Living in the shadow of St Andrews has its good and bad points. On the plus side many tourists visit your region; on the downside they tend to play all their golf in St Andrews.

A few years ago a group of golf clubs and hoteliers in the Fife region decided to do something about that. They got together and introduced the First in Fife Golfpass which this year gives you three rounds of golf from £55 or five rounds from £85 on your choice of eight fine courses.

All are within a 25-mile radius of each other and within an hour's drive of Edinburgh. St Andrews is still very much on your radar if you are hoping to play there.

Crossing the Forth Road Bridge, heading north from Edinburgh, you turn onto the coast road that hugs the north side of the Forth Estuary and within 20 minutes you are at the picturesque Aberdour golf club, a seaside, but not a linksland, course.

Now the "serious" golfers among you will probably turn away in disgust when we reveal that Aberdour is a 5,460 yards, par 67 layout. No challenge in that you would think, but you would be wrong.

There are two par fours on the front nine, the sixth and eighth, that will test the best players. Aberdour's main claim to fame, however, is its stunningly pretty pair of opening par threes. Both require mid-irons. At the first you play from an elevated tee down to a green with the shoreline and towering sandstone stacks behind. At the second you play across a curve in the bay to a plateau green. Short is not an option.

Having played the holes recently it was hard to believe that someone had started his round with consecutive aces but that is what 10 handicapper Gary Cruickshank did a couple of months ago.

Having recorded his hole in one on the first, Gary stood up on the second tee and had the cheek to ask "what are the chances . . .?" You can guess the rest. Oh and by the way, he didn't win the competition.

Just a few miles further down the coast lies the town of Burntisland and above it a little gem of a course of the same name. In a situation somewhat reminiscent of Howth, ie on a cliff top looking across water to a capital city, the course has a delightful blend of testing and picturesque holes.

At just under 6,000 yards and with a par of 70, once again brain will count for more than brawn. The par four seventh poses a typical problem. If you can manage to avoid being distracted by the truly spectacular view over the Firth from the tee, the drive should not be too much of a problem but if you hit your approach past the flag on the raised green you better have the touch of a Tiger Woods. Playing short is no easy option either with four pot bunkers ranged across the front of the green.

One of the oldest clubs in Scotland (founded 1797 but at a different location down in the town), the present Burntisland course was designed by Willie Park Jnr in 1895 and the site received the imprimatur of old Tom Morris himself who said: "I went over the ground at High Bents on Saturday and my opinion is that it would make a first class golf course." He wouldn't be disappointed.

Inland from Aberdour and Burntisland are two fine, but contrasting parkland courses.

Forrester Park in the little village of Cairneyhill near Dunfermline is very much a modern development, having opened for play in 2001 and at 6,800 yards, par 72 is much more of a championship test than Aberdour or Burntisland.

The course is very much in the American style with USGA specification greens, large and undulating, and looking at the hilly terrain one is reminded a little of the O'Meara course at Carton House with the difference that, at Forrester, the many trees that have been planted have not yet come to maturity. When they do it will be a very attractive course.

The 11th is the signature hole at the development, a 417-yard par four that curves left and sweeps downhill, presenting a lovely, but somewhat intimidating, approach over water.

Whereas the clubhouse at Forrester looks old, but is really brand new, the one at Dunfermline Golf Club, a few miles away, is the genuine article. The unusually-shaped Pitfirrane House, (it looks too tall for its width) was the historic home of the Halkett family from the 15th century. Inside the building boasts fantastic medieval wood panelling and stained glass in its dining room.

The course itself is very much a traditional, mature parkland layout with the feel of courses like Mullingar or Hermitage and, though we visited in winter, it was easy to imagine what an attractive prospect it would be in summer, when all its trees are in bloom.

Unlike most golf courses in the greater Edinburgh area, Dunfermline actually has a waiting list for membership and it's easy to see why. Although not particularly long (6,161 yards, par 72 with all five par fives reachable in two for a low handicapper), accuracy is at a premium.

The par five third runs parallel to quite a busy road (no netting, just a low wall - the compensation culture obviously hasn't reached Scotland) and trundles up and over a couple of hills.

At the downhill par four sixth, which doglegs to the right, the option of trying to cut the corner is rendered less attractive by the fact that the wooded area you are attemping to fly is actually an internal out of bounds.