RECENTLY: Anderson’s Glen at Blackledge, in the next town, is a course from which I used to squeeze good numbers, routinely. Five years ago, I played it for the first time in years and shot 76; this summer, I felt I could produce something similar. But, to quote Sir Thomas Wyatt, golf can be likened to a “fickle mistress,” and this summer the course was not so kindly. I shot 85, giving up mentally after the fourth hole, which I had doubled. The rest was slow, agonizing links-death (We’ve all played these kinds of rounds). Next year the outcome shall be different: “I’ll be revenged most thoroughly” on this golf course (my apologies to Shakespeare).
OLD DAYS: In 1998, I went to Scotland and played North Berwick, Nairn, and Royal Dornoch. Things went quite well at the latter two, but North Berwick, my first stop, was an out-and-out catastrophe. Playing at the time to a 1-handicap, I shot 90. I’d love to use the excuse that this was ‘out-of-the-car’ golf (no pre-round warm-up at a range), but this would be disingenuous. I putted like a 25-handicapper, and tallied, if memory serves, 42 putts—at least! Yes, the swirling winds, tall rough, gorse and tricks inherent in this layout were all part of the mess that my round became, yet when I came away with 4 putts on the tabled, gully-dissected green at 16, WITHOUT feeling like it was ‘my fault,’ I wrathfully blamed the greens. Vengeance won’t be such an easy matter, I’m sure, on my return trip to North Berwick.
Ouch! I was fortunate enough to play pretty well at North Berwick. Hope you get another shot. I doubt you're the first person to four-putt 16.
Hi Brandon,
My hat is off to you if you managed to play well at North Berwick on a first visit. Tom Doak wrote, in my recollection, that in the old days members from NB would play matches against other clubs, and, on their home course, they would routinely drum the opposition. The reason, it seemed, was that their intimate knowledge of the Berwick greens afforded a distinct advantage.
I haven't played enough Scottish courses (only four) to ascertain a true Scottish favorite, but thus far my favorite is Royal Dornoch, with Lundin Links a close second. But all four are fantastic tracks, all a part of my 'Top Ten.' Links courses have so many intangibles that I would call them the toughest and most exhilarating types to play, worldwide. I do appreciate American courses that try to ape them, but really capturing their essence is most often impossible—for many reasons.
I enjoyed your 2016 review of North Berwick and agree with your assessment about the stupendous hole variety. What impresses me, too, about Berwick are its elevation changes: it is far hillier than St. Andrews. And is there a par-three in the world that genuinely tops #15, Redan?
