The St Andrews Castle Course is a modern links championship course laid out on a cliff-top 2 miles from the town of St Andrews, bordering the Fairmont St Andrews on St Andrews Bay.

Routed on 2 loops of 9 holes, each loop starts at the clubhouse, and heads for higher ground, before descending for the final 3 holes of each 9, alongside the coastline. Clever mounding and sculpting of fairways by MacLay Kidd (architect of the acclaimed Bandon Dunes on the west coast of Oregon) means that many of the holes are sheltered from one another, and also from tee to green, placing a premium on straight and strategic driving.

The feature hole is the par-3 17th, played across a ravine on the edge of cliffs, all into the prevailing wind from St Andrews.