Recent June: Links golf is different, as cliché dictates.
Words by Oliver
Photos by Moritz
Links golf is different, as cliché dictates. It is the origin of the game and yet the form of the game many golfers get little opportunity to enjoy. As the British Open begins at Troon, the eyes of the golfing world are drawn to its unique appeal. Watching on TV, that appeal isn’t always obvious, when the sun isn’t shining the camera tends to flatten the subtle undulations of a seaside track. In the grey drizzle of Hoylake last year it could at times look veritably bleak in comparison to the technicolour brilliance of Augusta. But as Brendan Porath lays out in this article for The Fried Egg the reason we, pro and amateur alike, are drawn to it is that purity of the challenge it presents, the levels of creativity and concentration it requires to play well.
The Open is a true change of pace and a show of an original “product”. It seems so simplistic and obvious, but more than any other week the Open just gets the best players in the world discussing, debating, even romanticizing golf. It gets the audience thinking more about the actual play in front of them. And it leads to those who love it all to contemplate why they do.
– Brendan Porath
At Recent Golf, we made our annual Scottish pilgrimage, or our annual Scottish adventure, and were treated to the most delicious feast of courses in magical and uncompromising conditions. The central leg of our tour was in Aberdeenshire after preparatory stops on the way up at (for some, not all) The Grove, Dunstanburgh Castle, Dunbar, and Montrose. We began at Murcar where a thick Haar hung over the course and its clubhouse, an old house with a seventies add-on that looks a bit like a remote, abandoned farmhouse. But you know you’re here to play golf as you park in front of the practice area where a couple of dozen golfers are hard at work, very quietly, almost at a whisper, practicing their putting and dialing in their short game. The suffocating blanket of fog meant there wasn’t a breath of wind, no noise or a glimpse of the adjacent beach. With visibility at about 200 yards, once we set off every shot was a blind punch into the unknown. Murcar is a fantastic course. After finding your bearings on the opening couple of holes, you dive into the dune with a series of holes requiring accuracy instead of muscle, and in the mist some detailed reading of the birdie book. ‘Leave the driver in the bag, gents’, Gary had helpfully told us before we set off, and while some of us chose immediately to ignore this, those who heeded his advice were rewarded with a course that is polished and fun, playable and challenging, and comes highly recommended by us all.
Murcar Links
That night the weather changed. The fog burned off and the sun came out burt then the heavens opened. Wind followed the rain and it wouldn’t stop blowing for the next 48 hours. The inconvenient appointment we had in this gale was out tee time at Royal Aberdeen, a fierce and storied course that is famously difficult when the wind is up. Well the wind was certainly up. The course is a classic out and back with a big dune and the beach to the east, the only break to this pattern being the signature par 3 8th, which turns back and is protected by 10 bunkers. With the wind at our back on the way out a six iron was flying 230 yards, once we turned around it was difficult to get a driver to go 200. Tacking back against the wind required so much concentration and thinking that the mental exhaustion was visible when we finally settled in the clubhouse bar. This course is very difficult. They are right to advise the higher handicapper against taking it on. The clubhouse is a little imposing and not the most welcoming. But the condition, the routing and the test they offer is superb and it was an unforgettable experience, superior in every way to trundling around somewhere sunny in Portugal or Belek in a cart.
Royal Aberdeen
Our final day was at Cruden Bay. Gary at Murcar had rather dismissed it as a photo opportunity. Gary should probably acknowledge that it is also an unmissable Golf course. It is breathtaking. From the old wooden Starter’s Hut you can see Slains Castle in the distance beyond the town to your left. The par 3 4th finds you right in the town with the Water of Cruden beside you and the harbour at Port Errol ahead. And after the drivable par 4 8th, you climb a long, steep knoll to the raised 9th tee and suddenly the full drama and splendour of Cruden Bay beach unfolds below you. You have to stop for a moment to take it in and enjoy the majesty of the scene and I hope also take a moment to be grateful that whatever it is you do in the rest of your life, you had the chance to carve out this little opportunity to travel up the Aberdeenshire coast and be here, quite possibly, just once in your life.
Cruden Bay
