Blasted by winds blowing off the North Sea, Balcomie Links lies immediately west of Fife Ness at the eastern extremity of Fife. To the south-west is the East Neuk town of Crail and seven miles north-west is St Andrews, the home of golf. The Balcomie Golf Course, first used by the Crail Golfing Society in 1895, is a classic example of a coastal links set within landscaped parkland. The Crail Golfing Society, founded in 1786, is the seventh oldest Golf Club in the world. Closeby, the late 16th-century castle of Balcomie, with its five-storey tower, ranges and walled garden, stands within a complex that includes a 19th century mansion and modern farmstead. The gatehouse at Balcomie still bears the arms of the Learmounth and Myretoun familes who once lived here. it was at Balcomie that Mary of Guise was welcomed in June 1538 when she landed in Scotland on her way to marry James V at St Andrews.