Legend has it that on May 3, 1679, Archbishop James Sharp was traveling the old road to St Andrews with his daughter when, at Magus Muir, his carriage was held up by five assassins who were lying in wait for Officer Carmichael.  Though Carmichael was to die for his cruelty, Sharp was widely known as the Judas who betrayed the people of Scotland and their Laird, and, since he was passing, the men felt it was their duty to kill him. Pleading for his life the men showed Sharp no mercy.  In front of his daughter they slashed his face, cut off his hands, shot him and, for good measure, rode over his head with his own carriage. 

And that is how The Duke’s has come to boast its own exclusive ghost—the phantom carriage of Archbishop James Sharp is said to thunder past the Clubhouse before plunging into the bay of St Andrews. His daughter’s screams can occasionally be heard from the fairways. To either witness the phantom carriage or hear the daughter’s screams is considered a bad omen.

In the heart of the estate lies the former Mount Melville House, a beautiful Grade B listed Victorian mansion dominating the centre of The Duke’s. The final phase to complete the five-star golf facilities at the Old Course Hotel is to restore the mansion to its former glory. Plans are being finalized to include a leisure and health club and exclusive apartments and suite accommodation in answer to the increasing demand for quality facilities of this nature in St Andrews.