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It’s fair to say Mark Crichton won’t forget his first round at Dumbarnie Links in a hurry.

The Falkirk man marked his visit to Scotland’s newest golf course by carding a hole-in-one – on the par-4 third.

Crichton holed his tee shot on the 311-yard hole, one of a handful of driveable par-4s on the course, located only nine miles from St Andrews.

It is the first albatross recorded on the links since it opened for play on May 29 following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

General manager David Scott told bunkered.co.uk: “With the way the course has been designed, with fun firmly in mind, we fully expected that somebody would have an ace on one of our driveable par-4s sometime soon. We just never expected it would be within two months of us opening.

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“With the restrictions that have been in place for a large proportion of the year, it must be one of the first albatrosses recorded on a Scottish golf course this year – if not the first!

“Our warmest congratulations go to Mark. He now has a place in the history of Dumbarnie Links that nobody can ever take away from him.”

Food & Beverage manager Callum Graham presented Crichton with a Dumbarnie Links flag to commemorate his feat.

Earlier this week, the course also welcomed its youngest visitor since opening. Nine-year-old, Luke Wu hit the purest of drives down the first hole under the watchful eye of caddie, his dad, Fan Wu.

Meanwhile, St Andrews golfer Ben Kinsley set a new course record at the course recently, carding a seven-under 65 from the blue tees.

Kinsley had birdies at the second, seventh, ninth and tenth, as well as the 13th, 15th and 17th in a blemish-free round.

Dumbarnie Links was also visited last week by arguably its most famous face to date.

Former Manchester United forward Ryan Giggs – who made over 600 appearances for the Old Trafford outfit between 1990 and 2014 – checked out the Fife course on Saturday.

Fancy following in his footsteps? Click here for green fees and availability.