I was talking to a long-time RCP member the other night and asked him about the course before the sea wall (which was built in 1978/79). I have always pictured the course with the sort of water views North Berwick has and thought it a great shame that the wall was necessary.
Did many holes change?
Were the views of the water a great feature that was lost?
How bad was the flooding really?
Funny, he said the views of the water were as rare as they are now, and the sea wall changed very little in that way.
He described the 6th green as the biggest difference. The old green, he said, sloped away at the back edge and ran onto the beach (which is not OOB). So standing down in the driving zone, the visual buffer the sea wall provides was glaringly absent, because it was a complete skyline green, and in your mind there was no safety of knowing you can shovel it to the back of the green and not have any great risks awaiting you.
He said all members had a "beach club" in their bag that they didn't mind using when they inevitibly ended up on the pebbles!
I am picturing in my mind's eye how cool that shot would have been but I bet my imagination doesn't do it justice.
Anyhow. He said the flooding used to mainly come in through a few sections of low frontal dunes, rather than just pouring in everywhere. Even after the wall was first built, a flood took out a section just in front of the 6th tee and the whole far end of the course was underwater for about a week, but once the water receded, he said the course was remarkably playable.
I was surprised how little difference the wall made, because I have heard plenty of people down there talk about "what if?!".
Anyway, I was really interested to find all that out, so I thought a few others on here who are fans of Deal might be interested also.