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Kingdom of Golf Links courses:
Carnoustie
Championship Golf Course | Crail
Balcomie Links | Golf
House Club (Elie) | Kingsbarns |
| Scotscraig
Golf Course |
St. Andrews New Course | St.
Andrews Old Course |
Carnoustie
Championship Golf Course
Similar to all the great Open
Championship courses the weather plays
a significant factor in tackling Carnoustie and when
the wind decides to blow it can be unforgiving. The rough can be
penal added to which you have the 'Barry Burn' criss
crossing its way through the course and causing much
upset.
Yet it remains a true test, a demanding start
and the notoriously difficult finishing stretch with
the 'Barry Burn' having to be negotiated twice on both
the 17th and 18th. Cue 1999's Open and the Frenchman
Jean Van De Velde and then the drama of Padraig Harrington's 4 hole play-off with Sergio Garcia in 2007. A fabulous Championship links golf course.
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Crail,
Balcomie Links
This is the home of the famous
Crail Golfing Society which was founded in 1786, making
it the 7th oldest golf club in the world. The ubiquitos
Tom Morris laid out the present course at Balcomie in
1895 and in 1899, 9 holes at a time.
It may not be long at 5,922 yards
but it offers spectacular views of the rugged coastline
from every hole and will test your shotmaking to the
utmost if a wee breeze comes off the North Sea. Remember
it is a Tom Morris design and that brings in his hallmarks
of bunkers (plenty of them) and fantastic greens.
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Golf
House Club, Elie
Elie, like many courses in Scotland,
just seemed to evolve, with the game of golf reputedly
being played here in the late 16th Century. Those two
giants of course design Tom Morris and James Braid tweaked
it here and there but it remains virtually unchanged
since the present 18 holes were laid out 1895. James
Braid was raised close by and this is where he learned
to play his golf, gaining the necessary skills to win
the Open Championship five times.
The unique quirkiness of a WW2
submarine's 'periscope' used to ascertain that the blind
tee shot from the first can be fired away is an indication
of the sheer enjoyment that is to be found here. The
greens are enormous, with swales and undulations that
will call upon every resource of your putting stroke
to better them if the approach shot is not up to scratch.
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Kingsbarns
Golf Links
Just down the coast from Crail
and seven miles from St. Andrews, Kingsbarns was designed
in 2000 by the architect Kyle Phillips and he has created
18 holes, all within sight of the sea, that at times
can take the breath away. Remember to have an extra
roll of film in the bag!
The Starter, will guide you as
to which tee position will be suitable for your game
from a choice of four. The Medal (white) has the course
at 6,652 yards, par 72, and this will certainly be a
test of your golf. The shot from the tee is critical
on every hole at Kingsbarns as the route to the greens
will be a tad more difficult if coming from the 'wrong'
side. The massively contoured greens will have you revising
club selection and then, once there, a crash course
in the art of 'lag-up' putting could prove essential.
A super challenge in a great setting.
Now established on the European
Tour by being one of the three courses used during the
Dunhill Links Championship, alongside Carnoustie and
St. Andrews Old Course, it has gained some fantastic
plaudits from the golfing fraternity. A few steep walks
between green and tee can leave one 'pecking' and a
double loop may prove to be 9 holes too far, fortunately
the ninth is situated at the clubhouse.
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St.
Andrews Links, Old Course
Nature has had more to do with
the make up of the Old Course than any golf course architect
and this is sometimes a reason why many new to the ways
of the Old can find it impossible, infuriating, downright
annoying and over-rated! Bobby Jones regarded it so
when he first played it in 1921, as he states in his
book 'On Golf' ....."I considered St. Andrews among
the very worst courses I had ever seen.... while I was
certain the course was easy, I simply could not make
a good score.... Yet I did begin to think a little when
a course so unprepossessing forced me to take 43 to
the turn and finally goaded me into the disgraceful
act of picking up my ball after taking a pair of sixes
at the 10th and 11th".
We can forgive Bobby Jones the
impetuosity of youth because he did return to St. Andrews
for the Walker Cup matches in 1926 and then the following
year when he triumphed in the Open Championship, whereupon
his seduction by the Old Lady was complete. He reflected
in 1950 in a letter to Henry Longhurst, the famous English
golf writer and commentator - " If I had
ever been set down in one place and told I was to play
there, and no where else, for the rest of my life, I
should have chosen the Old Course".
All golfers wish to play the
Old Course at least once, to pit their skills against
it and to have the satisfaction of walking over the
Swilcan Bridge, up the 18th fairway and onto that beautiful
green in front of the R&A clubhouse knowing that
whatever the round produced they will have completed
a memorable day as the final putt drops in the hole.
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St.
Andrews Links, New Course
Old Tom Morris laid out the New
Course in 1895, situated to the right of the Old Course,
due to the overwhelming demand for golf at the end of
the 19th Century at St. Andrews. It follows the Scottish
links golf tradition of going all the way out to the furthest
point possible, the extremely testing 225 yard 9th which has the Eden Estuary running tight on your left. It then turns around and plays back to the historic skyline
of St. Andrews and a demanding final 4 holes finish.
Little has changed since being
constructed and it is generally recognised that you
have to be a 'wee bit straighter' on the New than on
the Old, due to tighter fairways lined by the ever present
ball grasping gorse and heather. A wonderful golf course.
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Scotscraig
Golf Course
Yet another Open qualifying course,
Scotscraig is a fine example of a thinking golfers track.
No surprise then to find it was laid out by the prolific
James Braid who prefered his courses to demand more
brain than brawn from the golfer with irons from the
tee sometimes the smartest option. A course that those
from the golfing community in Fife admire.
see also: Map Page | Highland
Golf Courses | Southeast
Golf Courses | Southwest
Golf Courses
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