Fife coastline. A member of the Symphony Hotels group.
No
Elie;Crail (both 6 mls, in opposite directions)
St Andrews Links (x7 courses); St Andrews (Dukes course); Fairmont St Andrews (Devlin and Torrance courses); Kingsbarns; Ladybank; Lundin; Leven.
Elie, Fife KY9 1DT
+44 (0)1333 330 246
Visit websiteRockview Guest House offers five twin bedded ensuite rooms, four of which have stunning views overlooking Elie Bay whilst the other room looks out over the garden towards the lighthouse.
No
Elie
Lundin; Leven; Ladybank; St Andrews (Dukes course); St Andrews Links (x7 courses); Fairmont St Andrews; Kingsbarns; Crail.
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