St Andrews Links - The Castle Course

Facility Details

St Andrews Links - The Castle Course is a daily-fee golf facility comprising:

Courses

• The Castle Course (18 holes, 6759 Yards, Year of opening: 2008)

Clubhouses

• The Castle Course Clubhouse

Maintenance Facilities

• Castle Course Maintenance facility

Other

• Pro Shop
• Facilities
• Halfway House
• On Course WC

Landscape & Ecosystems

The Castle Course is located in a clifftop setting just outside the east of St Andrews Medieval Citylooking out over the North Sea. The site was originally agricultural land. The clubhouse and car park sit near the site of what was Kinkell Castle – from which the course takes its name.

Wildlife interest is considerable for such a young course. Skylark (alauda arvensis) are prolific in the wider areas of the fescue rough and meadow pipit (anthus pratensis) can also be heard but less often seen. Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) too benefit from the more sparce conditions of certain areas of the course. Brown hare (Lepus capensis) frequent the course - a Biodiversity Action Plan species. Various butterfly species have also been observed, including peacock (Inachis io) and meadow brown (Maniola jutina). The bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) will also encourage the common blue butterly (Polyommatus icarus)and possibly six spot burnet moth. Other plant species of interest include; hard head (Centaurea nigra), red campion (Silene dioica), tufted vetch (Vicia cracca), common vetch (Vicia sativa), Kidney-vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), white clover and red clover (Trifolium pratense) and soft rush. Maiden pinks (Dianthus deltoides), were on the site prior to construction and were protected by fence to avoid damage with some being moved to a more appropriate site while cuttings were propogated to allow us to introduce more once the course was open.

Pre-construction Phase 1 and 2 habitat surveys were conducted. The course is linked to St Andrews via an SSSI site called Kinkell Braes (cliffs directly to the north of the site). It is renowned for its flora and geology. As many original drystone walls have been maintained as possible.

The two buildings (Clubhouse and Maitenance) were designed to be low level so they were partially hidden to fit better into the landscape with the clubhouse having a copper roof which will blend in perfectly colourwise as it ages.
Part of the philosophy of the design of the golf course was to have it appear as if it was part of the rugged landscape you would have found adjacent the sea. Both greens and tees have been \"built into\" the landscape with the tees in particular shaped in a manner thats disguises them. They are small and many with the shape non comforming rather than large, flat platforms. Following agreement with the neighbouring landowner, part of the boundary fence has been moved down off the clifftop in places to improve the views for visitors to the course and those walking the coastal path.

Consultation & Surveys

St Andrews Links - The Castle Course does not consult any organizations regarding landscape heritage conservation.

Habitats & Designations

St Andrews Links - The Castle Course does not feature any landscape designations.

Turfgrass

These turfgrasses are optimal for the circumstances at St Andrews Links - The Castle Course because:

Fine fescues and colonial browntop bent grasses are the most suitable species for golf to be played on in a seaside environment with the strong winds and salt air that the site is exposed to. In these conditions, the game is best played on the ground as much as through the air and these grasses provide the fastest and firmest surfaces with their deep rooting systems the most suitable to survive the drying winds experienced in the prevailing climate. Requiring little in the way of nutrient input or irrigation and low producers of thatch also helps them suit the climate and conditions. The management programme leads to little likelyhood of disease occurence.

Conservation & Enhancement

Water

The Castle Course is situated towards the lowest point of the farmland catchment in which it sits. Water enters the site via two burns which exit down the cliff face to the sea. The source of the irrigation water for the golf course is a bore hole which is sunk to an aquifer below the site. Prior to begining construction in 2005 we had a hydrologist, Faber Maunsell, contracted to find if there was an adequate water source within the site as getting our own supply would be much cheaper than using mains water. The results came back very positive with adequate water available of a reasonable quality and no detrimental effect on neighbouring borehole useage. The water is pumped and stored in 2 x 150m3 below ground storage tanks. The water is amended in the tanks to lower the bicarbanate levels to improve water quality.
The design of the golf course is such that water is moved quickly from the playing surfaces (fairways and semi rough) into out of play areas where it is held in swales and hollows before slowly being released into the drainage system to prevent erosion and undue sediment discharge to the coastal zone.
All the water from the entrance road, the car parks and the roofs of the maintenance building and Clubhouse is collected in two tanks and punmped to an attenuation pond before a gradual, controlled, release into what was an existing drainage outlet. The course has USGA spec greens. The tees and aprons are sand capped with the same rootzone to a depth of 8\". Fairways are soil based, topdressed with sand to a depth of 1\". Sand capped areas are watered every 3/4 days if required. Deep and infrequent being the norm. The fairways are watered more light and frequent to minimize runoff. We hand water as much as possible during dry spells to maximize turf quality. The sand based areas are also on a wetting agent programme to enhance perculation and water retention in the profile.
The supply to the Clubhouse and the Maintenance facility is both Mains water.
The maintenance facility has a 'Waste 2 Water' closed loop wash down facility. The treated water then goes through the same SUDS system which filters the water from our buildings, carparks etc.

Sources & Consumption

Irrigation & Efficiency

The irrigation system at St Andrews Links - The Castle Course is:

Fully computer controlled

St Andrews Links - The Castle Course does not undertake any activities to conserve / reduce / minimise water consumption.

Energy & Resources

The design of the clubhouse encorporates the use of geothermal energy where 10 boreholes draw water and ground source heat pumps accurately control the heating & cooling needs of the building whilst using heat recovery technology to minimise the running costs to the Trust. The ventilation systems required for fresh air intake and exhaust air also use heat recovery technology that recovers over 80% of the heat in the exhaust air with a running current of only 2 Amps. The Heat Pump system supplies underfloor heating throughout the clubhouse and strategically positioned fan coils around the public and staff areas control a stable and comfortable environment for staff, visitors and golfers alike. Early figures suggest that with this syatem we can heat this Clubhouse at approx a 1/4 of the cost of our other clubhouses. The design and installation company from nearby Broughty Ferry, were shortlisted for an H&V News Award in the category “Renewables Project of the Year”
There is a lot of natural light to the clubhouse through the large windows in the main lounge/dining area and also the glass roof in the centre of the building over the shop. Becasue the building is open plan style these complement each other.
Light sensors have been used as much as practical in non-public areas with energy saving light bulbs installed throughout the building.
Solar lighting has been used on the entrance road to guide people at dusk or as they arrive in the morning.
There is also a lot of natural lighting in the maintenance facility to the mess room as well as the main machinery storage area which greatly assists when working on equipment.
All windows in both the Clubhouse and the Maintenance building are double glazed. The insulation is what was required when the buildings were built in 2008.
One of the planning conditions was the introduction of a green travel plan which we had propared prior to the opening of the course in June 2008.

Sources & Consumption

No energy surveys have been undertaken at St Andrews Links - The Castle Course.

St Andrews Links - The Castle Course does not consume any renewable energy or resources.

Energy Efficiency

Vehicles & Transport

Products & Supply Chains

Being a world famous venue with high customer expectations we try to source high quality products for use across the board. Course furniture is minimal, benches are made from recycled material, bronze tee markers are fitted to stones found on site during construction and litter bins are from a Scottish supplier.
Fertiliser and pesticide usage is minimal and deliveries are requested to be made in bulk if possible of when the carrier is going to be in the area. Empty containers are stored and uplifted by the supplier when next delivering. Sand for topdressing has to be bought in and is from the closest location available that means the particle size and shape specification. it is bought in bulk rather than bags so there is no polythene to dispose of.
The best cultivars of seed are used to withstand the harsh climate the course is subject to and are suited to our management programme of minimal inputs.
Food is supplied mostly from the local market and is fresh. Where possible, packaging is kept to a minimal. Cardboard boxes and bubble wrap are reused to transport goods around our sites or to post online orders from our golf shops out to customers if fit for purpose and at the end they are stored for recycle. Empty bottles, plastic, glass or aluminium containers are seperated and recycled.
Our new website shop has allowed us to reduce our paper and printing usage by over 6000 sheets/year.
Printers are set by default to print black and white and staff are encouraged to print all internal documents in B/W and double sided.
Carpets in the clubhouses are hard wearing and made to withstand heavy traffic from golf shoes so they are expected to last longer.

Purchasing Policies

Economic Multiplier

Turfgrass Inputs

Waste Management

No waste audits have been undertaken at St Andrews Links - The Castle Course.

Environmental Quality

At The Castle Course we installed a closed loop washdown system as the maintenance facility if fairly close to the edge of a SSSI (250m) and the soil type at there is unsuatable for a soakaway. All the rainfall from the entrance road, car parks and roofs is collected in storage tanks and pumped to an attenuation pond so the outfall is controlled. Spray equipment is kept well maintained and physical controls such as bubblejet nozzes are fitted to eliminate spray drift.
Banks of streams are left mostly uncut and when cutting does take place during the winter through the two golf areas (10% of the total length) the clippings are removed.

The maintenance facility was build in 2008 and interceptor tanks are in place to contain any chemical spillage. Only small quantities of pesticides are kept on site to avoid products going out of date or damaged by weather

The drainage system to the golf course was designed to cope with a 1 in 200 year flood. the fairways are shaped in such as manner as to get the water off the surface as much as possible and move it into out of play areas where it is held for a period therefore the flow from the existing field drains that were tapped into during construction is controlled and measured to prevent soil erosion. The prevention of increasing both the amount of drains leaving the site and also the diameter size of the existing pipes was a planning requirement.

The use of glass in the designs of the Clubhouse and the maintenance facility has reduced the need for lighting thereby reducing energy requirements. Likewise the geothermal ground source heat pumps mean that less energy is required to heat and cool the clubhouse with the airconditioning unit leading to less emissions.

In 2008, the golf course won the new Sporturf project of the year from the industry magazine Turf Professianals and were presented with the award at the IOG show at SALTEX.

Water Analysis

Waste Water

Hazardous Materials

Pollution Prevention

People & Communities

The Castle Course is the latest in the St Andrews Links portfolio having opened in June 2008 following six years of detailed planning and 3 years of construction. Set up as a limited company, it is managed by the Links Trust and any trading profit at the end of each finacial year is given back to the Trust by ded of covenant.
The addition of this course has enabled us to make more tee times available at peak times to our customers, both local and visitors, to ensure they can enjoy golf in St Andrews, whether on the Castle Course or our existing courses on the Links. Being completely different from our other courses, it also gives them the opportunity to have a completely new experience.
Since its opening it has directly brought a signioficant number of new jobs to the area (as well as providing a lot of jobs during the construction) and an increase in tourism to St Andrews.

In the greenkeeping department we get huge interest from people around the world wanting to know what methods we use to maintain the courses, grass types, fertiliser quantities etc and often have groups or individuals visiting to see our facilities, practies and how the course was built. We also give presentations to turfgrass groups around the world at trade shows/exhibitions on the construction of The Castle Course.
In 2008, the golf course won the new Sporturf project of the year from the industry magazine Turf Professianals and were presented with the award at the IOG show at SALTEX.
There is a large interest in turf students from around the world wanting to come and work here for a season to learn our methods.

We continually promote best environmental practice to our staff, both full time and seasonal with on going reminders of recyclying as many things as we can, from food waste and paper to oils and soils. Notices encouage staff to turn electrical equipment off when not in use while bins and boxes areprovided for bottles, cans, and paper. Full time staff have the opportunity to attend seminars where it is common to find at least one speaker presenting on an environmental matter while we have regular inhouse presentations to staff which would include best practices.

Employment & Education

Community Relations

Land Use & Cultural Heritage

St Andrews Links - The Castle Course does not consult any organizations regarding the conservation of cultural heritage.

Communications