I knew very little about Nairn before I was invited there for a client’s golf day, but when the boss said yes, who was I to complain… I did know that Nairn has a reputation for the best greens in Scotland, I knew that it had held the Walker Cup back in 1999, and I also knew that as a kid I’d been to Dornoch and Brora on many occasion, but could never convince my parents to take me to the other side of the Moray Firth.
The Nairn Golf Club was established in 1887 and played over a basic course set out by the head greenkeeper from Royal Aberdeen, Andrew Simpson. But Old Tom Morris was soon called upon and he totally redesigned the course, extending it over the links to the west. Just after the turn of the century, James Braid revised many tees and bunkers and also created new greens for the course. Further work by Ben Sayers and then CK Cotton is suggested in the clubs history, as well as the lengthening of several holes prior to the Walker Cup, however, it is said that the course remains substantially as James Braid new and admired well, he was after all the first person to break 70 over the course, with a 69 way back in 1901.
The course has hosted many championships including the Boys and Amateur Championships as well as the 1999 Walker Cup and is due to host the Curtis Cup in 2012.
I’ve already posted a thread of pictures from castle Stuart but I actually played there the following day. So here are the pictures I took on my way round at Nairn, with all yardages given from the yellow tees, most likely to be in play for any visitors.
Hole 1383 yards
Par 4
The course sits on the shore of the Moray Firth and this comes into play on the first 7 holes, should you be wild enough! This is the tees shot on this relatively straight forward opening hole.
The approach to the first green is guarded by bunkers short right and left, but there is still plenty of room to run an approach in between the two
Hole 2453 yards
Par 4
The drive on the second must be long and straight, to avoid 3 bunkers right and then 2 left, all between 200 and 270 yards from the back tee. However at 300 yards out is a burn crossing the fairway so beware this if the wind is behind when you are playing. The burn can be seen ahead due to a run of mounds on its far side.
Here’s the approach. You can see the rather odd looking mounds just the other side of the burn, and the green some way off and not easy to hit in two
Hole 3361 yards
Par 4
After a solid start, things start to get a touch more interesting here at the third. There is plenty of gorse around the course, but you will also notice the heather in front of the tee here. Bunker up the left can be carried by some but a pull left will leave you in either thick rough and gorse, or a green keepers shed, with just beyond this the 15th green.
Here is the view of an approach from the left rough with the front left greenside bunker clearly in play.
A decent drive down the centre will leave you with an approach that shows the hole to dog leg around the 15th green a little, to a green hidden behind a prominent deep faced bunker. And with all this trouble short, a long approach will run off a slope at the back of the green.
Hole 4135 yards
Par 3
We now turn around and play back towards the Moray Firth but with the sea more to our left. The green on this short par 3 is partly obscured by the dunes short of the green. Here’s the tee shot
Within the dunes short of the green are several old timber, not too dissimilar from those I would be experiencing the following day at Castle Stuart
Here’s a better view of the green from the dunes short of the green. You can see the narrow kidney shape of the green with mounds all round that will help kick a ball back in to the green, but it is 40 yards deep so you need to have played a good shot to have a birdie putt. The Moray Firth will catch anything pulled long left, and anything long will end up on the 5th tee behind.
And here is a detail of an old bunker to the back right of the green, complete with timbers and now filled with grass
Hole 5371 yards
Par 4
An innocuous looking par 4 on the card, but it plays as stroke index 2 and for good reason. The drive is back over the 4th green, with the Moray Firth now back on the right side again, and sitting on the perfect line for your safe drive up the left is a pot bunker at 230 odd yards from the tee.
The approach is to a raised green with bunkers left and right and a steep drop to the front. Not an easy target into the prevailing wind
This is a closer view of the green, showing the false front sloping back towards the fairway
Hole 6175 yards
Par 3
The green on this par 3 is surrounded by bunkers , and the land drops off to the right, so its another tricky green to hit
Hole 7488 yards
Par 5
Apparently this hole can be stretched to 550 yards, so there must be a back tee hidden way back in the gorse somewhere. The drive must avoid fairway bunkers left and right but then its pretty open beyond them
A pot bunker in the centre of the fairway about 90 yards short of the green, will keep you thinking on a lay up, and it’s a tight approach with bunkers again short right and left
Hole 8307 yards
Par 4
We are now at the far end of the course and we again turn back on ourselves and head inland. Its pretty crowded around this part of the course, with two short par 4s running side by side. The drive here is blind to a fairway slightly raised and behind dunes. I was a little distracted on my tee shot on this hole by a ball landing between my legs and disappearing into the gorse behind. And with no shout of fore I was surprised to hit a half decent shot and also surprised I didn’t need clean underwear! Bloody corporate golf days!
Downwind, this is almost driveable but bunkers short of the green, as well as a hollow just short make it tricky, but this was a fun greensite to be approaching with a pitch shot
Hole 9301 yards
Par 4
Still inland, but turning back on ourselves and into the prevailing wind. 2 bunkers on the right are the main challenge off the tee, but if you try to blast one past these, the gorse is close to the fairway on both sides
A fairway wood to the left of the bunkers leaves this view of the approach
Off to the left of the 9th green is an ice house and bothy, historically used by the salmon fishermen of the area
So that’s the front nine. Its played as 2,974 yards to a par of 35 from the yellows. A good mix of challenging holes like 2, 5 and 6 with some slightly less challenging stuff like 7, 8 and 9. Back nine to follow shortly,
Cheers,
James