Lundin Calling

After the stinging disappointment on The Old Course, the bride petitioned for and was granted a one-day reprieve from golf prison.  She used her time to enjoy the coastal walk here in the East Neuk of Fife, while I took the car and headed southwest to Lundin Golf Club located in the town of Lundin Links.  I know, those seem reversed or something....

Lundin (pronounced like the city) is a James Braid design, but as always there is a story.  The adjoining towns of Lundin and Leven (pronounced LEE-ven) shared their links from the 1860's until 1907, when there was simply too much demand for one course to suffice.  Each town took nine holes and built new nines to create a full 18.  

The drive down was quite delightful, through picturesque towns such as Elie and St. Monans.  I got lost a couple of times en route, though as long as the Firth of Forth was to my left I couldn't be too very lost.  And we even found a red phonebooth and some bales of hay.  The day was a success already...

What A Difference A Day Makes - Any cockiness I might have retained from successfully avoiding all 110 Old Course bunkers was dissipated on the very first hole, when a well-struck hybrid failed to release forward as required by statute, and without so much as a flash of its blinkers dove right into a bunker some 15 yards short of the green.  Oh well, it's not like anyone is watching....

The opening holes are quite the lover stretch, playing along the Firth:

Burn Baby Burn - On thr short Par-4 sixth I let the big dog hunt, only to find my ball in a wee burn fronting the green.  Memo to self:  When the hole is actually named "Burn", a moment to ascertain the source of that name might be worth one's time.

The fifth green was nestled in a lovely spot.

Is This Lundin or The Strath? - The inland terrain wasn't quite as interesting, but the uphill Par-3 11th seems to be more akin to Elsie's home track than a links:

Because....Golf - I found the events that ensued on the Par-5 thirteenth quite amusing, though your mileage might vary.  I pushed my drive to the right dangerously close to OB stakes, and so hit a privvie.  That one I of course striped down the middle.  I found the tee ball and punched a seven-iron down the fairway, but too far (or at least too far left), in this position:

This isn't a shot one sees often (or ever) in linksville, but that flag can be made out through the strand of trees.  It's not true that links are necessarily completely treeless, but trying to lift a wedge over a grove of trees is a first.

I should note that having reached my second ball and glancing at the yardage, I could resist giving it a go and trying to draw it around those same trees.  What the heck, no one was watching... That shot was a tad overcooked and actually bounced through the trees.  

My actual third with a 52* wedge (the photo makes it look that I'm further away, I was only +/- 95 yards from the front of the green), scraped the very top branch and settled 20 yards short of the green on hardpan, leaving an impossible pitch over a bunker, which I proceeded to dump in said bunker.

So I dropped a third in the same spot, of course pinched it perfectly and stiffed it....before stepping in the bunker I chipped my provisional ball, also stiff of course because....golf.  Then proceeded to leave my fourth on my actual ball in the bunker.  At this point in my mind I'd made a four and a five, yet was still in a bunker lying five.  Because...wait for it, golf.

Isn't That My Call? - Lundin's 14th hole is a downhill Par-3 back towards the water, and they've given it quite the modest name.

It was playing about 175 yards back into the wind and I punched a tasty little 5-iron to the back fringe.  The putt was in the hole from the get-go, and it seemed a shame that no one was, you know, watching my demonstration of links shotmaking.  Perhaps "perfection" is the word for which I was searching....

Tree, Forest - No. 17 is another of their short Par-4, featuring a blind tee-shot over some dunes.  There is a burn involved, but I hit a solid drive and found my ball only about 65-70 yards from the pin.

I punched a relatively low 58* wedge on a line just left of the pin, that bit and moved right with the spin until disappearing from view.  I yelled, but the group ahead was well on their way and absolutely no one paid it any mind....I was at this point kinda pissed about the no one seeing it thing.

The 17th green from behind after my ball was removed.

Lundin is the kind of links that not too many visitors will seek out, but it's very much of its environment.  We love playing the courses of the Open rota and the better known links, but there's much pleasure to be derived from a day on  Lundin Links with a trolley and a Strokesaver as well.