Royal Troon
Credibly placed among the half-dozen claimants for best links course in the world, Troon has hosted the Open Championship seven times-most recently in 1997, when Justin Leonard joined such American Open champs as Palmer, Watson, Weiskopf and Calcavecchia. Laid out by one of the great early British golfers, Willie Fernie, Troon puts a premium on accuracy, patience and poise.
Course description: Narrow fairways lined with heather, whin and beach grass make tee shots critical, and the wind is almost always a major factor. Troon's small greens require touch and imagination, and its deep bunkers are punishing.
Year opened: 1878
Par: 71 (7,097 yards)
Signature holes: The par-five sixth is, at 577 yards, the longest hole on the Open rota. The famous eighth, the Postage Stamp, is the shortest, at just 126 yards. (Tiger Woods's triple bogey was nothing to the fifteen posted in the 1950 Open.)
How to get a tee time: Royal Troon is "men only," and public play is limited to Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. A letter of intraduction with a certificate of handicap (maximum: twenty) is required.
Contact: Mr. J. W. Chandler, Royal Troon, Craigend Road, Troon KA10 6EP
Phone: 01144-1292-311555
Rentals: Clubs and pull-carts
Carts: None
Dress Code: Coat and tie are required in the dining room.
Directions from Troon: If you're at the Marine Highland Hotel, just fall out of bed.
Turnberry
This world-class destination resort on the Firth of Clyde has two courses, the Ailsa and the Arran. The Ailsa (which takes its name from Ailsa Craig, a looming granite island about twelve miles away in the firth) has hosted the Open three times. The property of a railway company when it opened almost a century ago, Turnberry came close to extinction after its conversion to an airfield during World War 11. Restored by Mackenzie Ross, the Ailsa course hosted its first Open in 1977, and the final-round battle that year between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson (who won by a single stroke on the eighteenth) constituted one of the greatest finishes in the history of the majors. Hubert Green, who finished third, ten strokes behind Nicklaus, said, "I won the Open-those guys were playing another tournament." Nine years later Greg Norman won the Open on the Ailsa course, aided by a spectacular second round score of sixty-three. Nick Price won the Open played most recently at Turnberry, in 1994.
Course description: More perfectly manicured than most Scottish courses, both the Ailsa and Arran courses offer very challenging links golf, with a premium on accurate tee and iron shots. Ailsa gets all the fame, but the Arran course presents its own special demands and, though shorter, can be just as much a test if the wind is up. Holes four through eleven on the Ailsa course, which play along the sea, are as beautiful and demanding a stretch of golf as any in the world.
Year opened: 1906
Par: Ailsa, 70 (6,976 yards); Arran, 69 (6,014 yards)
Signature holes: The ninth and the sixteenth at Ailsa are very tough par fours. The ninth tee is placed on a rocky promontory above the firth and is backed by the much-photographed Turnberry lighthouse. The tee shot must find a narrow fairway for o long approach to the green. A long iron or a fairway wood is the best play an the sixteenth, since accuracy is much more important than distance an this 409-yard hole, though the second shot must carry the Wee Burn, which is wee in name only.
How to get a tee time: Though the course is open only to guests of the Turnberry Hotel, it is sometimes possible for a non-hotel guest to find a place in the bookings. Your best chance is to call first thing in the morning on the day you want to play. In the worst case, you can just book a room for the night (the cheapest single costs about $284) and get a tee time in advance.
Contact: Golf Operations Manager Ewen Bowen, Turnberry Hotel Golf Courses and Spa, Turnberry, Scotland KA26 SILT
Phone: 011441655-331000
Pro: Brian Gunson
Caddiemaster: William McDines
Rentals: Clubs and shoes are available. Pull-carts can be rented for use on the Arran course only.
Carts: None
Caddies: They are a must at Turnberry, if only to hear the great stories.
Dress Code: There are all manner of dining facilities and public rooms, from formal to very casual.
Directions from Troon: Follow roads out of town to A79. Make a right onto A77. The Turnberry Hotel is about fifteen miles south of Troon.
Western Gailes
Although it s not a British Open course, Western Gailes is regarded as one of Scotland's very best and is used often as an Open qualifying site. To preserve their seaside course, members have fought a long series of architectural battles to save the course from ever-threatening tides.
Course description: Despite having just two par fives and three par threes, this is as fine a links course as can be found anywhere in the British Isles. The course is placed between the railroad lines and the sea, making for narrow holes that demand exact tee shots. Especially on the long stretch from the fifth to the thirteenth, right down the coastland, the wind makes Western Gailes not only a trial of skill but something of an endurance test as well.
Year opened: 1897
Par: 71 (6,639 yards)
Signature hole: The drive on the 506-yard par-five sixth (named Lappock after Lappock Rock just offshore) has to be held on the right side of the left-sloping fairway, from which, with luck, the green can be reached on a second shot aimed well right of the apparent target. Bunkers and knolls present trouble in front of the green, and the green is the most undulated on the course.
How to get a tee time: You must contact the club in advance. Open to the public Monday, Wednesday and Friday (Tuesday also, but only to men).
Contact: Mr. Gibson Beetie, Western Gailes Golf Club, Gailes, Irvine, Scotland KA11 5AE
Phone: 01144-1294-311649
Caddiemaster: Danny McDougal
Rentals: Pull-carts only (no pro shop)
Carts: None
Dress Code: Coat and tie are required in the dining room and the lounge.
Directions from Troon: Five miles north on A78
Comments (0)
Open / Close