The Nairn Golf Club

[James Boon]

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 1
383 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 2
453 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 3
361 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 4
135 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 5
371 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 6
175 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 7
488 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 8
307 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 9
301 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

[James Boon]

Hole 10
495 yards
Par 5
The prevailing wind is behind here and with the firm fairways, the hole was easily reachable in two with a mid iron. Your drive must avoid bunkers left and gorse right


A layup has to avoid bunkers and a small burn off to the right, but there was plenty of room to run an approach in if going for the green in two


Hole 11
152 yards
Par 3
Back into the wind again, but not much room to run any approach in. There are plenty of bunkers short, and the green surface itself is blind from the tee as it sits down in a hollow


Here’s a better view of the green from short left


Hole 12
401 yards
Par 4
Another hole requiring a long and straight drive


And another green that is difficult to hit. If its downwind you may only have a medium to short iron in hand but there is every chance that this will run through the back of this raised green and into the various hollows to the rear. If its into the wind, then there isn’t much chance to run a longer shot onto the green, due to bunkers about 30 yards short on the left, bunker short right and a hollow dead centre just short.


Hole 13
412 yards
Par 4
Having played virtually every hole so far parallel to the Moray Firth we now head directly inland, and the view is a little different. Firstly, there are trees in play and secondly the green up ahead, sits up high on a ridge, probably part of an old sea cliff. Here’s the drive


And here’s the second shot, with the green well above the fairway


The green slopes from back to front and this view from short left of the green shows the ridge running through it as well that adds to the challenge


Hole 14
195 yards
Par 3
Again we change direction and head back towards the coast, from a tee high up next to the 13th green, to a green sitting well below. The bunkers you can see are probably 20yards or so short of the green


This view from short right shows the undulating nature of this green with a false front then a channel running from mid left to back right. These last two holes will certainly challenge your putting


Hole 15
281 yards
Par 4
Still heading back to the coast, and it’s a short par 4 that will again be driveable for most players


The challenge is that your drive or approach will have to run through this undulating ground short, in order to get to the green


And here is the ridge that runs across the front of the green, seen from just short left


Hole 16
403 yards
Par 4
From the tee on this hole you can see the right side of the fairway, but there is plenty of fairway to the left behind the dune on that side


The approach is to a green that sits beyond a burn, and again surrounded by bunkers. This is the same small burn that crosses the second hole. On both occasions the burn wouldn’t be very clear if it wasn’t for an artificial device to make it more apparent, on the second hole it’s the mounds behind it and on this hole a run of 3 small bunkers sit just beyond the burn. I can see why they have done this, but in both cases its not very aesthetically appealing?


Hole 17
337 yards
Par 4
There is a fair walk back to this tee, and the drive is out from a funnel of gorse and vegetation. There are bunkers right and left and the fairway kicks your ball from right to left. There is though plenty of room beyond these bunkers, which would leave a short pitch to the green


Here’s the approach, over a more apparent burn this time, and to a green that slopes quite a bit from right to left


Hole 18
490 yards
Par 5
Another wander back towards a tee surrounded by trees and vegetation. A long downwind drive will get an extra run on from a slope that is about 300 yards out from the very back tee, but within range from the forward tees


As with the 10th, this green is within range in two for most if playing firm and fast as well as being downwind. So a good chance to finish with a birdie or even better, in front of the clubhouse and the additional spectators of the crows on the roof…


The back nine is 3,166 yards and a par of 36. This gives a total yardage of 6,140 yards, par 71. Whites play as 6,436 yards and blue championship tees as 6,721 yards, with both the 7th and 18th which play as short par 5s from the yellows, being stretched to 550 plus off the blue championship tees.

Though Nairn isn’t that long, you do need to be straight off the tee, and all the greens are surrounded by bunkers, putting a premium on your approach play as well. And those greens, well, they certainly are the best I’ve played on this year so I can see where the reputation of them being the best in Scotland has come from. Some of the character of other links courses, quirky greens, rumpled fairways etc is apparent occasionally, but that’s not what Nairn is about. It’s very much a challenging but fair test of your golfing ability, ideally suited to being a championship venue, rather than a place to experience the wilder origins of the game when visiting Scotland.

Cheers,

James

[Bill_McBride]

When I played there in June 2008, the biggest challenge was the brisk wind that came directly off the firth and always directly across the line of play.  The only really downwind hole was #13, which was helpful, and #4, #14 and #15 played right into the wind.  Most of the tee shots were blown away from the firth and you really had to be careful, particularly on the way in where most of the danger is on the right.

Nairn is a lot of fun but can't be compared to Dornoch for variety and challenge.

[Greg Krueger]

James, thank you for taking the time to post your photos. I played Nairn in 2007 and really had a great time. And by the way the greens WERE the best on the trip.

[Melvyn Morrow]

James

Just a little article or two on the early Nairn course from 1887 &1888





Melvyn

[Brian_Ewen]

Thanks for posting James .

I will add a vid from 99 , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSIvi_xPxP4

[Kyle Henderson]

Very well done, James. Thank you for the fantastic tour.


The only photo I have from my visit to Nairn earlier this year pictures me salvaging a bogey from the sandy abyss along the right side of the 17th hole.


Nairn is another one of those links courses with decent scenery mixed with a little bit of charm, but mostly it is a solid examination of one's golfing ability, both mentally and from an execution standpoint. The greens are famously well-conditioned, but it is the recovery shots played across or over the surrounding slopes and out out the deep bunkers that I found most engaging.

I met a few chaps as I approached the 1st tee that invited me to join their team stableford competition. It was a blast and I managed to earn the most points of any individual -- granted I was also the only player under the age of 65 or 70, but I did play very well that day. Several of these middle-aged gents could carry their drives 240+ (and the fairways roll out considerably) and never missed a fairway. I was mightily impressed by their playing prowess and found everyone their to be very endearing during post-round drinks. Best of all, I think $500 covers an entire year's membership for locals, unlimited golfing priviledges included.

If Castle Stuart gains the popularity it deserves (particularly if the planned 2nd course is as good as the first), neighboring Nairn should see quite a few visitors in the coming decades.

[Tony_Muldoon]

James thanks for the tour.

What surprised me was the no of short par 4s and how much fun it must have been to play the Walker Cup over.  Did anyone go ? (Brian the video is great.  Luke W is one of the shorter hitters, what club would Casey have used?)


It's obviously an excellent course with a solid history but was anyone surprised that it landed a Walker Cup?  Seems a little short and remote and makes me wonder how these choices are made?

[Kevin Pallier]

James, thank you for taking the time to post your photos. I played Nairn in 2007 and really had a great time. And by the way the greens WERE the best on the trip.

Im with Greg - I played it in 2001 and am glad I made the effort to get there

[James Boon]

Glad everyone liked the photos.

I had some time to kill the following morning before heading to CS, so I took a few more pictures around the clubhouse and the holes closest to it...
















Cheers,

James

[Scott Warren]

Thanks for the pics, James. 13-17 looks like a cracking stretch!