Review of the Month June 2017 – Cruden Bay
Where to start with glorious Cruden Bay? You’ve probably heard it all before; the blind shots, the spectacular views, the bathtub green and the often-quirky layout, the clichés are all true.
The opening hole of the Championship Course heads out to the left of the clubhouse and through the town. You’re given the opportunity to open your shoulders on the pretty but routine opener before facing the 2nd where the green sits atop of a giant mound that competes with the 2nd at Royal Dornoch in terms of difficulty to hold your ball on the short stuff when the surfaces are hard and dry. The short but meandering 3rd is actually more difficult than it looks from the yardage as bumps and borrows of every description sit in front of a green that lies below the level of the fairway.
The course then really comes to life on the long par three 4th that is played alongside Port Errol and parallel to the river that heads out to sea. This hole in combination with the 5th, 6th and 7th are where the course shows most of its teeth as you make your way through and across the rising dunes and over water hazards. The approach shot to the 7th between the humps in those dunes must make this one of the most unique golf holes I’ve had the honour of playing.
After the driveable par four into an amphitheatre green (I’d love to see a tour event played here and the surrounding land covered in spectators), you’re faced with a climb to the 9th tee. This is quite a climb and not for the faint-hearted, but take your time and bring your camera as the view from the top was recently voted as the best in Scottish golf by UK golfers who were polled via Visit Scotland’s website. All I can say is drink it in folks, it doesn’t come much more enjoyable than this. Which is the better view: Across the front 9 and back to Slains Castle, or down to the 14th and the sandy beach behind? That viewing position alone is almost worth a 6-ball rating on its own merit. The hole itself also now lives up to the view. From what I understand, this used to be quite an ordinary hole, but has recently been changed and is now a dogleg along the cliff with the green perched over the edge providing more spectacular views, this time of the back 9 and the white horses rolling from the sea and onto the beach…
All in all, Cruden Bay is a real contender for the most photogenic course in Scottish golf and the course absolutely lives up to those photos. If you’ve not played here yet, you’re absolutely missing a treat, it’s a wonderful day’s golf that goes beyond just the 18 holes of the Championship Course. I’d therefore like to doff my hat and offer my congratulations Cruden Bay, my favourite golf experience to date.
By Tom
Review of the Month June 2017 selected by Editor-in-Chief, Keith Baxter – click here to read the full review
Photos courtesy of Tom
Top100GolfCourses has always aimed to salute and encourage those who are putting admirable effort into reviewing the world’s great golf courses. February 2022’s Review of The Month comes from Maarten, who was charmed by the legendary links of Royal Dornoch. Here’s his words from February 19th: Having heard stories of golfers arriving at Dornoch in helicopters, I was surprised of the lowkeyness of the atmosphere upon arrival. The whole town of Dornoch is genuinely about golf. Being a Dutchman who never wore clogs and lives in an apartment instead than a windmill, I asked myself where other than in Scotland is it that world famous tourist attractions still ooze the character and authenticity they represent for their rich histories? The first tee experience is hard to beat and a fond memory in itself. After the obligatory picture of our foursome with the flags of Dornoch, my teeshot was interrupted 4 times by scattered golfers or cars crossing the public road to Dornoch beach in front of the tee box while I was ready to fire away. The gentle opener gives ample room to pick up some confidence early in the round, but the green is as challenging as the other 17. After a silly bogey with 4 shots within 100 yards of the pin, yet still sufficient reserves of confidence, the brutal par 3 2nd is there to kill all aspirations one might have, the back to front sloping target narrow and steeply falling down on all but the front raised with deadly bunkers in front. A good, but not good enough shot and a double bogey on the card later, you will tell yourself to get it together after this suckerpunch, and the walk to the 3rd tee will provide you with a breathtaking view over the Dornoch Firth, looking down over the piece of land where a large part of the Championship Links is exposed. A strong set of 3 consecutive par 4s follows, with brilliant strategic options and fantastic green complexes where you need to hit the right shot to the right spot as the greens (or at least certain pin positions) will repel the unsuspecting approach shots. The second par 3 ends the difficult opening stretch and is perhaps even narrower than the 2nd, and the fall-off on the right even steeper. As if that wasn’t enough defence, a few bunkers guard the front and side of the green. Hit the green or end up with an endless variety of recovery shots, or a lost ball if you bail out too much to the left. So much for the safe option! Hole after hole Dornoch challenges you but teases you with genuine chances to pick up shots. The back nine plays longer, usually into the prevailing wind. On a calm day, I reckon it will play a bit easier than the front 9 but into the wind it is a tough cookie with some long par 4s. Whereas the front nine, mainly due to the devilish set of par 3s, has a slightly penal spiciness to it, the back nine is all strategy with a bit more width. Dornoch’s best holes are brilliant because they are so simple and pure. The 14th, Foxy, will require no further introduction but 15 might even be better. It’s a reachable par 4 with a mound as an obstacle for the view from the tee. I hit a great drive towards the green and found myself in the greenside bunker with a front pin position. I hit a decent bunker shot, only to find my ball topple over the wrong side of the ridge and leave myself a difficult chip/putt to this raised green and walk off with a sour bogey. I also felt oddly satisfied and honored to be tricked by this elite golf course architecture. 17 is one of my favourite par 4s anywhere. It resembles the also brilliant 8th hole, but with a more difficult teeshot and a unique green complex. You have so many options to play this hole, I doubt one would experience them all being a member for a decade. The player must choose between keeping the ball on the high plateau, which will be rewarded with a visible target on the approach shot with a long iron, or a shorter approach from the lower fairway with a blind shot, but also risk hitting it through the fairway into the gorse. Also possible - to hit the tee shot through the middle and let faith decide whether the ball chooses the high or the low road. A running approach or one through the air must then be decided upon, with the green and its surrounds sloping left to right and back to front. It doesn’t get any better. Strategic golf of the highest order, with breathtaking views. On 18, you can start to soak in the entire experience, no wows on this hole, but nevertheless a worthy end to a glorious day of golf. Dornoch has its flaws and IMO is not a 10 on the Doak Scale. The 16th might be a steep slog uphill for the shorter hitter. And to be honest, the new Mackenzie and Ebert 7th didn’t quite impress me. Besides the astonishing panoramic views and the legendary green to tee walk from 6 to 7, it’s a long and wide par 4 with little visual or strategic interest and has a relatively flat green that is somewhat out of tune with the rest of the course. I appreciate that Dornoch is a course to play over and over again in order to reveal its secrets. Nonetheless, playing it for the first time at 28 years old was a privilege and I look forward to many more returns over the next 5 decades! MO
Review of the Month March 2018 - Trump Turnberry (Ailsa) Four Englishmen tried their luck with the Scottish weather and took advantage of an offer to play the new Ailsa course in March. I had played the old version a few times and considered, along with many others, the stretch from holes 4 to 11 as one of the very best I have ever played. Would the new version live up to the old? Fortune smiled on us and, despite snow drifts that day in parts of England we were treated to blue skies and crystal-clear views and temperatures above freezing for the first time in days. We were given mats to play off which felt a little disappointing at first having paid so much money, but several factors prevented this detracting from our enjoyment. Some of the time we simply moved our balls to the semi-rough (better than most club's fairways) and played from there – no problem. Also, the mats were of high quality and enabled perfectly decent golf shots to be played (not like the thin pieces of carpet I'd be given at other places. This all meant that the fairways looked spectacular and divot-free (unlike the soggy courses we'd left behind in Yorkshire). I should also point out that we played off the proper tees – we were offered the choice of white or yellow - and played on all proper greens so definitely received the full Turnberry experience. On to the course itself, were the changes a good idea? The simple answer is a resounding 'yes'. The best really can be made better. Although there are changes to most of the holes, it is probably most apparent on the famous 4-11 stretch. Once down by the sea on the 4th tee, with Ailsa Craig overlooking your tee shot, you really get a sense you're in golfing heaven. The par 3 tee shot is all carry (as indeed are all the par 3s). The green has been relocated closer to the sea and any degree of wind (we had around 10mph from the East) will cast doubts on the golfer's strategy and only a well-executed shot will hit the green. The next par 3 (6th) has been shortened but the new green is no less easy to hit being on top of a dune ridge. Again, anything other than finding the green and bogeys or worse will likely ensue. Holes 7 and 8 maintain the high standard, threading their way through dune valleys. It used to be that one strolled from the back of the 8th to the Open championship tee of the then Par 4 9th and marvelled at the carry the professionals must make over the rocky inlet with the sea crashing below. The amateur golfer then walked to a slightly inland teeing area to play a fairly straightforward par 4 without too much danger. Even for the Pros in modern times, this hole has been relatively easy unless there was a rare strong off-shore wind and so even for the Open the drama of the hole had diminished. Not so anymore. With the re-siting of the green close to the lighthouse, the Open tee is once again daunting as a 248-yard par 3 over the sea. However, unlike the previous version, us mere mortals also have a chasm to cross. Our group resorted to fairway woods into the breeze to carry the ocean below and our good shots were rewarded with a great sense of achievement. This seems to me the closest I will get to playing the 16th at Cypress Point. The 10th hole was previously one of my favourite holes in all golf, hugging the sweeping coastline as a very tough par 4, littered with bunkers and slopes. It still retains its place as one of the greats. The breath-taking views remain, possibly enhanced by the use of numerous (I think there are 7!) elevated tees all framed by the famous lighthouse behind. The green has been pushed further into the corner of the coastline allowing the hole to become a par 5 which at least gives the amateur golfer a better chance of better of a par if they are not distracted by the glorious scenery. Finally, we say goodbye to the sea along the 11th but this also has been redesigned to be more of an all-or-nothing par 3 where nothing but the green will do. Another stunning improvement. The remaining holes are still of a high standard (the 14th green is now almost back at the lighthouse) but it remains the coastline holes which will capture the imagination of every golfer that visits Turnberry. Needless to say the hospitality, facilities and attention are all of the high standard expected at a top tier golfing resort but it is the course itself that will live long in the memory. RdD By Richard Review of the Month March 2018 selected by Editor-in-Chief, Keith Baxter – click to read more about Trump Turnberry (Ailsa).
Review of the Month August 2020 – Perranporth "Do you like Marmite?" I was asked the question in the professional’s shop before our debut round on the links at Perranporth which we were warned we would love or hate. Indeed, on our week in Cornwall, almost every golfer we have encountered has warned us of the blind shots and the inevitability of losing several balls. In the pro's shop, I was advised that I would amass no better than mid to late 20 Stableford points even if I was having a good day. Thus, I was rather chipper to have walked off the 18th with 35 and finish with the ball with which I started. This was all the more surprising because the mist which rolled in during our second nine was so thick we could barely see the flag on the par 3 16th and had to take provisional balls off the 17th tee, even though it transpired we had hit straight down the middle. From the opening shot on the 1st hole, down to a green framed by the backdrop of the seaside town which lends the links its name, Perranporth, is a delight. Yes, there are many blind tee shots but straight play is rewarded and the slopes are not as dramatic as many seaside tracks we have played. The hallmark of Perranporth is its scenery – particularly in the front nine when the beach comes into view on most of the holes. I was a particular fan of the 2nd – a par five with two blind shots before a green on the cliff edge. Then there are the many raised greens, including the dramatic ninth and startling 11th. To be honest, I have played on truer greens. These were pretty slow and flatter than most courses we have played on our Top 100 quest. And this isn't a long course – I'm a moderate hitter and regularly found my way to greens in regulation. But it is fun because it encapsulates the ups and downs of links golf. Do I like Marmite? Apparently, I do. Neil White Review of the Month August 2020 selected by Editor-in-Chief, Keith Baxter, and sponsored by TaylorMade – click to read more about Perranporth. Photos courtesy of Neil White.
