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Scotland on my Mind by Dan King
Wednesday June 19th
Royal Aberdeen Golf Club (Balgownie Links) |
One little nit that has been bothering me in Scotland. Not a major issue, but one that has caught my attention ever since I got to Scotland. Not enough to ruin my trip, but enough to keep Scotland from being paradise on Earth; just about all the public restrooms I go into have Shank written on the urinals. Okay, I very minor nit, but still a little something that you really don't want to see on a golfing holiday. Apparently many of the porcelain fixtures in Scotland are made by a company called 'Armistice Shanks'.
Another problem here is the further north you go the poorer the Internet connection. I'm using Compuserve to connect to the Internet. In Aberdeen the fastest connection they have is 9.6k bytes. By the time I get toward Inverness it looks like the connection will be 2.4k. Tough to live with for someone who has grown accustomed to a T1 connection.
After six days of marvelous climate in East Lothian and Carnoustie it was time to have some weather. When we got to Aberdeen it was clear we were going to be faced with wind speeds we were not accustomed to. We even had a bit of rain while on the road between Carnoustie and Aberdeen.
Our hotel, The Thistle Hotel is right in the middle of town center of Aberdeen. This is about as cosmopolitan as we are getting on the trip. A nice hotel, but old. The bathroom floor has a very big left to right break.
When we drove out to Royal Aberdeen, it was obvious our days of glorious weather were coming to an end. I had stupidly forgotten to pack the sweaters and turtle necks I had bought specifically for this trip. now it was time to buy some. I did buy a very nice green sweater in the pro-shop at Royal Aberdeen with the club logo on it. One of the group ahead of us had a very nice wool hat from Cruden Bay he was wearing. I think that will be a valuable purchase when we go up there tomorrow.
The weather had definitely changed in Aberdeen. On the Balgownie course we were faced with serious wind. The wind was blowing a constant 30 mph with gusts up into the 40s. The Balgownie course is routed so that the outward side, 1 through 9 are going out away from the clubhouse and the inward house coming in. One way or the other, your going to be hitting into the wind. In our case, the wind was going south-west, making the out going holes into the wind.
Balgownie is much of what I expected Scottish Links courses to be like. A loop, out to 9 and then back, with wind being a constant factor on every shot. The course routes around and through the sand dunes. Gorse, heather and haphazardly placed penal bunkers wait ready to catch the wayward shot. While there is generally a decent amount of land between the course and the North Sea that lays along the outward holes, it is often visible and influences many shots. While the course generally runs out and back, there are subtle changes in direction of the holes that can influence shot selection. It's easy to assume you are going in a constant direction, but it is in reality rarely the case with two successive holes. My guess why this course isn't as popular as many other courses in the numerous blind shots. From the tee it was often impossible to know the correct line.
The Royal Aberdeen Club has a long and significant history in golf. Aberdeen has long been an important port to the Highlands. If it is true the game of golf came from Holland, it could have as likely landed here as in St. Andrews or East Lothian. The first mention of golf in Aberdeen is a listing of it as an 'unlawful amusement' in the Aberdeen Register of 1565. The Aberdeen Golf Club was the 6th oldest club according to records, being formed in 1780 as the Society of Golfers of Aberdeen. In 1887 the club moved from within the city of Aberdeen to the links North of the river Don where it resides today. The original links were laid out by Carnoustie man Robert Simpson, with Willie Park Sr., Archie Simpson and Tom Simpson all having a hand in what exists today. Royal Aberdeen was the first club to institute the 5 minute search limit for a loss ball, my guess, to limit the time wasted looking for a ball in the numerous heather and gorse bushes throughout the course. The limit was later adopted by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
This is a very solid golf test. Though short by today standards at 6,104 yards, wind is going to be strong either going out or coming in. In our case, not the prevalent, the wind was in our face going out. You have to figure you need to only hold on, keep your score respectable against the wind, so you can score coming in, with the wind. However, with many of the inward holes being blind, it isn't as easy coming in as you think. The course also makes some subtle changes in direction leading to mistakes in figuring the wind conditions. The fairways are fairly tight with heather and gorse not far from the line of play. Numerous penal pot bunkers protect most every green around the course.
Balgownie Links is rarely mentioned in the list of great Scottish golf courses. I'd rank it behind the West Links at North Berwick but ahead of Gullane#1 of the courses we have played to date. I would guess many people might not like it due to the number of blind shots required to get around the links.
The eating arraignments at Royal Aberdeen are somewhat difficult to deal with. The Clubhouse bar is off limit for women and the dining room requires a coat and tie. It ends up Darla Cowden could eat in the dining room, since coat and tie is not required for women, but we could eat in the clubhouse bar and she couldn't. We opted to go elsewhere after our round rather than eating is separate rooms.
When we played it was ladies day. They all got out by 10:00 and then groups went out. A two-ball went out ahead of us, and we never saw them again. We were not overtaken until a fast moving members group caught up with us on the 16th hole. Despite the numerous lost balls hit into the heather, gorse and long bent rough we managed to play in less than 3 1/2 hours. Most of the round, we felt as if we were alone amongst the sand dunes, with rare glimpses of surrounding holes between the tall dunes. It was quite a departure from Gullane were the entire course is visible or Carnoustie where it is constant groups on every tee, fairway and green.
My Favorite holes on the course:
Hole#1 399 yard (First) par-4
The tee is right in front of the windows of the Members clubhouse, with members always watching the tee shots from behind the glass. The clubhouse and tee is elevated and there is generally a cross wind as you head out toward the North Sea. Plenty of heather and gorse border the fairway to catch a wayward drive. Prior to the green, the fairway takes a major dip, so run-up-shots will disappear from view for a time.
Hole#2 507 yard par-5
Now we begin to fight the wind along the North Sea. The next seven holes are dead into the wind. From our tee on the right, the fairway is blind accept for a bunker along the left that helps in alignment. Cut off as much of the right as you dare. I smoked driver, driver, 7-iron and still came up short of this relatively short par-5. Heavy gorse protects the left side and the un-even sand dunes run along the right. The fairway is very narrow the entire length of the hole. A par-5 is well earned on this hole.
Hole#3 212 yard (Cottage) par-3
One tough par-3 into a strong wind. I smoked a driver to reach the green. Penal pot bunkers protect the green at a 45 degree angle from right to left. Hit less than a 100 yards and good luck even finding your ball let alone hitting it. Bent grass with the occasional gorse bush protect the entire way to the green.
Hole#6 466 yard (Scotsan) Par-4
I don't care what the card says, if you are into the same wind we were, this is a par-5. The only thing that makes this hole less than impossible is that the mounds down the left send the tee shot back toward the middle. Hit a good tee shot and a driver second shot and all but the longest hitters can still come up short. 3 nasty pot bunkers protect the green, one right and two left.
Hole#8 138 yard (Ridge) par-3
A small reprieve from the wind in your face on the outward nine. The problem is the tee is elevated and your not yet accustomed to the wind at your back. 10 bunkers in all protect the green on all sides, with an especially nasty one on the rear. The green in sloped front to back, but not enough to hold a shot from going to the back or off this small green.
Hole#10 335 yard (Shelter) par-4
If your score isn't totally ruined on the outward 9, there may be a joyous feeling reaching the tenth tee. Especially when you notice it is a short hole. However, the tee shot is completely blind. As a matter of fact, it took us a while to find the tee. It feels like it isn't even on the same course. Tee shot too far left and you can be out of bounds, too far right and you'll never find your ball in the gorse. A small burn runs in front of the green. I wish I could tell you more about the green, but I finished the hole with BIP (Ball in Pocket).
Hole#12 383 yard (Plateau) par-4
Yet another short par-4 with a blind tee shot. The yardage book show you pot bunkers in the middle of the fairway at about 250 yards, meaning to take something less than driver off the tee. There is plenty of gorse on the right and left. My tee shot ended up sitting on a branch of the gorse, which I hit with a baseball swing advancing it no more than 10 yards. The green is 15 feet up on a plateau which leads to the impression you must hit a vary soft shot into the green. A nasty pot bunker awaits those that are overly cautious.
Hole#14 379 yard (Dyke) par-4
There is a burn that crosses the fairway. From the tee, you don't see the burn. All you see is some sort of hazard running across the fairway, in front of the green. I hit an iron, assuming I could reach the burn. I could have flown over the burn, which only sits about 220 yards out. The hazard you see from the tee is actually a stone wall that runs at a 45 degree angle from left to right. If I were to play this hole again, I'd hit away to fly the burn.
Hole#17 170 yard (Pots) par-3
Now we change directions. We are now faced with a side wind to a small green from an elevated tee. 4 penal pot bunkers protect the front, with one left and a huge bunker behind the green. Club selection is scary now that you have been used to down-wind holes.
Talk to you tomorrow.
Dan King
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