Hindsight shows that the Society made a correct decision because a very fine course is the result despite there being several limitations that complicated the design task. Firstly, the property was only 114 acres, which is small for a windy site, and that was exacerbated by the fact that it was irregular in shape. Also, though the property is located along the coastline of the North Sea, it is clifftop and as such, it isn’t true links land blessed with natural humps and bumps. Indeed, the property is on broadly sloping ground with holes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, and 11 on one side of a gentle hillcrest and the remaining holes on the other.
Not true linksland? Care to step aside and settle this like men?
I'm not a geologist, nor do I play one on TV, but there is no shortage of links on headlands and clifftops, though certainly this parcel of land is quite different than the grounds on which the Balcomie sits.
More personally, as Theresa and I headed to the first tee, which is set awkwardly across the entry road, I took out her sand wedge and dropped a couple of balls to chip. The first ball landed with a thud equivalent to dropping a ball on the hood of a Pontiac, so I'm declaring these grounds authentic linksland (I'll defer the update on my hand until the end of the post, but it's good news, indeed).
There's two other architectural points to make, the first in the words of Gil Hanse:
‘One of the most interesting challenges we had to deal with at Crail was the emphasis on the archaeological importance of the site. Running through a section of the site is The Danes Dyke, which is a wall that was erected by the Danes and it precedes the birth of Christ. Adjacent to the course is the ancient harbour of Crail, which is one of the oldest harbours in Scotland. The Vikings would land in this harbour and then set forth to rape and pillage the Fife countryside. After some bruising battles, they finally erected a wall as a last line of defense, before getting in their boats and setting sail for home. Needless to say, this is a very important archaeological site, and one that is remarkably preserved. Our challenge was to route the golf course on a small piece of property, and use this wall as a strategic feature because their was no way to avoid it. With the archaeological interest in the site, the Club had to hire a full time archaeologist to follow us around site. So whenever, my associate Rodney Hine, or I went to shape a green or bunker, this guy had to sift through the dirt before we could proceed with final shaping. It worked our okay, because he was a good guy, and oddly enough he was Danish. I also think that we used the wall in several creative ways, as well as in varied ways on the holes that it intersects. It does create a few blind situations, however, the Scots are not as squeamish as we are about blind shots, and I thought that this might be a great opportunity to incorporate the element of blindness into one of our courses. ‘
Yanno, people have gotten so damn precious, a little raping and pillaging isn't such a big thing....It's an ever-present feature and used cleverly by Hanse.
One last bit and then I'll set my architectural geekiness aside:
Apart from the ancient walls, the land itself was only moderately interesting and it was up to the architect to instill character into the holes. And knowing that your handiwork would always be compared to Old Tom Morris’s Balcomie course across the club entrance drive didn’t make the task any easier!After the routing, Hanse focused his energies on the two design elements that would matter the most: the bunkering and the green complexes. Hanse did little shaping with the rest of the property as such movement of dirt would have invariably looked manufactured and man-made.The bunkers have revetted faces but Hanse wanted more than just that. According to Hanse,‘We also wanted to be a bit more artistic with the bunker shapes, and we were able to change the angle of the revetting in order to accomplish that look. Walter Woods, the former greenkeeper of the Old Course, came down every now and again to give us some advice, and he was quite keen on our bunker shapes. Jim Finegan also gave us some nice complements on the bunkering, stating that it was ‘the nearest thing to Muirfield bunkering, apart from the great course itself.’
That's must be the liquor talking, because Muirfield's bunkering is the gold standard. But we find many homages, such as this from the third hole:
Me: Sweetie, you can't hit just yet.
Employee No. 2: What are you talking about? They're like 180 yards away?
Me: All the same, please wait.....
At home, she probably drives the ball 150-160 yards, but she then proceeds to hit her 3-wood onto the front collar, some 179 1/2 yards.... Thanks God she had an experienced caddie....
Fast forward to yesterday on the Craighead, where on the Par-3 17th hole, playing some 140-145 yards, she pulled her driver:
Me: Sweetie, that's way too much club.
Employee No. 2: What are you talking about? It's a little uphill.....
Me: Yes, but it's downwind and it's gonna run forever.....
I then proceed to find her ball in the deep hay a good thirty yards over the green....
On No. 18, a similar conversation ensues over the approach shot:
Me: Sweetie, please tell me that's your 5-wood.
Employee No. 2: No, it's the 3-wood.....
Me: We're still downwind and I'm thinking your 3-wood will put you in the North Sea...
Whereupon her 5-wood runs over the green.....
It's crazy hard pulling a club in such conditions, but it's equally rewarding when you pull it off. Of course we've done this before, but the last few times we've been here it's been lush and soft, so no surprise that the adjustment is a tricky thing. We had some great laughs over our foibles, so it's all in good fun.
Shall we show you what the Craighead looks like?
This was one of Theresa's best shots of the trip, cleverly played to the left side of the second green, utilizing the slopes to feed the ball towards the hole:
I believe this reverie is on the Par-3 seventh:
The weather has been spectacular, if anything perhaps a bit too warm.... Our third floor bedroom was bit too warm last night, and the great weather is forecast to continue through the weekend. Alas, next week doesn't look nearly as good, but it's hopefully far enough out on the event horizon to ignore for now.
We'll title this one Still life with Tessie and Sausage Roll:
They are quite good and hit the spot mid-round.
The routing takes one on the back nine over towards those back four holes on the Balcomie, allowing one to see the table at which the post-round lager will be enjoyed:
This of the bride on the 11th tee....
... reminded me of this epic photo of our dear friend Jewelle from 2019:
I know, don't try this at home, kids.
One plays over Dane's Dyke on that 11th hole:
It was at such a table that we decided, rather impulsively, to join Crail.
Good News/Bad News - We're obviously learning about Crail, and there's much that falls into each of the header categories. The good news yesterday was that, as I predicted, pace of play was far better, we got around in just about 3 1/2 hours. Even with the bride a virtual single, our waiting was always brief and the men's three-ball in front of us moved well.
The bad news is that there is a drag racing track nearby. Yesterday we heard one idiot out screeching around, but it was mercifully brief. However, we're next on the Craighead on Sunday, and a sign at the track indicates that there's racing on Sunday, so we'll experience the worst of it. My sense is that future rounds on the Craighead will best be midweek.
As much as we love the quirky Balcomie, we fear that pace of play will always be an issue there, just because of that quirkiness, the six one-shotters and the rather tight playing corridors.
Hand in Glove - I think you'll agree that the white cap was a fashion stroke of genius, given the Tommy-Two-Gloves look:
But it's mostly good news on that front. The pain was mostly gone yesterday morning, as evidenced by our ballot entry for the Old Course (which came up snake eyes, as expected). I took my putter and used the bride's sand wedge, with which I hit reasonably full shots without incident. She uses the same sand wedge as I do, though the grip is much smaller, perhaps not a bad thing given what my own grip did to my hand.
Amusingly, the only time I felt any pain from the wound, was my own damn fault. I scooped up my ball left-handed with my putter, but when I caught it in my right hand, it hit that very spot. A small owie, but probably good for me to know it's still there.
Fashion Commentary - Yeah, I don't go there often, but we can't help what we see, can we? I was thinking that perhaps our club sets the bar slightly too low with this:
On the CourseWe don't mind if you prefer to play your golf in a woolly jumper or performance polyester. If the weather is nice, go on, get the shorts out. We simply ask that you leave behind any replica shirts of your favourite sports team, no beachwear and no sleeveless athletic tops. You never know, looking your best might help you play your best.
But the bride and I were suppressing the giggles when we saw this get-up:
One could spend a lifetime acquiring the full kit in lime green, and respect is due for the matching cap and shoes. But the best part to me I didn't capture in a photo.... every time the wind came up, hos coat caught the breeze and billowed like the the jib sail on a schooner, calling to mind images of George Costanza in his puffy jacker. Walking into the wind could be problematic, but he'll make good time downwind.
The Evening Stroll - We again ate outdoors, and even Elsie found that remarkable for Scotland. As an aside, Elsie also told us that, as a young lass, she swam in the Pittenweem pool that I showed a couple of days back. The water was balmy as she recalls, and she was planning on bringing her swimsuit, until we told her that our neighbors warned us of the jellyfish.
Tessie went rogue as we began our after-dinner stroll, turning left towards the harbor and village. Not a bad call:
And then, as we wound down, it got fiery:
We've an open day ahead with nothing planned, so we'll start to focus on that. See y'all later....
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