...after having been rudely interrupted by having to take my daugher to Tae Kwan Do.....
Crail
I've played Balcomie a few times and Craighead once, and the aerial surprisies me in terms of how sinuous is the routing of the older course. It doesn't feel that way to me--more compact than it looks. Also, as 2-D pictures, the aerials can't express the changes in elevation, which are sometimes very significant at Balcomie (and all the other courses in Mark's portfolio). I'm still waiting to see the charm in Craighead, and the overhead doesn't really help me in this regard. I might play the course a couple of times this year, and we will see. That being said, this is a great 36-hole club, and very much worth the visit.
Anstruther
The third horseman of that Apocalypse that was BUDA VII. You can see that 5th hole at the middle bottom left of the aerial, but it is impossible to convey what the hole is like from that angle. Effectively it is 230 yard semi-blind shot that must be cut into the sharp right-left slope to have any hope of finding the green. In our 3-some of last June, two of us hit almost perfect shots that were just a tad not cutty enough and ended up sleeping with the fishes. Our third, who hit what looked like the perfect shot over cut it into cabbage to the right back of the green. It was MIA. Incredibly, the next two holes are also par-3's and as wild and goofy as the 5th. Add in the cosy "Local Hero" sort of clubhouse and the nearby incomparable Anstruther Fish and Chip Bar, and you have golf geek Nirvana.
Dunfermline (Pittfirrane)
There used to be an Indian restaurant in Dunfermline which billed itself as "Possibly one of the finest Curry Houses in West Fife!" Pittfirrane is definitely the finest golf course in West Fife. Parkland with many changes in elevation, and as Mark implied, in what is now it's 5th or 6th location since the late 19th century. Excellent variety and good conditioning. In the current economic climate, the only club in the area which still has a waiting list. The bar used to have a painted line beyond which women could not cross. Och aye, those were the days.......
Auchterderran
I put it in the New World Atlas of Golf partly because I love saying or even thinking its name, but more becuase I was trying to express how the beauty of golf courses can transcend their pedigrees or even their situations. Auchterderran is a 9-holer in the middle of a former mining community (note the colourful waste pit to the south of the aerial) with a declining membership base and threats such as at Scoonie to its existence. Nevertheless, when on the course, particularly in low light, it has the magic that all courses have, when it is just you and your fellow competitors and your balls walking over turf intended for its purpose. In Mark's aerial, note the orange gorse that surround the western holes. If you have enough imagination, you could be in Surrey....
Kingsbarns
We all know about this place. Note the adjacent farmers' fields and try to imagine that the whole course was pretty much like this when Parsinen and Dunkley started to pursue their dream. Also note the land to the far west which was purchased late in the game and which gave us the world-class 15th hole. If they hadn't been able to purchase that land the course would probably have still been great, but would it have been as memorable?
Scotscraig
Another one I haven't yet played but wish to. Knowledgable local players give it praise, but not fullheartedly.
Ladybank
One of the closest things you will get to heathland golf in Scotland. Fine sandy soil, mature trees which give the Pine Valleyish feeling of "splendid isolation," firm and true greens. Not a long course, and therefore not unexpected that it has lost its place in the Open qualifying rota. Not as narrow as you think, either, and forays into the trees and the scrub can usually be attrributed to either poor technique or a lack of conviction. I doubt if there are 20 clearly better courses in Scotland than Ladybank, and that is high praise, at least from me.
Enough for now. Any comments or other points of view would be very much appreciated.
Rich
PS--Mark, could you add an aerial of Mackenzie's Pitreavie?
rfg