words by Sam

When I was about 11 or 12, I used to draw imaginary golf courses. Each would be a strong contender to host a Ryder Cup. Excessively long and littered with penal hazards, demanding one heroic shot after the next. There would scarcely be enough space between the trees to walk your dog, let alone play golf.

Wind the clock on 20 years and I’m stood on the 3rd tee of Castle Stuart. It represented a watershed moment in my appreciation for golf course architecture.

We weren’t actually meant to be there. We had been en route to Boat of Garten instead. As the rain continued to thunder down on the M6, we did wonder if golf that day was slightly ambitious. The Secretary at the appropriately named ‘Boat’ almost laughed when we asked if we were still on. The sheer volume of water that had fallen in Aviemore meant the course was closed, and we were now driving to nowhere in particular.

This was our first ‘real’ golf trip for Cookie Jar. 5 days of Scottish golf organised by Jamie Darling for the Scottish Tourism Board ‘Where Golf Began’. So, slightly deflated, we put a call into Jamie to see if he could work some magic.

10 minutes later he called back with news he’d arranged Castle Stuart for us instead. We adjusted the satnav and drove through the Cairngorms with renewed anticipation.

Stuart McColm, General Manager of Castle Stuart, greeted us with typical Scottish hospitality. A pint of Tennents, a club sandwich, and a thorough explanation of the design philosophy of Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen (our film from Castle Stuart is available here)

He could have been speaking in tongues. Stuart talked about the famed designers’ strong emphasis on strategy. On ‘compress & release’ moments as you move through the land, highlighting the key monuments and distant vistas through intelligent design and routing features. He talked about creating width from the tee and shrinking the margin between the low and higher handicap player.

This was clearly not your average ‘new build’ course. For years, I’d played enough one dimensional layouts to avoid them. Not just expensive and time consuming to play, but often poorly put together. They felt like a long walk and whilst they didn’t really challenge the brain they put an incredible amount of stress on my own ball striking. I’d had too many dealings with the hosel to enjoy that kind of test…

So, now you’ve indulged the journey, let’s get back to that moment on the 3rd tee. There are some great 3rd holes out there, but this is the one that made it into my Eclectic 18.

At just 290 yards, there is nothing really stopping you going for the green. No framing with big dunes or trees, the land cambering away from you. It’s asking for a bold play. Tempting you, almost. 

And just three bunkers? If I had drawn it on my science workbook it would have stood out as the most mundane hole on the course. 

So here’s why its so good…

The reveal:

The setting really is extraordinary. 

As you walk the gentle slope from the back of the 2nd green, you are greeted with a panoramic view of the Moray Firth. With the relative bustle of Inverness in the far distance and the Black Isle across the water, it is a special vista.

Before you, the hole meanders away to the very edge of the Firth. 

It almost takes you by surprise. It’s not a hole you’ve seen from elsewhere on the course – giving you chance to plot your attack. Like most of the holes at Castle Stuart, the first time you see them is on the tee.

So, what’s it to be? A vast expanse of fairway is calling, and a yardage which seems manageable enough. On another golf course there would be only one option, but here, you need to pause and think. A concept that has long since been forgotten, and something my sketches of yesteryear overlooked as well. 

The Contours:

Much of the praise for golf design is attributed to the architect, however the shapers that sculpt these holes have as much input to the overall execution as anyone else. It can be the difference between a contrived and unnatural slope, or a fairway indistinguishable from the landscape it occupies. It can diminish or elevate a hole. It’s not only aesthetics. Skilled shapers can provide greater nuance – the odd ripple where you imagine your ball landing. The slope taking it away from the putting surface. The bunker sat exactly where you want to aim.

This is exactly the scene here. The green banked on the left, feeding away and towards the water on the right. Subtle, but significant enough to define the strategy of the hole. It is the embodiment of another of the architects’ design principles.

Think of the 17th at the Old Course. Yes, you can blaze your ball left off the tee, away from the looming and obvious penalty of the Old Course Hotel, but good luck hitting the green from here. Those that take on the Hotel are rewarded by their angle for their next shot. A chance of holding the angled green – playing up the surface, rather than across it.

It’s the same principle here. Playing out left leaves a shot down the firm turf running away from the green, with the Moray Firth serenely waiting beyond. Taking on the Firth from the tee, laying up down the right, lets you play up the slope, with a significantly easier wedge shot.

Small, low-profile revetted faces (similar to the sleeper faces referred to as ‘Rye-brows’, where they are most famously employed) are also embedded along the left flank of the green. If you short side yourself, they are just enough to take putter out of your hand. Good luck with this delicate chip.

The restraint:

Castle Stuart is not like those ‘new build’ courses I had become accustomed to. It’s not there to challenge execution or sell houses. It harkens back to a different age of course design. Where golf was a game of nerve and strategy. Picking the right shot and plotting your way around a natural links. 

In today’s age, with enormous construction budgets and ready access to powerful earth moving equipment, the modern architect has almost too much power over the land. The temptation to turn the volume up on whatever you create must be almost irresistible. The 3rd hole at Castle Stuart instead shows discipline. It shows the power of simplicity, and the value of restraint. It is elegant.