BrandonWebb

Your experience at Crail (Balcomie Links) largely will depend on your expectation.

You will get the same stunning coastal views that you get just down the coastline at Kingsbarns, but not the conditioning. You will get the centuries-old history like you do a couple of miles back in town at the Old Course at St. Andrews, but not the experience.

If you want an everyday, meat-and-potatoes, townie links experience, Crail will be to order. I believe that courses like Crail, Brora and Western Gailes are the glue that holds Scottish links itineraries together. This is the essence of golf in Scotland. We decided to forego caddies, carried our own bags and were invited to play with a member and his son while on the putting green, which moved our tee time up half an hour.

This was the round - one of 13 total - that we experienced all four seasons over the course of a round. Started pleasant and warm. Rained four holes in causing a brief delay. Sun came out. Sweater came off. Turned cool again. Sweater back on. Little more rain. Hot again. Sweater off. Wind picked up and turned cool again. Sweater back on!

The course is quirky. Plays to a par of 69 and measures only 5,800 yards. There are three par 5s and six par 3s. The ever-present wind, however, renders the yardage on the scorecard meaningless. The theme of the course is simplicity and true minimalism. There isn’t much rough to speak of. Bunkers are low-slung in the flattish ground and
greens largely follow the cant of the surrounding slopes. Remember, this course was created in the days when course design was governed by the natural lie of the land and not mechanical earth movers.

There are Viking fortifications that run throughout the course. These stone walls provide a nice border to many holes.

Notably, the greens are a little slower than most courses we
played, due to the high winds and exposed sites found here.

I cannot imagine anyone coming to GolfAdvisor and clicking on this page wondering if they should play the Old Course.

So I will not rehash the course. Instead, I will tell you about my experience and some things not to miss if you are lucky enough to play.

First of all, if you want to play this course badly enough, you most certainly can, with a bit of effort. I began planning our Scottish golf trip more than a year in advance. Our 2-ball struck out on the advance ballot. And we struck out twice in the 48-hour daily ballot. So we decided to line up at the pavilion the night before. We rented a flat a block and a half from the course and all of my research said that if you got in line by 3 or 3:30 am, you would likely get out. My son walked down at 11pm and there were two people in line. When we arrived at 3am, we were Nos. 22 and 23! I must say I was discouraged and considered leaving, since we had counted only 12 blanks on the ballot for the following day.

Still, we stuck it out. We had a great time talking with others in line. Everyone in that line is brimming with optimism and it is fun learning their stories. When the staff arrived at 6 am, a starter gathered us and said he had some good news: they had several four-balls cancel and he had 24 spots to offer. We were elated! We were even able to be paired together, making it that much more special. So if all other avenues fail, get in line the night before... early!

I recommend sitting on the bench just behind the first tee and putting green before you tee off. Soak all of it in.

Be prepared to feel every eye in a one-mile radius on you as you put your tee in the ground on the first tee. Just borrow plenty of fairway left and get it airborne.

Left, and I mean even way left, is fine on the Old Course. You can recover from even the next fairway over. But all of the trouble lies to the right.

Practice 50-yard putts. This will be the most useful tool in your arsenal.

Post-round watering holes are hotly debated. My thought is it is best immediately post-round to go to the patio of the Jigger Inn so you can watch other players do what you just did. Afterward move to the Dunvegan, which is unequivocally the best pub in town... and perhaps the world!

Walk the first and 18th holes, as well as over to the 17th green at twilight. It is a surreal experience. Especially before you play.

While some may not claim Kingsbarns as a true links, it’s a weak argument. It is one of the finest additions to Scottish links in recent years.

Kingsbarns is home to dramatic sea views on every hole. Wide open fairways roll over undulating ridges and hollows into expansive greens. The seamless melding of flat farmland and Old World links contours hit the mark. The generous fairways and greens are further complicated by less areas of serious trouble compared to other links courses in the area. This creates ample opportunity to play with the same ball for the duration of the round, especially if you hire a caddie, or in our case, a forecaddie.

Kyle Phillips did an excellent job of taking advantage of the scenic property by designing holes along the cliff edges with expansive vistas across the sea, as well as interior holes with plenty of intrigue. I was told that he wanted this track to be playable no matter the conditions, which is why he designed the course to not be too penal with wayward shots.

There simply isn’t a bad hole on the property. Plenty of creativity and variety is incorporated into the design from the first hole to the last. Of particular note is the collection of par 3s. They are all great standalone holes, but I feel like they built in intensity to culminate at the 15th.

Along with Castle Stuart, Kingsbarns was the best conditioned course I played on my trip.

North Berwick is the perfect hybrid between big name Scottish “give you a complimentary bag tag on the first tee” course and everyday townie course.

Such an important round for the architectural value of this track. From hole 14 on it is one history lesson after the next.

I would strongly suggest hiring a caddie.

The staff does a great job the moment you park your car (at your own risk along the 18th fairway!). Lunch in the clubhouse overlooking the 18th green should not be missed. The pro shop is well-stocked with great merchandise.

Musselburgh won’t make many Scottish itineraries. Yet, I wouldn’t have missed it, particularly since we flew into Edinburgh at 8 am and didn’t have anything to do or anywhere to be until North Berwick at 3:15pm.

Sure it is only nine holes, and the holes are fairly straightforward, but the wind was howling and it’s located mostly within a working horse racing track! I thought it was a fantastic introduction to the quirks of links golf - clubbing for wind, using the run ups to greens, bump-and-run chipping and putting in the wind - without paying this price on a more reputable and pricier track. One loop is 15 pounds!

Don’t get me wrong, the course is no joke. The first hole, a par 3 played 240 yards dead into a 25 mph wind. Had 3W into another par 3, the eighth. The green on hole 7 is really fun.

Pro shop attendant was more than happy to tell us about the history and show us old aerial photos of the course.

It doesn’t take long for one to figure out why this course is included in popular video games. The trek to the top of the second tee box spells it out for you.

Lush green fairways are laced between craggy rock formations. Greens are perched atop buttes and crammed into hollows. Tee boxes resemble crow’s nests in spots.

Wolf Creek is not for the faint of heart. Hit your marks or pay a heavy price. Driver is not necessary for better players on the majority of the holes. Playing to the 150-yard marker stones is a good way to mine pars.

The greens were quick, but not penal.

The bunkers were crusty and very thin. That is not due to poor maintenance - that is the way they are designed to play, so it was tough to save par from them.

I would highly encourage first-timers to plunk down $7 for a course yardage guide in the pro shop. It will save you a handful of strokes at a minimum.

The pro shop has a great selection of merchandise. The only negative I can find with the course was the limited driving range, which is irons only.

It is not necessarily a fair statement, but nonetheless it is true: players navigate Sand Hollow’s Championship course’s front nine as a means to merely get to the star of the show - the inward half.

The par-3 11th hole and the par-3 15th hole bookend a breathtaking stretch that can only be fully appreciated after playing it in the last light of the afternoon. A setting sun reflecting pink light off the canyon rock is something to behold. Nos. 11, 12 and 13 are as fine a three-hole stretch as I can recall. They are especially memorable because the are not next to a body of water.

The front nine holes aren’t bad, they just pale in comparison to the grandeur of the back nine. The par 5s are short and it is possible to stockpile a few birdies on the front in preparation for hanging on later in the round.

There is GPS on the cart to assist, but beware the ball flies a little further in this dry desert air.

The bunkers are deep and are designed to play as true hazards. Loose impediments abound.

The clubhouse is a modest, yet beautiful structure that is in the style of this region. Full range.

Watch out for the rabbits! They are everywhere.

This is a course that I have longed to play for personal reasons. I attended my first PGA Tournament here in 1987, at the Honda Classic.

Eagle Trace has seen a lot of changes since then. The PGA Tour obviously moved on, as did the TPC branding, as the course left that stable last year when confronted with a costly irrigation mandate.

Still, this is a solid South Florida course. You are eased in with some fairly easy holes. Come the par-4 fourth hole, however, the intensity is turned up. This was my second favorite hole on the course because of the design. It is a cape hole that requires a roughly 200-yard carry from the tee to clear the large waste bunker that borders the canal. The landing area appears small, though, thanks to two bunkers that frame the fairway on the far side. Provided you find the fairway, the remaining shot requires no more than a wedge, but an extremely small green awaits. The club has filled in a bunker short and right and made it a grass bunker, but the target zone is claustrophobic.

The par-5 fifth is memorable for the risk/reward second shot to a green that is shallow, but nearly 50 yards wide.

The par 3s all require carries. The par 5s are gettable. But when the wind rears it’s head, this is a tough golf course to score on.

My favorite hole was the short par-4 16th hole, which looks benign from the tee, with a split level fairway that narrows the farther you choose to take it up. The second shot is to a peninsula green, with water long and right. Two pot bunkers guard the bailout left.

The par-4 18th plays longer than the yardage to a most unique ampitheater. The stadium seating mounding behind and to the left create a postcard approach to a green with the colonial-style clubhouse looming behind.

There is a lot of wildlife on the course. I encountered an owl in the bunker fronting the 18th green that had burrowed into the trap.

I didn’t find the conditioning to be that lacking. I think if you played the course under the TPC banner and play it now, it is not going to measure up for obvious reasons. The bunkers were a little tough around the edges and there was some creeping grass into the Bermuda greens that really affected putts, but overall the conditioning was fine.

My only complaint echoes what I had read on previous reviews: slow play is a REAL issue here. My tee time was 2:05 pm and they were running nearly 20 minutes behind. The round took nearly five hours. To the club’s credit, the scorecard prominently addresses slow play, and the cart’s GPS sent numerous reminders about avoiding slow play. Yet, the course could really benefit from an on-course marshal.

Practice area were great. Starter was great. Twilight rate is well-worth it.

Tip: Ask the pro shop attendant for a course guide/yardage book. They have some of these behind the counter with the old TPC branding. Also, if you have a range finder, shoot the pins and don’t rely solely on the cart GPS. I remember four holes where the GPS said the hole was cut one place, when it was actually on the opposite end of a green.

Azalea City is a hardscrabble muni that is currently playing like a West Texas track, thanks to a drought.

This parkland course is somewhat narrow thanks to tree-lined fairways. However, the dry conditions that make 100-yard rollouts with driver off the tee, make the fairways seem narrower. Drives that seem perfectly placed can roll through the fairway.

Fairways are extremely thin.

The greens are small and many are pitched severely from back to front, making remaining below the hole on approach shots an absolute must. Greens rolling good.

Be aware if you are playing from or near the tree line... there are a lot of exposed tree roots and some just below the surface so be cognizant of playing from these areas to avoid injury.

Bunkers were pretty solid and consistent.

Yardage guide for sale in the clubhouse ($7) is worth it, especially for first-timers. You cannot see small ponds that come into play on both par 5s on the back on approach.

The driving range here is top notch with a flat tee and a wide berth. Good short game areas as well.