Scotland on my Mind by Dan King Friday, July 12th Whitekirk Golf Course Whitekirk East Lothian EH42 1XS Tel: 01620 870 300 Gents: Par-71 6,201 yards SSS-70 Ladies: Par-71 5,312 yards SSS-71 Medal: Par-71 6,420 yards SSS-71 Rate: L15.00

Waking up at the Mallard Hotel in Gullane, we decide to call around to a few local courses. With this the beginning of a big holiday week in Britain, we figure we might want to save some driving around. We are right next door to Gullane courses. To play the #1 course costs L42.00, the #2 course L22.00 and the #3 course L12.00. West Links North Berwick costs L27.00 on weekdays. The decision is better for my report to play somewhere I haven't already played. In planning this trip, I received many mixed reviews of Whitekirk. Whitekirk is a new course, opening last May, on the road between North Berwick and Dunbar. Because the price was right, we decided to check it out for ourselves. There motto is "Where everyone is Welcome". No wonder, as when we played on a beautiful Friday morning, we had the course to ourselves.

Whitekirk advertises itself as a links style course despite being about 3 miles inland. It has some beautiful views and some very interesting holes. The course does need a few more years to mature and it is spread out far to wide. We felt as if we had walked 36 holes when we completed 18 holes. This is the only course in Scotland I saw that does a fair amount of business renting out buggies. There were numerous long par-3 walks from green to the next tee, with a par-5 hike between the 10th green and the 11th hole. The front 9 goes up a nice hill, giving wonderful vistas, and the back-9 works its way around the hill. From the hill there are great views of Bass Rock, Tantallon Castle, the North Sea, the hills of Fife and the old town of Whitekirk right below the hill. Out to the south, you can see to Britain.

One thing I liked very much about Whitekirk, it strongly favors a right to left ball flight, giving me a nice advantage over Mark. With the course set up clockwise around the hill, almost all of the trouble on the course was to the right. I don't have much to say about the history of the course except for it having opened in May of 1995. As I mentioned, they advertise themselves as a Links course, but the fairways are not the sand based fairways of a links course. There is a very thin layer of topsoil, with a hard rocky base below. The greens need another few years to mature, with a few froggy areas on many of the greens.

Today marked the one month anniversary of me being in Scotland. I started out playing the nearby Gullane#2, once month ago today. As I sit here typing this at the Mallard, I can see out the window all three Gullane courses heading up Gullane hill. I started out this trip with a very erratic driver and have improved considerably with that club. Last month, while in East Lothian I went our entire time here birdie-less, and once again today, I failed in my birdie quest in East Lothian. now it is no longer for lack of opportunity, but more because of the erratic greens at Whitekirk.

I also calculated that on the 16th hole at Whitekirk today I played my 600th hole in Scotland. Not bad, averaging a wee bit better than 20 holes a day, with 3 days of no golf (I actually had 18 more holes than that walked. I walked the Glen Course at North Berwick, but didn't play the course.) I'll probably only have 3 or 4 more rounds before I head down to Britain and the Open. On my one month anniversary, I can safely say my time here in Scotland has exceeded my expectations. Everyone who loves the game of golf should try to take a month or so pilgrimage to the home of golf.

There was some thought of playing Gullane No.3 this evening, but we decided to pig out a bit at the Old Clubhouse. The Death by Chocolate was just as good as I remember it.

My favorite holes at Whitekirk:

Hole#1 Par-5 492 yard (Awakener) A fine name for a first hole on a course. The tee shot is up-hill and blind, with an aiming pin to guide your way. We hit short, as the yardage book left it unclear what was beyond the top of the hill. The fairway beyond the drive, splits in two, with a large drop between the right fairway and left. Second shot is down hill to a swale, 30 feet below the green. The smallish green is sloped back to front, but putts much slower than it appears.

Hole#2 Par-4 276 yard (Traprain)

A drivable par-4, one of my favorite types of holes in Scotland. The tee shot is down hill, onto a hard fairway. The only worry is a bunker on the left, 50 yards short of the green and another greenside on the left. The green is a long kidney shaped green with a definite slope from back to front.

Hole#4 Par-4 351 yard (Cairn)

A slightly blind tee shot, the green is behind some mounding, up a hill to the highest point on the course. The fairway narrows between the gorse, the further up the hill you hit your shot. Best to hit a drive to around 150 yards. A lone bunker near the green on the right protects this relatively small green. The mounds down the right should help feed your shot toward the green.

Hole#11 Par-4 389 yard (Loch'an)

Nice down-hill par-4, with a lake on the right. Two sand bunkers on the left are there to catch those overly cautious. Braver soles can drive over these left bunkers, leaving a short iron to this relatively flat green. Don't be long on your approach. Hard hit approaches can bounce off the green into the hazard to the rear.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Dan King

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