The Eighth and Ninth holes at Gairloch GC The green site, in a natural punchbowl at the base of mighty gorse covered sand dunes, is the stuff of your links golf dreams. With a helping wind, the hidden green can be fetched from the tee, if the correct line is taken. The 275 yard Shore Hole, the 6th, is perfection. Played on a sunny day on the Kilbrannan Sound, it can be a near religious experience – to those susceptible to such things. Shiskine, on the west coast of the stunning Isle of Arran, has twelve holes – it needs no more or no less. The perfect Shore Hole at Shiskine Golf & Tennis Club on the Isle of Arran The blind, punchbowl 170 yard par three fourth hole is perhaps the essence of the Scottish game distilled into one perfect package. Starting at the third hole perched above Dunaverty Beach, the links has a stretch of holes through the eleventh that are unmatched for beauty, fun and strategy. ![]() Dunaverty GC is a brilliant one-off and doesn’t need assistance from the former Beatle – it easily extols its’ own virtues. Sir Paul’s beautiful High Park Farm is just a few minutes away and it is easy to see why he and Linda Eastman fell in love with the Kintyre Peninsula in 1966. – The Golf Courses of the British Isles, 1910 An Early Morning Golfer at Dunaverty Plays a Nice Chip at the Unmatched Fourth Hole – “Dunaverty”ĭunaverty GC is located in Southend, on the North Channel of the Irish Sea, about 8 miles east of the Mull of Kintyre – made famous in song by Sir Paul McCartney in 1977. Then comes a delicate little pitch over some hummocky ground, or, if we are lucky, a running-up shot, and we find ourselves on a small green under the shadow of the wall, and should obtain a respectable five a four is, as a rule, the score of heroes only. Yet, in the ordinary way, if we can hit but a reasonably straight tee-shot, we ought to send our second flying far over the Cardinal’s sandy nob and a good long way towards the green. Peter Anderson and, to come to more modern times, it was in this very same bunker that his supporters saw with horror the great Braid trying to throw away the championship by playing a game of racquets against those ominous black boards. Laidlay a championship when he played Mr. A topped brassie shot into the cavernous recesses of the bunker was generally thought to have cost Mr. ![]() The third is the “Cardinal,” and has done a vast deal of mischief in its time. I must allow the great Bernard Darwin to describe Cardinal: The 533 par five 3rd hole is called Cardinal and the second shot must be played over the Cardinal bunker. The overwhelming sense of history that a golfer feels while playing this brilliant links is matched only by The Old Course. Prestwick GC on the Ayrshire coast, the first home of the Open Championship, is one of the holy places in golf. The Cardinal Bunker on the third Hole at Prestwick GC The 324 yard par four second hole is played over an ancient stone wall to a green hard by the Sound – and it is one of the best and most stunning holes in Scotland. The walk from the small car park to the delightfully tiny clubhouse immediately lets you know you are in for a rare day of pure Scottish golf. Located on the Isle of Bute, about 6 miles south of the lovely Victorian era holiday town of Rothesay, Bute GC is a nine hole gem on the Sound of Bute. The third Tee and second Green at Bute GC In over 45 years of playing this game, the time I spent on the Isle of Colonsay with my friend ranks in the top five experiences of my entire life. Robbie found a sixty year old British size Dunlop 65 in a rabbit hole and graciously gave it to me. Rabbit holes and scrapes are in abundance, as are natural bunkers created by sheep. Isle of Colonsay is maintained largely by sheep, who have free reign over the machair, including the greens. The beautiful, resilient turf gives you energy as you walk the course – mostly likely you will be the only group playing. If that is true, nothing much has changed on this wondrous links in the intervening 350 years. It is believed that golf has been played on this remote island machair since the 1770’s. ![]() The Top 10+ Videos from Scotland 2021 The Magical World of Isle of Colonsay GC
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