The construction of the New Course was paid for by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club as part of an arrangement under which the club was allocated the right to certain starting times on the Old Course. These arrangements were enshrined in the first Act of Parliament concerning the Links which was passed in 1894 and was the forerunner of the current Act of 1974 which specifies how the links are to be run.

The R&A engaged W Hall Blyth, an Edinburgh civil engineer, to design the New Course, and entrusted the layout to "Old" Tom Morris and his right-hand man David Honeyman.

The result is a classic links course which uses the natural features of the land to create a first class golfing challenge. The course has the traditional out and back layout, with the 18th green just to the right of the first tee. It also has, in the great St Andrews tradition, shared fairways and even a double green at the 3rd and 15th holes.