|
Scotland on my Mind by Dan King
Thursday, July 11th
Balbirne Park Golf Club |
We are now at the Mallard in Gullane on the other side of the Firth of Forth. I believe I've crossed the Firth now seven times on this trip. Twice by train and 5 times in a car. That's a whole L2.00 in tolls. No wonder money is slipping out of my pockets so fast in Scotland. After leaving St. Andrews, we decided, on the advise of the proprietors of the Jigger, to play a parkland course close to St. Andrews called Ladybank. When we arrive, we are turned down for the first time. They have an all day tournament. They do point us to another close-by course at Balbirne, a new course by Glenrothes.
Balbirne Park Golf Course is one of the newer courses in Scotland, having opened in 1984. It was designed by Fraser Middleton. There little write up in the Stroke Saver is a wee bit self-important. "The character of Balbirne Park is defined by its well rounded contours and its mixture of trees. The richness of woodland (the trees here are the main hazard, with less emphasis on rough) coupled with the sweeping, rolling fairways seem reminiscent of another place were the land inspired a course based on natural contours. That one became the home of the Masters."
Heady company, trying to compare Balbirne to Augusta National. I haven't played Augusta National (however, if any members are out there reading this and need to fill up a four-ball some time...) so I can't really compare. I did think Balbirne had some of the same look and feel of Pasatiempo, a great Alister MacKenzie course in Santa Cruz. It did lack Pasatiempo's challenge.
Now that the round is over, I can mention something Mark Koenig has been doing through Scotland so far with out jinxing him. He's been successful for a dozen rounds which is significant.
On our first round when he arrived in Prestwick, he had played with the same single ball the entire round. Without cart paths and trees to hit, the ball looked as good as new. He wrote the course, date and score on the ball, and retired it. He decided he'd see how far he could go, using only one ball a round. There have been some scares. At Murcar, he hit a ball far right of the fairway, but a search discovered it just as 5 minutes were about to elapse. He was having trouble with his driver at Machrihanish, and there was a scare or two there. He made it through a dozen balls now, all dated and labeled with course and score. Very impressive.
At Balbirne, the round started slow. We were behind a father and his two young sons and the sons seemed more interested in fooling around than golfing. Mark and I weren't in any big hurry, so we didn't push them. On the 6th hole we invited the two-ball behind us to join us for the rest of the round. The two fellows were local golfers named Andy and Norman. Andy was a very good 12 handicap golfer and Norman was a 20, who was playing most of the day more like a 10. While Mark and I were fighting out a close match, as were Andy and Norman, there wasn't a lot of time to talk during the round. However, after the rounds we drank a few pints with them in the clubhouse and talked golf. Great chaps, the both of them. They enjoyed hearing how lucky they were golfing in Scotland in comparison to golf in the U.S. Before we left for destinations un-known, they had the club manager bring us two highball glasses with the course crest on them. Very nice gesture. I told them if they ever make it out to the States, California is particular, give me a ring.
Balbirne is a parkland course, and I have trouble comparing parkland courses to Link's courses. The round was pleasant and the course very playable, but I doubt any holes at Balbirne will make my Hall of Fame.
However, I did have some favorite holes on Balbirne:
Hole#1 397 yard Par-4 (Balbirnie Drive) For me a fairly easy starting hole. The drive is blind down a hill to a dogleg left hole. The slope of the fairway is right to left. The idea is to hit it far enough so you aren't blocked out by the trees on the left for your approach. Second shot is still slightly down hill to a green with two tiers, cutting the green in half. A single bunker on the right is all that protects the green.
Hole#8 422 yard Par-4 (Target Park)
This hole would be very tough from the back medal tees. The regular tees were far up, making the hole play 30 yards shorter and much easier. Once again, another blind drive, over a hill. The right side of the fairway is protected by a very large oak tree. Right of the trees is a forest. Very little chance of finding a level lie for your approach on this fairway. The fairways here are no where near as fast as links courses we have played, so it is less likely your ball will roll to a reasonably level lie. A few bunkers protect mis-hit approaches down the right. The up-hill approach shot is best played slightly left of the green to take advantage of the mounding on that side. The small putting surface has a high back tier and a equal size low front tier.
Hole#12 390 yard Par-4 (Tofthill)
If your driving is less than accurate, hit two long irons to this green. If you are driving well, give it a rip. The fairway is narrow, pinched in by a tall fir forest on both the left and right. The hole is a slight dog-leg right, and there is a bunker, 240 yards out on the left. The large green is in little bowl, making a long iron easier to hit this green with.
Hole#16 395 yard Par-4 (Fythkil)
A great dog-leg left (I seem to love dog-leg lefts, probably because I'm a left handed fader of the ball). The drive is up-hill toward a large fairway bunker, ideally reasonably long with a slight right to left movement. The approach is now downhill. Tendency is to take too little club as the forest behind the green will cost dearly.
Hole#18 482 yard Par-5 (Black Burn)
A good risk-reward finishing hole. The tee shot is blind, and the aiming pin seems far to right, aimed toward a small fir tree forest on the right. You know from the yardage book there are bunkers on the left, but they are completely blind from the tee. I laid up nearing the aiming pin to get a better view, while Mark hit away well left of the aiming pin. I was short of the bunkers, knowing it was a three-shot hole for me. Mark was left with only a 6-iron to the green but in some deep rough. The risk in going for the green in two is the wee burn right in front of the putting surface. A large fir tree on the left protects a shot from too far left. (Mark hit into the burn in 2 and I reached the green in three. I two-putted, Mark got up-and-down, and we halve the hole and the match.)
Talk to you tomorrow.
Dan King
Back to Scotland on my Mind Home Page