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Scotland on my Mind by Dan King
Sunday June 23rd
Nairn Golf Club |
The cigar situation is officially desperate. I'm out of my stash of cigars from home, and there are no deals to be had on cigars in Scotland. My choice is either spend L200.00+ on a box of fine cigars from Havana (Monte Cristo, Cohiba or Romeo and Julieta) or King Edwards. There is nothing in the between range worth the price. I'll be in Edinburgh in a weeks time, and maybe the cigar conditions are more civilized there, but who knows. The tobaconist I talked to in Aberdeen didn't think I'd find much in the way of good cigars in my price range anywhere in the United Kingdom.
My mates enjoyed Nairn Golf Course much more than I did. I've been trying to figure out why. Many of the courses we are in some general agreement about. We don't always agree, but I believe we can understand why. With the three of them loving the course, and I was the only dissenting voice, maybe the problem was mine.
I believe my problem started from the get-go. The clubhouse is very new and modern looking. Arrive at the starter shack and you are surrounded by numerous groups of American tourists. Much more than we have seen at any other course. There was a tour or two in town, but I still felt as if Nairn is more a tourist course than a solid Scottish course. The round also played slow. By American standards, our round of 4 hours, 15 minutes would seem brisk. Here in Scotland, it was unbearably slow. Add these conditions to the fact I was playing terrible, averaging being in a bunker per hole, and there might be numerous reasons I didn't enjoy this course as much as my companions.
None of these complaints have anything to do with the course, and I should not hold the course itself responsible. They just detracted from the experience.
Tom Morris originally laid-out the current 18 in 1890 for a cost of L6.10. James Braid came along and modified the course three times, in 1909, 1921, and 1926. The majority of the course has not significantly changes since Braid. The club will be hosting the Walker Cup in 1998.
The routing of the course is very good. The first through 7th hole run north-east along the shores of the Morey Firth. Beautiful views of the firth, with the mountains of the highlands beyond. We played on a slightly over-cast day, but the breeze was soft and shirt sleeves were again the order of day. The eighth hole briefly takes you back toward the clubhouse, with a detour of the ninth hole out to the farthest point. Holes 10, 11, 12 and 13 skirt around the boundary of a hog farm, with some of the biggest porkers I've ever seen. The 13th, 14th and 15th are up on top of a hill with views of the course, firth and highland hills beyond. The final three holes take you back toward the start and the clubhouse were a pint of Belhaven's Best waits calling my name.
After a late lunch in the clubhouse, we piled in the van for the drive North to the Links of Dornoch. Of all the course we were to play, this is the one I looked forward to most.
My favorite holes at Nairn:
Hole#3 Par-4 400 yard (Nest)
A slight dog leg right, with a long row of gorse down the right side. Four bunkers sit in the fairway, directly in the landing area. A small narrow green is raised up about the fairway, making second shots especially difficult.
Hole#6 Par-3 175 yard (Ben Wyvis)
The short hole runs right along the edge of the firth. The tee shot is too a slightly elevated green. 4 nasty pots wait for any shots short. 2 other pots, slightly hidden are on the left side of the green. The green is very small and sloped to the back left to front right.
Hole#8 Par-4 330 yard (Delnies)
A short Par-4, we suddenly, but briefly, head in the opposite direction we've been going, back toward the stop. The tee shot appears to be very narrow, with gorse bushes coming in on both sides, about 20 yards apart. Luckily it widens as it gets further down. Another small green, with a big slope from the left to the right.
Hole#13 Par-4 430 yard (Crown)
After playing a fairly flat course, we suddenly head up hill. The hole heads away from the firth up the hill. The temptation is too hit one hard, but gorse crowds the tee shot on both sides. 50 yards from the green, the slope increases, raising up 30 feet in those 50 yards. A few bunkers on the right and left are there for those that can't make it up the hill. The green has two tiers, a high and large back tier, with a small front tier.
Hole#14 Par-3 195 yard (Kopjes)
A downhill tee shot. The view from the tee is the best on the course, with the Moray Firth ahead and the hills of the highland beyond. Four bunkers protect the green short, but the real strength of this hole is the green. A hump goes along the first part of the green. Come up short of this hump, and you'll roll of the hump. After the hump is a 4 foot deep depression, cutting across the green. After the depression, the putting surface rises up again. When we play the hole, the pin was on the front hump and none of us could hold the hump. 2 of us were long, into the swale, one was short of the front, and one of us missed the green right into one of the pots.
Hole#18 Par-5 526 yard (Home)
The tee shot feels out of character on a links course. You go back into a small grove of pine trees and hit from out of there. My companions likes this feature, I thought it felt very out of place. Gorse runs along the right side, and 5 pot bunkers sit in the landing area. Toward the green, around the area for a lay-up sit 4 more bunkers. The green is the largest on the course and reasonably flat.
Talk to you tomorrow.
Dan King
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