Golfadelphia

6,551 yards, 132 Slope from the White tees

It was the fifth day, seven rounds in. A routine was established. Same wake up time, head to the same bakery, the same order, golf, lunch, golf, drinks, dinner, sleep. Six more rounds to go. There had been good rounds and bad but I still had not seen my best golf. Yet these courses weren’t after your best golf swing. Here, it was more about your ability to get the ball over the grounds to the hole and through the elements. The land, the course and the game could care less how your swing looked in accomplishing that. A sigh of resignation as the alarm went off that morning. I need to handle the bad golf better. It’s really not about good golf or bad golf. It’s just the whole concept of underperforming which feels a lot like failure. Yet also likely not recognizing the myriad of circumstances at play that stifles all the best golf, just waiting to come out. It really doesn’t matter. Me being here is about something else altogether. It’s time to explore that and the golf will come what may. Accept it all. It’s all part of it. As in life.

Just like at Lundin, the parking lot was right next to the sea. The sun was even brighter in the morning and the lot rather empty so early on. The quiet rolling of the sea with the occasional quaffing of the sea gulls felt familiar. It took me back to college, waking up early and driving to some surf break at sunrise. The same kind of deserted parking lot, sea gulls sorting out the morning as the sea toiled on. We were up at the tee. Were actually up when we parked, a mix up on times and now in a rush. No more time to think about anything, get the tee shot out there and get back into the comfortable rhythm carved in from the ritual of days past. It was a pleasant round. We played with a couple members. My knee finally starting giving me issues so on with the brace. There were a lot of middling shots. I was fine with it all. I was studying the holes, how they fit in with those at Lundin, how the two courses settled in on their own. Watching the Scots. They were not worrying one way or another about their shots. There’s good, there’s bad, there’s the inexplicable, the lucky, the unlucky; it seemed like ambivalence. Also a lot like they had seen it all and had stopped trying to fight fate. Come what may.

This enlightenment from weathered experience is the type of thing that’s refined well in Scotland. The member asked what I shot after the round and I had to add it up. It wasn’t all that good but I was indifferent. Who fucking cares. Look at that view and look at those rumpled fairways. I had finally found it. It was with me as we went to play the Old in the afternoon. And it was with me as I peeled off six pars in a row and knew I was close to my personal best round. I didn’t add it up. The back nine heads back into town and the sun was shining on us as the town grew closer and larger. A peace had fallen over the group. Tranquil golden rays amidst the emerald corridors and vivid pops of yellow gorse, birds in pleasant spots of song. It seemed to last forever as we took our turns hitting our balls this way and that. That. That’s what I cared about, what mattered. It was then I fell in love with Scotland, as with the Old. It started that morning at Leven. And I don’t think by coincidence.

The interplay between Leven and Lundin on the Fife coast is set forth in some detail here: https://golfadelphia.com/2026/06/23/lundin-golf-club/. As mentioned in that review yet worthy of another tell, one of the first writings of the golf in the area was in 1748 when a Mr. James Grubb was apparently hit on the knee by a golf ball, which ultimately resulted in the loss of his leg. Nine holes west of the Mile Dyke. This became officially known as the Leven Golf Club in 1846-47. It stayed that way for approximately twenty years, at which point the Innerleven Golf Club joined them, moving from their NLE course of Dubbieside Links, which was on the other side of the river Leven. The Leven Thistle Golf Club formed around the same time as the Innerleven merger, which gave the Leven nine holes three clubs. An expansion to eighteen holes extending on the other side of the Mile Dyke to Lundin then took place, with the Lundin Mill Golf Club forming as a result. Old Tom Morris oversaw the expansion to eighteen holes. The maiden match of the new course was in 1868 between Old Tom and his son, Young Tom Morris. The course was viewed as very modern for the time based on separated fairways and greens without any type of sharing. While the course shuttered after only nine years, it revived in 1889 with the work of the all the aforementioned clubs forming what was known as the Joint Links Committee. The course then flourished but in 1908-09, Lundin separated from the Leven clubs to form their own eighteen holes east of the Mile Dyke. James Braid designed those nine holes and that course opened in 1909.

There has always been a bit of historical mystery with Leven, both before and after the split with Lundin. Leven has the older holes and remains some of the oldest golfing grounds in Scotland. There is no design attribution for those original nine holes other than noting it was likely members of that original Leven Golf Club. Old Tom then came into the picture in 1865 and was involved in bunkering and other hazard arrangement, then ensured those holes coalesced with the extended nine holes to Lundin. Likewise, there is no design attribution for the nine holes designed after the split with Lundin. They took over the football grounds north of the bowling green and while the initial nine holes were not as well received as Braid’s work at Lundin, the holes went through some revisions until a general consensus of approval rang through the clubs. In 1957, Innerleven amalgamated with Leven Golf Club to form the Leven Golfing Society, who use the Innerleven clubhouse. The Leven Thistle Golf Club have their own clubhouse across the road. Both clubs formed a Joint Committee to run the golf course and that remains to this day.

Mystery prevails but the whole area was under sea way back when. As the waters resided, it pulled and carved the land this way and that. A while after that, the Scots went about playing golf over the land as the elements continued to refine its characteristics over time. Old Tom came in for a spell for a bit of design refinement and at some point thereafter, those that knew the land intimately through the pangs of battle likely added the nine holes, then changed them until they were happy with the whole arrangement. Work to the bunkering and tees was also performed in the early 2000’s. Again, no design attribution provided. Leven Links now stands.

Leven Links is one of the more traditional links one can set foot upon and is regarded as one of the most authentic examples of nineteenth-century Scottish links golf still in existence. Its rugged, traditional character starts on the side of the sea yet stays just below the bluff of the beach, turning slightly inward or outward to the greens. One of its defining differences with Lundin is its substantial below ground structure, as well as the gorse. More than any other course visited this trip, the gorse is a prominent feature, especially off the tee. Leven is also generally regarded as the more challenging of the two courses and I suspect that is due in large part to that beautiful, fucking annoying, gorse. The Eighteenth is a brute, just like Lundin, yet even more so. With the wind against, only a rare few will be able to think about the green on their second shot. Leven is sporty and gentle yet firm. Much more challenging than one suspects and when all is said and done, an outstanding course.

Maybe I sensed what those centuries before sensed walking that land. Maybe it was watching our playing partners handling the trials and tribulations. Maybe I just needed a few rounds of perspective. Who knows. I’ll always see Leven as a turning point at that point in time and when needed, think about that round and that place.

The First is a 426 yard par 4 (from the White tees). “Tables.” Looking out from the First tee, it seems wide open to the first green. There are a couple bunkers off to the left but it’s the undulation of the fairway that gives the hole some interest. The green is set to the left of the fairway as well, so the golfer must set up his approach to carry over the rough and loam to reach it. Two bunkers at the front left of the green and another at the back right to keep the approach honest.

The Second is a 379 yard par 4. “Know.” There’s a split fairway here, the one on the left relatively hidden. From the tee, it appears you head up the right side similar to the hole prior, needing to carry some mounding to reach the green on the left. But those who “know” will go left off the tee to the other side of the mounding where a fairway runs straight to the run. It’s a more challenging tee shot to place it correctly to be sure, but leaves the golfer with a much more straightforward approach than for those taking the easier tee shot.

The Third is a 352 yard par 4. “Bents.” We continue on towards Lundin, up the coast. The play on angles continues with the tee shot here, which needs to once again list left. Bunkering starts on the right side of the fairway, then switches to the left. Leven has its own valley of sin and it is just before the green here. It will send balls away from the green and off to the left. While the tee shot should go left, the approach is better favoring the right to accommodate this terrain pull.

The Fourth is a 450 yard par 4. “Sea.” Once again, left is the way off the tee. There’s a bunker on the right, then one on the left close by, so one really does need to hit the fairway and account for the roll the ball will take. And we need that roll with how long the hole is. The green is ahead with bunkering at the front. The approach needs to list left this time to counteract the movement towards the sea.

Thus far, we have faced holes that play on wind direction, terrain movement, angles and the occasional bunker. One figures out how to slalom the right way eventually.

The Fifth is a 163 yard par 3. “Valley.” We reach Mile Dyke and look over to Lundin. When the course was unified, we would have played this hole, then moved on the side of the Dyke and played what is now known at Lundin’s Fifteenth. We would have closed out those holes, then our Tenth would have been Lundin’s current First. We would have then played those starting five holes, then moved back over the Dyke to play Leven’s Thirteenth through Fifteenth. The Eighteenth was a combination of the Sixteenth and Eighteenth but the Scoonie burn was still involved as we will see a bit later.

As for this hole, left is safe, right is dead. Bunkers line the front and the right side drops off precariously, leaving shots with a stiff recovery. Off left provides kinder recoveries for sure. The green is rather large and there is some room off the rear, which helps.

The Sixth is a 569 yard par 5. “Silverburn North.” We now head away from the Dyke at the most inland point. The right side remains rigidly out of bounds but the further right one remains, the more direct to the green. There is room off to the left but bunkers complicate that path. This is a long hole and we come across two other greens that might be mistaken for where we are going. When in doubt, just keep going long. The green is well bunkered and likely requires an aerial approach, with the one in the front being especially deep and tough.

The Seventh is a 182 yard par 3. “Corriemar.” The green is blind after the mounds, lined with bunkers on the left side while moving towards the right side with one longer bunker. There’s a lot of surface level to work with but anyone feeling the need to miss the green should do so on the left because at least finding the ball will be easy and should be left with a manageable lie.

The Eighth is a 350 yard par 4. “Bing.” Back over on right most perimeter and gorse coming in from both sides, there are also two center line bunkers in play off the tee. It’s a challenging tee shot, semi blind as well. Ending up in the fairway either before or after the bunkers is paramount, either of which leaves a fine approach into the green that moves right to left.

The Ninth is a 171 yard par 3. “Pavillion.” The green moves right to left and bunkers reside mostly at the front. It’s a deep green and the rear half is a nice safe option to avoid the bunkers and rely on the flat stick. The wind can start to make it more challenging simply to get it past the bunkers and in play, depending.

The front nine essentially makes a big U-turn from the coast line to the higher inland. There’s a nice traditional mixture of mounding, angles, blind shots and a dose of gorse that there is no mistaking for the golfer he is playing proper links. I would rank them 3, 4, 2, 1, 5, 8, 6, 7, 9.

The back nine starts with the 338 yard par 4 Tenth. “Cattle Creep.” The course is certain there has been enough time for a proper introduction, so is no longer bashful with getting a little more frisky. Look no further to the shortest par 4 on the course. There are holes here where the tee shot determines most everything and this is another of those. Length is not nearly as important as placement, which should avoid the gorse yet also consider the approach. The green is sunken downhill to the left. Most approaches will be blind for that reason. The frumpled fairway leading down to the green far from assures the golfer the ground game will be kind to him if he decides to try and roll the ball down to the green. Those that went longer off the tee will likely find themselves off to the right side, facing a stiffer approach. It demands knowing the terrain, knowing how the ball will respond to the terrain, all in conjunction to the golfer’s relative playing style. A great hole.

The Eleventh is a 350 yard par 4. “Boundary.” The gorse seems to become much more prevalent as it looms on either side of the fairway. There’s a polite yet firm suggestion off the tee to stay on the fairway. This is confirmed with two prominent center line bunkers before the green, whom will make most recovery second shots lay ups before them. The green is below those bunkers so that approaches are likely blind. A lot more precision is needed than it looks along with experience with the course to understand where the approach needs to land in conjunction to the approach position.

The Twelfth is a 504 yard par 5. “Silverburn South.” Whether intentional or not, one of the things I found here is an inevitable rendezvous with the longer clubs in the bag just above driver. The earlier holes seem to accommodate them off the tee while the longer par 5 Sixth needs something longer on the second shot. This hole is the first of back to back par 5’s and the approach at the Eighteenth will be long and likely into the wind, needing to carry the large, infamous Scoonie Burn. Despite its overall length, the course pretty much insists the golfer is well versed with the long game. Here, the gorse signals to favor the left even if the golfer is better off at right center. Mostly level to the green (rarely so), there are some bunkers of concern before the front of the green. All of this allows the golfer to swing away but the misses only compound how long the golfer remains. A small wicked burn is behind the green to catch shots that roll off from an overabundance of aggression.

The Thirteenth is a 482 yard par 5. “Set.” Back in the direction whence we came, the tee shot needs to carry and navigate the beloved gorse. Bunkers at the sides and mounding more in the center await at the fairway. A bit shorter, some may think of going for the green in two but coming up short likely means getting snagged in one of the bunkers. The green is deep and while it runs from front to back, deeper approaches coming back the other way make for more manageable putts and are sure to avoid the bunkers.

The Fourteenth is a 363 yard par 4. “Dykeneuk.” The land is knotty and one starts to look upon it like a rough sea. Some can be made out but it takes time to completely figure out its depths and reception of sorts of shots. The green is tucked in to a hollow off to the left where one needs to clear the front ridge to reach it on approach. Otherwise, the ridge will eschew the ball away from the green off to the right. It’s a cool par 4 and sticks out a bit for the green configuration.

The Fifteenth is a 189 yard par 3. “Railway.” Leaving it short isn’t an option since the recovery to the green will need almost a perfect judgment of distance to get up and stay on it. The right to left tilt towards that deep scar bunker is cause enough alone to favor the right side but the green movement is a better one. The subtle challenge shines here fairly bright.

The Sixteenth is a 393 yard par 4. “Circus.” Finally back over to the clubhouse side of the course and its more residential surroundings. Gorse is to the left while the houses line the right yet the fairway is nice and wide. A tee shot favoring more of the left helps shorten the approach while favoring the right may catch mounds that will push it even more right. The bunker is well guarded. Two bunkers well before the green, then bunkers surrounding it mean the approach will need to be fairly precise. It’s all at grade starting about 50-60 yards out from the green. A pretty cool par 4.

The Seventeenth is a 416 yard par 4. “Howe.” Away from the clubhouse and towards Lundin one last time. The fairway narrows to more of a choke point with gorse abounding which needs to be addressed off the tee or on the approach. Once again, driver may not be the best option off the tee, as the choke point starts about 225 yards out and essentially remains fairly narrow for 125 yards. The green is in a clearing to the left a bit, right next to the Fifteenth green. Can be challenging yet those who play it well may find it on the easier side.

The Eighteenth is a 456 yard par 4. “Scoonie.” Named for the infamous Scoonie Burn that surrounds the green, this is a monster par 4. The prevailing wind is against and the fairway is narrow off the tee. One needs to get their ball on the fairway and as far down as possible, as the approach is all carry over the burn to the green. I gave it a valiant go but was a bit right, where the carry is the longest, and ended up short. The left is a shorter carry. The burn is one of the bigger out there, so even those laying up need to account for the angles and pin position to make it worthwhile. One of the tougher finishers out there.

The back nine is the more challenging of the two with a good amount of raw low profile charm that one rarely realizes how much the design is working on him. I would rank them 10, 17, 18, 14, 15, 11, 16, 12, 13.

Generally, Leven makes you work for it. You have to work to see the depths of its raw subtle strategy, you have to work to get through the round unscathed and you have to work to appreciate the historical importance of the course. Its genius lies in its simplicity and reliance on the knotty land, selectively placed bunkers, assortment of gorse and angled approaches. It plays formidably with or without wind. It’s not flashy but instead, focuses on producing pure, traditional links golf. Whether intentional or not, there is an emphasis on the long game so that the golfer cannot simply rely on his driver and arsenal of wedges. Some of the oldest golf holes in existence are on the grounds as well. Links and history, that’s what most are in search for. Here, the structure of play is nuanced more than some bother with but those who do will always have the upper hand playing its links. Among those courses I played in Scotland, this is among those I want to get back to the most, just to keep learning its fickle ways.

Clubhouse/Pro Shop: There’s a pro shop on the grounds with everything one expects. As for the clubhouse, it depends on the golf club. The Leven Thistle Golf Club is behind and to the right of the Eighteenth while the Leven Golfing Society has at least part of the old Innerleven clubhouse seen in the first photo of the review, in line with Leven Thistle but closer to the water.

Practice area: Putting green and maybe a couple hitting nets. Figure it out on the course.