While I didn’t have the pleasure of playing Murcar Golf Links during my trip (as it was hosting the Scottish Amateur Stroke Play Championship during my stay in Aberdeen), I was able to walk the course and take pictures during a practice round. As many of you already know, the club’s main course (par 71, 6516 yards) is flush with the northern border of the Royal Aberdeen Golf Club’s famed Balgownie Links. Murcar also boasts a number of supplemental amenities including the 18-hole Strathbie course (5369 yards, par 70), a full driving range (a rarity in Scotland, with grass teeing grounds protected from the wind and rain by a large, glass, 3-sided enclosure), and a number of practice bunkers and greens.
Regarding the main course at Murcar, I found it to be very comparable to the Balgownie links, as most of the best holes on each course occupy the seaside dunes heading north before the routing turns inland for a series of slightly less compelling holes heading back to the clubhouse. For anyone spending a few days in the area on a golfing trip (Cruden Bay is about a 25-minute drive the north), Murcar is definitely worth a look. These three courses occupy some very impressive sand dunes, and one must hope that Donald Trump’s fledging golf development will measure up to its neighbors.
FYI: My other pictorial threads from this trip can be viewed at the following links:
Royal Dornoch
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40107.0/Brora
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40120.0/ Golspie
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40126.0/ The Castle Course
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40204.0/ Murcar
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40281.0/Crail: Craigshead & Balcombie
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40325.0/Lundin Links
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40387.0/Muirfield
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40439.0/Cruden Bay
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40565.0/Gleneagles - Kings Course
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40675.0/St. Andrews - Old Course
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40696.0/Gullane #1 & #2
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41085.0/Panmure
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41122.0/Gleneagles - Queens Course
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41152.0/Kingsbarns
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41184.0/Royal Aberdeen - Balgownie Links
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41498.0/Carnoustie – Championship Course
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41834.0/North Berwick - West Links
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,42104.0/*not featured: Nairn, Eden, New, Castle Stuart (tour)
And now, the Murcar Golf Club's main course, along with some descriptive/incomplete sentences:
The 1st hole (par 4, 322 yards) plays downhill and downwind, an easy warm-up hole for member play but a must-birdie during tournaments. Royal Aberdeen Golf Club sits in the distance.
This view is looking back down the 2nd hole (par 4, 404 yards), which climbs steadily from tee to green, views of Aberdeen in the distance.
The 3rd (par 4, 401 yards) tee view reveals little. A short iron or fairway wood over the aiming marker will carry to…
… either the upper right or lower left fairway short of the maintenance road.
Looking back at the 3rd green from the left rear (actually taken from the 10th tee at Royal Aberdeen).
Looking at the 4th (par 5, 489 yards) tee (on the seaside dunes above the gorse) and landing zone (where the player is standing about 290 yards from where he started ) from the 6th tee, adjacent to the 5th green (in foreground) and 3rd tee (behind me). Got all that?
Panning left to 4th green and uphill approach, 5th green still in the right foreground.
5th (par 3, 176 yards) tee view (6th tee seen behind 5th green)
The 6th (par 4, 453 yards) tee shot turns the course back to the north, a heading it will maintain through the 9th green and again for the 11th hole before turning back towards the clubhouse. The left fairway bunker requires a 250 yard carry, rewarding bravado with a healthy forward kick off of the down slope beyond.
6th landing zone beyond left fairway bunker. From here, it’s another 170 yards to the flag, slightly uphill.
The 7th hole (par 4, 423 yards) is crossed by two burns (180 yards to clear the farthest). The fairway is angled around impressive dunes that frame the left side, with wetlands down the right making line selection very tricky. Great hole.
This view of the landing zone shows that flatter lies and a better line into the green can be found closer to the left-hand dunes. The approach is slightly uphill.
7th green viewed from front right.
8th (par 4, 393 yards).
8th approach. A deep swale 280 yards from the back tees (110 yards from the green) might suggest a lay-up off of the tee.
9th hole(par 4, 323 yards) viewed from right of teeing grounds. Playing downwind, as it was on this day (normally the wind would be from left to right or against), birdies were plentiful.
The 9th green is very deep, but protected heavily on both flanks by bunkers
Tee shots on the 10th (par 4, 400 yards) are played blind and severely uphill, heading inland and south.
Over the crest, the 10th fairway is on a down slope and heavily rumpled, though less so on the right side from where the green is more easily viewed (above the left edge of the fairway, slightly elevated).
10th green seen from right of the fairway. The green finally comes clearly into view, with a breathtaking backdrop. Note the ruins of an old stone shack perched in the large patch of gorse behind the green.
13th hole(par 4, 386 yards) viewed from right of the tee box. It’s 222 yards up to the aiming pole on the horizon. The fairway feeds left.
From the top, it’s another 160 yards to the center of the green, though the drop in elevation probably requires about two clubs less than that yardage. Bombers will drive down to the bottom with favorable winds.
14th tee view (par 5, 540 yards) showing the dramatic left-to-right slope of the fairway.
14th green from front left, 15th hole beyond.
15th hole (par 4, 383 yards) seen from near the tee. The tee shot drops way downhill. The green is perched short of the aiming pole in the distance, past the steep upslope at the end of the fairway. The 16th hole is a par 3 ( 172 yards) that crosses the 15th at the upslope, tees on the right, green on the left.
