Leven Links (Photo Tour!)

[Malcolm Mckinnon]

There and back again, twice!, thanks to Old Tom Morris and James Braid!

This was the finest natural Linksland golf I played in either the Lothians or Fife or Northunbria this trip. I will go out on a limb and say that the original InterLeven 18 holes by Old Tom Morris may have been the finest 18 holes in and around the Forth River in it's day!

For those not in the know, Old Tom Morris created an 18 hole course between the two towns of Lundin and Leven with 9 holes out and nine holes back for each town. It was referred to as the Interleven and each town had their own clubhouse on each end.

As play on the courses got busier they decided to split the one course into two separate eighteens and James Braid built another nine holes on each. From what I have been told the Lundin course has the finer of the Old Tom Morris Original Holes while Leven's new holes by Braid are far superior to the the new Braid holes on Lundin. I have not played both sides so I can't comment. However, if the original Leven Holes are inferior the Lundin original Morris holes must be truly phenomenal. Leven is terrific!

But I did, however end up playing Leven twice!

So let's go!.....

And I have to give a shout out to my friend from GCA , Martin Bonnar who was kind enough to host me here at Leven, Martin has a degree in Golf Architecture and is even tolerable around the golf course! I hope that I was tolerable myself?!

So let's go....

Here we have the Leven Golfing Society. 11th Oldest Golfing Society in the World!

DSCN0752 by macmalc21, on Flickr

1st tee/ Table/ par 4/ 426 yds

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Bill Gayne from GCA teeing off! Largo Law in the distance!

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1st Fairway with NYU law librarian and GCA contributor Andy Stamm wandering around looking for his ball.

DSCN0755 by macmalc21, on Flickr

1st green

DSCN0756 by macmalc21, on Flickr

2nd Fairway/ Knowle/ Par 4/ 379 yards

Andy hit straight out where the tee pointed him. Now he is pissed that he has a blind second shot leftward. I pulled my tee shot and found the left fairway which goes straight in.

DSCN0758 by macmalc21, on Flickr

My pulled shot approach view of green.

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2nd green incoming.

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2nd green from behind.

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3rd tee/ Bents/ Par 4/ 352 yds

DSCN0763 by macmalc21, on Flickr

3rd fairway/ Flag is there if you look hard! Largo law is in the background. Once you get a handle on these certain backgrounds it is east to pick things out even from across the fourth river in east Lothian! Here if Fife we can look across to Gullane Hill, the North Berwick Law and Bass rock!

DSCN0764 by macmalc21, on Flickr

OK, I get it!

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From Behind...

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Andy is a long way from The Law Library at NYU in New York City and his homeland in Indiana.

DSCN0767 by macmalc21, on Flickr

4th Hole/ Sea/ par 4/ 450 yards

Approach Shot!

DSCN0768 by macmalc21, on Flickr

Bill Gayne contemplates a long chip or put back on the 4th green.

DSCN0769 by macmalc21, on Flickr

5th tee/ Valley/ 163 yds/ Par 3

Blind and short par 3

DSCN0770 by macmalc21, on Flickr

5th peeking over the hill

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5th green

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6th tee/ Silverburn N/ Par 5/ 569 yds

Right side is all out of bounds..

DSCN0773 by macmalc21, on Flickr

Down the fairway!

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Is this one better?. Down the fairway!

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The 6th Green!

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7th tee/ Corriemar/ 182 yds/ par 3

Another blind par 3!

DSCN0778 by macmalc21, on Flickr

Another tee view

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Walking over to 7th tee to green...

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8th tee/ Bing/ Par 4/ 350 yds

DSCN0782 by macmalc21, on Flickr

8th Green

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8th from behind and above

DSCN0784 by macmalc21, on Flickr

9th tee/ Pavillion/ par 3/ 171 yds

DSCN0785 by macmalc21, on Flickr

9th from behind

DSCN0787 by macmalc21, on Flickr

More to follow later! Stay tuned!!

[Paul Dolton]

Hi Malcolm

I played both Leven and Lundin about 10 years ago. I prefered Leven although nearly everbody i speak to go for Lundin.
Both were very good but the two holes at the top of Lundin seemed out of place. I think they were holes 12 and 13.
 Remember a great finishing hole at Leven. Very good and unpretensious.

[Mark McKeever]

Looks wonderful.  Thanks for sharing!!

MM

[Mark Pearce]

I think Lundin got slightly the better of the original 18 holes but Leven's "new" holes are better than Lundin's.  I really enjoy Leven, there's a complete lack of pretentiousness to the club and course.

[Alex Miller]

I played Leven last year with Martin and what an enjoyable links it is! I'm really a fan of the upcoming 10th hole.

[Malcolm Mckinnon]

10th tee/Cattle Creep/ Par 4/ 338 yds

A blind tee shot

DSCN0788 by macmalc21, on Flickr

To a green crouching for cover

DSCN0789 by macmalc21, on Flickr

Oh, there it is! My approach hit near the hole but ended up 3/4 of the green to the right back and almost off of the green entirely. Ball is visible in photo!

DSCN0790 by macmalc21, on Flickr

11th tee/  Boundary/ Par 4/ 368 yds

DSCN0791 by macmalc21, on Flickr

11th getting closer

DSCN0792 by macmalc21, on Flickr

12th tee/ Silverburn 5/ Par 5/ 504 yds

DSCN0793 by macmalc21, on Flickr

12th looking back

DSCN0794 by macmalc21, on Flickr

13th tee/ Seg/ Par 5/ 482 yds

DSCN0795 by macmalc21, on Flickr

13th going forward

DSCN0796 by macmalc21, on Flickr

13th green

DSCN0797 by macmalc21, on Flickr

13th looking back to the Largo Law!

DSCN0798 by macmalc21, on Flickr

14th tee/ Dekeneulk/ Par 4/ 363 yds

DSCN0800 by macmalc21, on Flickr

14th tee again

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14th fairway

DSCN0801 by macmalc21, on Flickr

14th Green!!

Huge swale in front and lots of mischief here. My favorite green on the golf course!

DSCN0803 by macmalc21, on Flickr

15th tee/ Railway/ Par 3/ 189 yes

DSCN0804 by macmalc21, on Flickr

15th Green

DSCN0805 by macmalc21, on Flickr

16th tee/ Circus/ Par 4/ 393 yds

DSCN0806 by macmalc21, on Flickr

16th Green

DSCN0807 by macmalc21, on Flickr

17th hole/ Howe/ Par 4/ 416 yds

Fairway view

DSCN0808 by macmalc21, on Flickr

17th approach

DSCN0809 by macmalc21, on Flickr

17th Green

DSCN0810 by macmalc21, on Flickr

18th hole/ Scoonie/ Par 4/ 456 yards

View from my third shot short of the tidal Burn fronting the green.

DSCN0811 by macmalc21, on Flickr

Putting out! Mine is the closer and I managed a 4 for par! Did not fare so well with Martin Bonnar on day 2. A HUGE green that you can go for despite the distance.

DSCN0813 by macmalc21, on Flickr

Such a cool linksland. When I played with Martin on my second time around the wind was directly across off the forth river and very strong. Quite difficult!!

[Thomas Dai]

What a terrific looking course. Very impressive. Some cracking green complexes and playing angles.

Appears to be just like a links should be in the main season, bouncy, and somewhere where if the shot calls for it you can, if you wish, play 5-irons etc from 100 yd out. Not over-manicured either. Whispy beige grass on the mounds, very nice. Seems like a course where the player would have to contend with a great deal of depth perception, hidden and dead ground issues etc when it comes to shot and club selection, which is just fine by me.

Must be a visual treat to play around May time when the gorse is bright yellow.

Thanks for posting.

atb

[Marty Bonnar]

Nice one, Malcolm.
Leven is a wonderful course to call home and Leven Golfing Society, a great club to be a member of. The course isn't perfect but is hugely enjoyable to play in all sorts of conditions. I thought I'd have a stab at rating it, hole by hole (much as I abhor rating!) For what it's worth, here's my (current) rank.

Out of 10.
#1 - solid 7
#2 - solid 7
#3 - 6 for a great green
#4 - only 5. Ho hum
#5 - 6 could be higher with improved visibility
#6 - 5 on some pretty bland ground
#7 - exactly the same as #5
#8 - a good 8.
#9 - solid 7
#10 - a good 8
#11 - decent 6
#12 - 5 as #6
#13 - solid 8 on great terrain to a fun green
#14 - 10! Why CBM didn't copy this one, I'll never know!
#15 - solid 7
#16 - 4 worst hole on the course on really boring ground
#17 - solid 6
#18 - good 8 over the burn in two into a west wind? Eek!

Only my opinion of (a) course!

Cheers
F.

[Ryan Coles]

Looks lovely! I get the sense that it's more playable and a more consistent and cohesive whole than Lundin next door? Fair comment? Those holes at the top really killed Lundin for me...

Brian

I was just thinking the same thing. I've been quite scathing about Lundin and mentally had put Leven in the same boat, on reflection I think, unjustly.

[Marty Bonnar]

There's always an open invite, gents!
F.

[Bill_McBride]

There's always an open invite, gents!
F.

Perhaps you could arrange a go at the old routing (Leven-Lundin) while our group is there in May. 

[Michael Graham]

One of the few links courses in Fife I've yet to play. Not exactly a huge schlep from Edinburgh. Looking at Malcolm's photos I'm not sure why I've left it so long to play at Leven.

Michael

[Tony_Muldoon]

Malcolm thanks for the lovely reminder. When the GC map was put up in the feature this was one of the few courses I immediately spotted was missing.

 First visit to Lundin and Leven this year and both in one marvelous day.  Will the resist the urge to decide on a favourite yet but will go back as often as I can.

Ok favourite green of the 36 was Leven's 14th.  I added this to another recent  thread and wondered why it wasn't better known. It's as wide as can be and yet the contours make sense of that.  Fun to look at and to play.

However I was struck by the different look of the two courses.  RSG and Princes touch but I'd never think of them as being on the same land. And really it wasn't obvious to me that Leven/Lundin were once continuous. It just shows that many years of different maintenance results in holes haveing different feel and looks.  It woud be very interesting to play the oringal layout as a continuous 18.

[Marty Bonnar]

Spangles,
You could always join as a non-resident member just for one year and play in the MacDonald. Be a good ninety-five Quids worth!

http://www.levengolfingsociety.co.uk/membership.php

Hehe,
F.

[Bill Gayne]

Malcolm,

Thanks for posting the pictures. From the picture of me on the first tee it's pretty clear why the shot was blocked into the passing traffic. It's fortunate that none of the cars, pedestrians, or children on the playground were hit.

I think Bernard Darwin captured Leven in his description as "a truly charming course." An intimate links with firm turf that has a routing full of twist and turns. Last summer I played Fraserburgh based on Ran's review and I would put Leven in the same category as a golf course off the beaten path that all who are passionate about links golf should seek out.

Bill

[Bill_McBride]

Malcolm,

Thanks for posting the pictures. From the picture of me on the first tee it's pretty clear why the shot was blocked into the passing traffic. It's fortunate that none of the cars, pedestrians, or children on the playground were hit.

I think Bernard Darwin captured Leven in his description as "a truly charming course." An intimate links with firm turf that has a routing full of twist and turns. Last summer I played Fraserburgh based on Ran's review and I would put Leven in the same category as a golf course off the beaten path that all who are passionate about links golf should seek out.

Bill

Did Bernard write about the original 18 hole Leven- Lundin course, or after the split and the new holes by Braid?

[Bill Gayne]

Bill,

He wrote after the split in his book The Golf Courses of the British Isles. Although rereading from page 177 he maybe referring to pre-split. Either way the description as a "truly charming course" applies to Leven today.

Bill

[Tom Kelly]

I feel like a bit of an idiot for only playing Lundin during my time in Fife after seeing this.

Another excuse to go back.

[Ally Mcintosh]

I've never played Leven or Lundin...

I've had the chance a few times but always wanted to do them justice together to contrast and compare...

When I was growing up, I always heard that Leven was slightly the superior course. Then spending time on this discussion board over the last few years, popular opinion seems to have swayed towards Lundin... But I have a sneaking feeling that Leven would be my man...

I usually visit the East Neuk 2 or 3 times a year.... I'm going to make this a 2015 goal...