With two of Scotland’s finest on the dance card for the day, we woke up this morning to dismal forecasts of  heavy rain.  Resigned to our fate we donned the rain gear and headed a half hour north to Aberdeenshire to play the quaint little gem of Cruden Bay.  The good news was the rain clouds held their powder and nar an umbrella was raised all day…the bad news was we were graced with a true Scottish haar, a thick blanket of fog that robbed us of full appreciation of the tall tunes and awe-inspiring stretches of linksland that host this fine layout.

Despite the threatening deluge doors were wide open to welcome us.

The club house sits on a hill and the links unfolds beneath your feet….at least what you can make out of it in the haar.

Ethereal look to the gorse lined fairways strewn along turbulent seaside terrain with some man-sized dunes framing the skyline.

There would be no view of the remains of Slain’s Castle on the horizon behind 13th just the close in rocky bluffs at the sea’s edge.

An early challenge where the approach has to be hit with some grooves to keep it on the table top second green.

There is a climb to a three story walk-up to reach this putting surface.

The majesty of the par three fourth is veiled in secrecy but the challenge of a 200-yard carry to this shelf green in the high dunes is no less harrowing.

The third leg of the five par fifth is a delicate pitch across the burn to another coffee table green complex.

These stone bridges crossing the burns are a beautiful tradition throughout Scotland.

This one is dedicated to Hamish Stephen their long time keeper of the greens.

At least we could read the warning, even if we could not see the golfers crossing in front of eight tee on their way to the seventeenth.  Climbing the dune into the belly of the haar to play the next two we could barely make out our shoe laces much less the flight of the ball.

Back down to the canyon floor as we began the inward nine the visibility steadily improved just in time for the teeth of the challenge beginning with a short pitch across the burn to the eleventh.

Even the smiley face was having trouble seeing out of this prickly lie in the gorse….good news it was playable.

Cruden is famous for the natural green settings that Old Tom Morris staked in 1899.  This one of the five par thirteen is lurking behind a low dune at the foot of it’s big brother.

Heading back for the hills…..and the fog….and the funky part of the course we ascend the fourteenth.

A blind approach over this hill…..just trust the line of the directional pole….if you can make it out.

What awaits is a unique sunken turkish bath green setting…..please no diving in the shallow end.

Back-to-back blind par threes are next…this Scottish engineering marvel is the safety warning system…the bell is about 100 feet above.

Alas we return to the great wide open approaching the eighteenth green.

(Click here to follow our trail to Day 6b at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club)

For more detail click to see the Cruden Bay Golf Club Review

July, 2013

Our next couple of days will be spent exploring the golfing treasures of Aberdeen on the north east coast of Scotland.  The Donald has planned an enormous 3000 acre development in the area for which the centerpiece is a new Martin Hawtree designed links course they opened last summer.   Hawtree is a British designer of repute who has done most of the renovation work to update British Open rota venues over the last decade.  This property has a good 800 acres of some of the most awesome dunes land you will ever see and Mr. Hawtree did not disappoint. Despite having it’s reputation sullied by the boorishness of it’s patron this is a first class links venue that has, in it’s first year, already climbed into the top 100 list of golf architects.

It is Donald Time!

In typical Donald fashion everything you see or read is about him…though he does manage to credit the designer in a back handed Donald way in this dedication plaque on the way to the first tee.

Like everything here the practice facility is first class.  This short game area replicates every links short game exigency…..a must stop before heading to the course.

Well we’re off!

Stepping onto the first tee is a jaw dropping experience.  The scale of the dunes is just startling.  You feel like Dorothy at stepping onto the Yellow Brick Road with a set of Mizunos.

The last 100 yard approach on the Par 5 first…..looks like a Macy’s Christmas window at the flagship store at Herald’s Square.

The green on the Par 3 third blends the rawness of the seaside dunes with the artistic flow of the heaving links terrain.  It is impossible to distinguish where the fairway ends and the green begins.

How about this unique string of pearls bunker arrangement up the face of the approach hill on the Par 5 fourth.

The short Par 4 fifth is an architectural work of art.  The elements of threat are sublimely composed but the palpable fear you feel standing on this tee is very real.
This hide-n-seek mid-iron Par 3 would feel right at home at Pat Ruddy’s European Club in Ireland.

The Donald accessorizes well.  The stone bridges traversing the burns have an indigenous feel.

Even the recycle bins have crests on them.

Another aesthetically pleasing green complex ends the outward half….but you best have the full array of ground based recovery shots to save a par.

The Donald knows how to piss people off.  In a country known for the finest metal forging capabilities, Donald had all of his signs made in the USA and shipped across the pond…way to support the local economy.

The visual from the back tee the Par 4 fourteenth brings to mind the splendor of Ballybunion or Enniscrone in Ireland.  It is like a bungee cord drop from this pulpit tee to the sprawling fairway below.

Navigating the approach to this green up the hill between an office park of dunes is just as mind bending.

Leave it to Donald to finish your day with a 651 yard five par (from the back tee).

The view from the high tee shows you the steeplechase you have to run between the 18 bunkers on the final leg to the house.

How about this Wack-A-Mole look on your approach to the home hole.

(Click here to follow our trail to Day 6a at Cruden Bay Golf Club)

For more detail click to see the Trump International Golf Links Review

July, 2013

Traveling back down to Inverness we went to visit the relatively young Castle Stuart Golf Club home of the Scottish Open Championship.  Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen orchestrated the creation of a wonderful four act golf experience on the hillside shores of Northern Scotland overlooking the Moray Firth.  This is the full golf destination experience-great practice facility, fine links course, and stylish modern clubhouse with full amenities.

This art deco clubhouse looks like the upper decks of an Alaskan cruise ship standing sentinel on the hill top overlooking the entire property.

The view clinging to the mast on the captain’s perch gives you the breathtaking view of the Moray Firth, a scene  repeated endlessly through the day.

Locker room is comfy for changin’ or loungin’.

Interior architecture of the ‘medical clinic’ is stunning….use of these support services documented later.

From the top balcony you can appreciate the broad landscape of the course and beyond.

The first act opens by the sea orchestrating all the elements-unfurling fairways, towering dunes, thick gorse, wispy heather, and gnarly sea grasses.

Seaside green complex is accessible but requires proper forethought on how to negotiate an approach.  In layman’s terms, pick your poison.

Ground level view gives a sense of the human scale of the humps n’ bumps and other obstacles.

Act II climbs up to the first balcony with the signature fourth pays tribute to Castle Stuart built in 1625.

Green side bunker on the par five sixth has Alister MacKenzie influence written all over it.

A proper links would not be proper without a couple of dell green settings.  If they put the flag in that back corner and you will need to be wearing a red cape to take it on.

The approach to the ninth composes all of the visual elements.  A frozen snickers and a fizzy sports drink are just around the bend.

Unique bunkering that blends selective landscaping, sleepers, hand revetting, and just a pinch of sand.

The 2011 Scottish Open was racked by a monsoon and damaging flooding.  It has taken a good deal of time to heal the damage from nature’s wrath.

Down to the sea for Act III.  The eleventh would feel right at home at Bandon Dunes….just marvel at the balance of danger and respite against a glorious backdrop.

Tee shots can be both visually and physically challenging.

Act IV takes you back to the top balcony for the rest of the performance.  The climb and the views will take your breath away.

Nothing simple about these green complexes.  Recovery shots require imagination, creativity, and flawless execution.

Just one last treat to behold as you look down the final approach.

The Merry Band-Phillip, Billy B, Tripmeister Jim, Flash, Innes the Seer, Puba Moe, and Ross.

Return to the clinic for triage……sorting out aches, pains, and strokes…. and a few fish stories rendered as well.

As this surreal mural relates, it is all about the traditions of golf at Castle Stuart…

(Click here to follow our trail to Day 5 at Trump International Golf Links)

For more detail click to see the Castle Stuart Golf Links Review

July, 2013

We have now traveled some 50 miles north of Loch Ness some 8 degrees below the Arctic Circle and it was not in search of the monster of the deep but rather to visit and play one of the most mystical golf destinations in the world the Royal Dornoch Golf Club.  It was the birthplace of Donald Ross, one of America’s most distinguished course designers, who learned his trade playing the original version of the course in the 1890’s and then studied under Old Tom Morris at St. Andrews before emigrating to the United States in 1899.  Ross’s body of work is a testimony to the influence of Scottish links courses during the Golden Age of course design in the first 30 years of the 20th century.  His fame in turn drew attention back to this hallowed course that provided the underpinnings of his genius.

This collage of photos includes some of golf’s greats Ben Crenshaw, Herbert Warren Wind, Peter Alliss, and Tom Watson all of whom recognized the significance of this place in the evolution of golf.

They all are on this very distinguished list of Honorary Members of the club.

This quaint village became a summer refuge to English royalty, rich businessmen, and some of the greatest players of the age at the turn of the century.  No one more important than John Sutherland who helped design the original course with Tom Morris and went on to play in important championships throughout Scotland and write extensively about this place drawing further attention and reverence to what was here.

This figurine stands in front of the medieval age Dornoch Cathedral whose clergy are given credit for introducing golf to this region.

Andrew Carnegie built a summer home at Skibo Castle a few miles up the firth and became an important patron serving as Vice President  of the club in 1901.  He presented this ornate shield, which hangs in the clubhouse grill, to the club as the trophy for it’s open competition.

Not what you think…..anymore…..was in the 19th century….just a clever retail marketing ploy.

Full of memorabilia, trophies, and artifacts the clubhouse is nothing short of a museum to the history of this place.

Looking back from the promontory tee on seven you can see the natural parallel routing of the outward holes on the top shelf below the gorse laden dune wall and the returning holes with low dunes and sage grass between them and the sea on the left.

The table top green on the first hole brings to mind the famous Ross crowned greens of Pinehurst #2.

The par three sixth is typical of the natural feature of this design.  The green emanates from the foot of the dune wall creating a precarious ledge over a deep revetted bunker.

The bunkering on the short tenth hole are toll booths for shots without sufficient resolve.

The last ten holes have tight proximity to the beach and dunes which can render shots wayward by the buffeting winds off your left shoulder.

Sometimes the aiming points are dictated well away from your intended target lines as the influence of the topography off the dune wall and the natural tempest of waves in the fairway undulations will bring your ball back to the desired position for the correct approach shot.

The par three thirteenth once again shows the seamless connection of the natural green complex settings to the hazards that bedevil them.

The seventeenth could be at Pine Valley.  From the top shelf of the tee ball landing area it is a precarious carry across gorse laden dunes to a pulpit green complex further protected by deep bunkers and natural furrowing of the seaside topography.

Our eight roadies, Barry, Billy, Mish, Heir Rusty, Michael, Tripmeister Jim, Adds, and Flash, sheepishly posing for the standard pregame tourist photo opp.  It is fair to say it did not go well for most of them but there was still plenty of banter over burgers and fish n’ chips in the clubhouse grill after the game.

(Click here to follow our trail to Day 4 at Castle Stuart Golf Links)

For more detail click to see the Royal Dornoch Golf Club Review

July, 2013

A Sunday drive up A9 took us around Inverness and up into the true Scottish Highlands to an obscure course called Brora (circa 1891) designed by the storied Scottish golfer James Braid.  This is a classic links stretching 9 holes out the strand and 9 holes back in.   The naked exposure to the coastline means you get maximum wind effect in nine hole increments.

Batten down the hatches-tattered flag tells you all you need to know about what is ahead

Set against the water and mountains brings back memories of County Sligo and Ben Bulben in Ireland

Headstones tell the story on every tee

Very unusual levered ball washer keeps the Titleist tidy white

Electric fences surround every green to ward off the wandering lawn mowers

This provides the juice…..hands off!

We are talking beef lawn mowers with serious appetites

They even have a cow short game area adjacent to the first tee

And then there are the bahhing sheeps-three bahs is a 3-flap wind

The holes are spendific stretching out on dunes terrain

Par 3 sixth looks like a Skee-Ball lane

The number 5 hole is a serious playing impediment

Plateau….the 16th…requires sherpa help to ascend to the putting surface

The 18th green complex can get you coming and going

Sipping a cold one in the bar with a perch view overlooking the march up the last.

(Click here to follow our trail to Day 3 at Royal Dornoch Golf Club)

For more detail click to see the Brora Golf Club Review

July, 2013

Our eight day tour of the north of Scotland began in the seaside town of Lossiemouth at a little known Old Tom Morris creation called the Moray Golf Club.  This is a simple links in wending among low dunes covered in gorse and heather.  A nice walk over firm and rumpled seaside turf with serious encroachment from an RAF Air Force base looking over your shoulder.  It has been a long hot summer and brown is definitely the new green.

The modest clubhouse perched above the 18th looks down on the shoreline below

Commemorative sundial honors the memory of locals who served in the Great War

A little Christmas in July

The full panorama of the links from the hilltop vantage point of the clubhouse

The John Murray Golf Shop sets an understated tone you feel throughout

Our tour guides for the day…Michael and Aaron…wiser than their years

The ever present reminder of the jet traffic above

Managing difficulty amongst the nooks and crannies

The final act plays out in an amphitheater setting below the clubhouse

Chillin’ out as the sundail’s work is done

(Click here to follow our trail to Day 2 at Brora Golf Club in the Scottish Highlands)

For more detail click to see the Moray Golf Club Review

July, 2013