
“Every Golfer’s Dream” says a headline on one of the latest set of plans for Fairways, the row of four £7.25 million-plus townhouses looking out across the first, 17th and 18th holes of the Old Course in St Andrews. To be more precise about their whereabouts, the estate agent’s listing of nearby golf courses starts like this: St Andrews Old Course: 0 miles.
As is well known in the town, both Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm showed an interest in a couple of the properties last year, only to have a change of heart.
McIlroy, for his part, could have feared an attack of the “If only” syndrome every time he looked out from the first-floor terrace. “If only” he had birdied the par-4 17th at the 2022 Open, and “if only” he had followed up by driving the 18th green and holing out for an eagle. Such a finish would have secured victory, a birdie-birdie finish would have paved the way for a play-off with Cameron Smith and a possible fifth major.
In keeping with which, it was at a celebratory dinner at the 2000 Open at St Andrews that then 66-year-old Doug Sanders was asked about the 1970 championship and the missed 30-inch putt which cost him the Claret Jug.
“It doesn’t hurt so much now,” answered Sanders. “Today, I only think about it every five minutes.”
For another concern regarding Fairways, McIlroy might have worried about the repercussions if, absentmindedly, he stepped on to his balcony when one more four-ball was about to hit from the 18th tee. All four would blame him for their subsequent mis-hits.
As for Rahm, he is a sensitive enough soul to have become uneasy at the thought of passing golfers staring at him and saying a derogatory, “Isn’t that the man who joined LIV?” Mind you, to have joined LIV Golf might no longer be an issue by 2027, the year when the completion of the homes should coincide with what everyone expects to be the next Open Championship in the town.
Just in case you are wondering, houses three and four are already accounted for.
Number four will be the home of the R&A member – the gentleman in question prefers to remain anonymous – whose family have owned the relevant plot of land for years. As for number three, that will belong to his sister.
All four homes are between 3,000 and 3,600 square feet, with three bedrooms apiece and double garages. What is more, in the unlikely event of the owners wanting to save a few pennies, it is worth mentioning that the heating is of the air source variety.
Whichever ancestor it was who built what looks like a 1960s home on the half-acre site – for the moment, the original house is still in place – must have been extraordinarily wise. So unlovely a dwelling it is that the owner can only have chuckled about how, when the next generation wanted to erect something more impressive, none among the locals would be inclined to make a fuss. Quite possibly, they would step in to help with the demolition.
Even as things are, it has taken seven years for the council to agree to townhouse plans which, in many eyes, make for a happy fit with the freshly modernised Rusacks Hotel up the road. All four homes are between 3,000 and 3,600 square feet, with three bedrooms apiece and double garages. What is more, in the unlikely event of the owners wanting to save a few pennies, it is worth mentioning that the heating is of the air source variety.
Going on from there, three of the four homes have lifts and everyone has a garden, with the R&A member’s plot having room for a putting green. In the event of a mammoth hold-up on the 18th tee during an Open Championship week, competitors might be tempted to hop over the wall and do a spot of practise.
Rooms with a view, indeed.
Are Fairways overpriced? Probably not when you consider the expertise of the architects who succeeded in making the maximum of a piece of land which may be “tight and awkward,” to use their own words, but stunning just the same.
Were any of the dwellings to be let out to some high-end travel company for hospitality purposes in Open week ’27, the chances are that the owner could pocket up to a quarter of a million pounds.
This less-than-exacting figure is based on how the R&A are charging £8,050, excluding VAT, for a weekly ticket per person for a ‘Premium Experience’ at this year’s Open at Royal Portrush. Such a ticket will provide “unrivalled access to the course and the players.” (Needless to say, the media are a bit miffed at having to play second fiddle to the corporate brigade when it comes to having access to the golfers.)
As to who will end up in properties one and two at Fairways, my guess is that it will be players from the middle-handicap range who might see such homes as perfect to entertain friends – and bore them silly with the story of how they had made a birdie at the 18th twenty years earlier.
That one of the owners might have a better tale to tell than his neighbour could in itself make for ruffles at Fairways. Yet it matters not one wit whether they can play golf. They will both end up getting the same stares as a McIlroy or a Rahm, simply for owning £7.25 million homes which boast the finest views in golf.