Leven Links golf course in Fife, Scotland

Brandon Tucker

May 17, 2011

Leven Links Golf Course in the Kingdom of Fife is one of the most historic golf courses in Scotland.

Located on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, the layout features 18 links holes overlooking the water and Bass Rock in the distance. Today the course is home to two main clubs, Leven Golfing Society (the 11th oldest in the world) and Leven Thistle Golf Club.

The golf course has an illustrious history dating back to the mid-19th century and is home to the "The Standard Life Assurance Company's Amateur Champion Gold Medal," which began in 1870 and has been won by such golfers as H.S. Colt and Lee Westwood. It also served as an Open Championship Qualifying Site through 2005.

The course as it is today is far different from its original form. Located next door to Lundin Links and separated only by a stone wall behind the fourth green, the two courses were both once part of the same golf course.

As it stands today, the golf course plays just more than 6,500 yards from the medal tees. The routing consists of three horseshoes, the largest starting on the first and wrapping around to the ninth hole, followed by the 10th through 16th holes inside that, and finally the 17th and 18th playing parallel to one another.

The course also features one of Scotland's toughest holes, the 456-yard 18th that plays into the prevailing wind and features a burn running in front of the green.

Brandon Tucker

Brandon Tucker is the Sr. Managing Editor for GolfPass and was the founding editor of Golf Advisor in 2014, he was the managing editor for Golf Channel Digital's Courses & Travel. To date, his golf travels have taken him to over two dozen countries and nearly 600 golf courses worldwide. While he's played some of the most prestigious courses in the world, Tucker's favorite way to play the game is on a great muni in under three hours. Follow Brandon on Twitter at @BrandonTucker and on Instagram at @btuck34.