The Gate Hole green at North Berwick - the mystery continues!

[Tom_Doak]

Just before I left on my last trip, I received in the mail a copy of Grant Books' new compilation of The Golfing Annuals, 1888-1910, from a member of Garden City Golf Club.  It's a great book, with vivid descriptions of the great links in their early years ... a bit hard to follow because they have changed so much.


There are two long descriptions of North Berwick West Links, written in different years.  I read the second of them first, which was written by Mr. J. McCulloch, Secretary to New Club Green Committee.  There is no date given, but it is just after the course was substantially lengthened ... he describes the 7th as "We now come to the 'Eel Burn', and here we are on pastures new.  A little over a year ago on what is now the putting green there was a first rate crop of wheat" ...  anyway, when he gets to the 16th, here is his description:


"The 'Gate' is the next to be encountered, and here a new putting green has been made, further east than the present table, making the hole about 20 yds. longer.  Our man elects to play short of the ditch, and with a good brassy shot lies short of the bunker which guards the green; a pitch across and two putts and he registers 5."


In other words, he seems to be saying that the original green was just the small front plateau ... in the lengthening it was moved to the back plateau, but apparently they decided to still use the front bit some of the time!


But then I noticed that there is a previous description of the course, written before the course stretched to the Eel Burn hole.  And its description of the 16th?


"'Gate Hole' is next.  The drive is over a wall, which is uncomfortably close, and requires a quick rise from the tee; the second shot may be taken with either the brassy or clerk, and for the sake of the approach should not be in the direction of the hole, but well to the right, the hole on this occasion being on what is known as the 'near plateau.'  A nice iron shot with your 'lofter' then drops the ball on the green - a sure 5."


I'm sure the second description I listed predates the first ... notice how it doesn't even mention the possibility of reaching the ditch from the tee, much less driving across it?  But here it seems that the two plateaus were both in play on the green.  So I'm more confused than ever.  I sure wish C.B. Macdonald had written up what HE saw when he was there.

[Niall C]

Tom

I've read those descriptions a number of times and they ask more questions than they answer. The second description that you post certainly suggests there were two plateaus which at different times have the hole location. While I've read the actual golf annuals a number of times in the local reference library I can't say for sure which description was published first without checking.

What I would say is that if memory serves me well McCulloch was the guy who got the credit for the 1895/1896 changes. His description then would probably be after the changes and likely just after the changes. What he describes is the left hand plateau as being the new green, the inference being that the old green is now no longer used. That would make sense in terms of the bunker which isn't mentioned in the previous description and which guards against the run up to the left plateau only.

Now if the other description was pre 1895 changes then it identifies that both plateaus existed and that they were both used for hole locations, or at least the rear/left one had also at some point. It also refers to playing out right to an area which is now the childrens course and out of bounds.

Does anyone know off-hand when the childrens course came into play ? I wonder if the 1895 changes were partly to facilitate its creation ?

From all the various commentaries I've read I've never heard of the second left/rear plateau being created, just that it was being used. Looking at the land form there it suggests to me that the second plateau was part of the larger bund/dune (possibly/probably man made) that included the right hand green plateau, and that at some point someone cut a swathe through it effectively creating the two distinct plateaus. If I had to guess (go on then, twist my arm  ) I'd suggest that it was probably created when someone laid a sewer pipe or some such thing down to the water.

Niall

[Tom_Doak]

If I had to guess (go on then, twist my arm  ) I'd suggest that it was probably created when someone laid a sewer pipe or some such thing down to the water.

That would be an awfully big pipe, to get them to remove that much dirt in 1895 !

[Jon Wiggett]

Tom,


if it were servicing the west side of the town then it would be big. Don't underestimate just what the Victorians were capable of and indeed built. I wonder if the new green that added 20 yards was in fact in the rough to the left and slightly long of the present green. Might be worth a closer inspection of this area because who knows what someone who did might uncover.


Jon

[Tom_Doak]

I wonder if the new green that added 20 yards was in fact in the rough to the left and slightly long of the present green. Might be worth a closer inspection of this area because who knows what someone who did might uncover.

Jon:  I've seen the plateau back there and always wondered if it was once a green, but every description I've read puts the last four holes in the same place, even though the oldest ones describe the Redan as a hole to play safely for 4, and the 17th as a three-shotter.

[Jon Wiggett]

Tom,


when I saw this feature my first thought was that it was built as a tempory stop gap at sometime in the past when work was been done on the original green. Having read yours and Niall's comments I now wonder if it was built as a replacement but never used and left to go fallow. Perhaps there was too much opposition to the move and it was abandoned.


Jon

[David McIntosh]

Tom is correct in that the last three holes have remained in the same place since the days of the initial 6 (and 7) hole course. The fourth last hole (Redan) has been in place since winter 1868 when the course was extended to 9 holes, which also saw the newest hole (the 6th in the 7 hole layout, the Gasworks hole) eliminated.

Interestingly the book covering the history of the North Berwick Golf Club and play on the course describes the Gate hole as "The present 16th was the 4th hole, called the Gate. It was played, of course, from the town side of the wall. The grass grew so thick at the hole in the summer that players drove towards the Sea hole (the 2nd) and then had to place a second shot to a green even more difficult than today. The putting surface was practically an island surrounded by water from a burn". A plan of the 1877 course shows a 'cow pond' beyond the fairway burn and a ditch originating infront of the 2nd green making its way south before cutting across the front of the Gate green. The 'cow pond' was said to be "long gone" by the time the course was extended to 18 holes in 1877.

The book then states that at the time of the 1895 extension that alterations included "extending the 16th green to the table to the East - a change to bewilder the golfer for evermore (sic) and a delight to the visitor withan eye to the unique in seaside golf.". From this and other descriptions I've read regarding the chronology of the Gate green, I don't think there was a suggestion that the "new putting green", as described in Tom's post, was intended to replace the old 'near plateau', rather it was an addition to the existing front green. Given the enthusiastic description of the alteration, I suspect they were referring to the rear portion of the present day green as opposed to the plateau long and left as discussed by Jon and Tom.

The 1895 extension beyond the Eil burn was carried out by head greenkeeper Tom Anderson under supervision from John (Jack) McCulloch, who was the Secretary of the Green Committee (as mentioned earlier in the thread) and is credited with the change to the 14th hole whereby the green was moved to the current site from in front of the present Perfection cross-bunker. Prior to this the Redan tee was situated on the sand dune above the 14th green and required a drive over a wall when it played as a par 4. Redan measured 266 yards in 1895 before the teeing ground was moved forward and the hole was converted to a par 3.

Niall,

The Children's course came into being in 1888 however at the time it was opened it was intended to be a Ladies Course for North Berwick Ladies Golf Club. Records refer to a junior competition being played over the Ladies (or short) course in 1867 (apparently it was laid out in the same year) however I'm not aware of where the predecessor to the current Children's course was located. Plans for the 1895 extension were first set out in 1891, so a few years after the opening of the Children's course adjacent to the Gate hole fairway, so it wouldn't appear that this course arose as a result of the subsequent changes to the main course. However, I've seen other references to the Ladies Club being formed in 1888 and only obtaining their own course (beside the 16th on the West Links) in 1893 - which, if accurate, would suggest more of a link between the 1895 changes and the creation of the Children's course.

[Tom_Doak]

Prior to this the Redan tee was situated on the sand dune above the 14th green and required a drive over a wall when it played as a par 4. Redan measured 266 yards in 1895 before the teeing ground was moved forward and the hole was converted to a par 3.

I have never heard this before, and never thought to look at or take a picture of the Redan from the elevation of the ridge on the 14th.  It must look much different from up there!

[Sean_A]

Tom


Yes, Redan used to be a wood over the wall...for good players a bit of a lay-up so as not to go into the dip.  Then a decent full shot to the green. The tee was moved forward to eliminate the cross-over.  All this said, there was a tournament held shortly after the 1895 changes which seems to be at the 266 yardage, but 3 was still a very common score.   


Ciao 

[Tom_Doak]

Yes, Redan used to be a wood over the wall...for good players a bit of a lay-up so as not to go into the dip.  Then a decent full shot to the green. The tee was moved forward to eliminate the cross-over.  All this said, there was a tournament held shortly after the 1895 changes which seems to be at the 266 yardage, but 3 was still a very common score.   

It plays downwind the majority of the time.  I knew the hole was longer once; I just never thought of the tee being so elevated, and I have never seen a picture of it from up there, interestingly.

[David McIntosh]

There is a local author and member of Tantallon GC who has written a book about the club and its relationship with the West Links. He also has a website which offers a great deal of information on the history of North Berwick, some of the nearby golf courses and well known golfers and club makers from the town.

His website includes the following quote "The Redan became the 15th hole when the course was extended in 1877.....The 15th tee was on the sand dune above [the 14th green], and according to Horace Hutchinson, a cleek or iron shot was used to pitch just over a wall, so far and no further, and then a full drive or brassy shot to carry over a bunker escarpment not inaptly called 'the Redan'.".

I'll try to get a photo from that angle this weekend to give an idea of what the former hole may have looked like.

[Niall C]

I checked my notes and have a photo of the text for the second description that Tom set out and he is correct that it predates the second assuming the second is post 1895 changes.


The text comes from the 1887-88 edition and interestingly includes a plan of the course which I also have a photo of. Unfortunately I don't have the ability to post a picture of the plan and more importantly neither do I have the requisite consent to do so.
Bearing in mind the Golfing Annuals were printed on A5 and my photography is rubbish, the detail isn't clever but I think I can just about make it out. Happy to send on if anyone wants a look see.


Anyway the plan shows the tee to be where it is now. It also shows the wall behind the Redan green and in front of the tee. The burn is also shown where it is now although it appears to have gone all the way to wall of what is now the hotel. On google earth you can see the line of it as it goes across the Ladies/Childrens course and it appears to have been culverted at some point.


Also shown is the Cow Pond that David refers to. The area to the right of what is now the OOB ie. what is now the childrens course, is shown as long grass with the Ladies Course being restricted to the area over the wall and on the inland side of the Redan. Also shown is the ditch (which is how I think it is described on the plan - not easy to read) which does as David suggests. Again if you look at Google Earth you can largely see the line of it even though it has been filled in. From the shoreline it comes in from just behind the 3rd tee and runs across the second more or less in line with the two fairway bunkers and then swings round to the right (as you look from the sea shore) more or less along the line of the bunkers fronting the 16th green before eventually petering out before it gets to the wall. The green itself is shown as almost a circular structure. Given the nature of the plan it's hard to determine it's exact position but it's near enough where it is now. If there is a second separate plateau then it is not shown.


I've also checked the 1895 Golf article written by Rev John Kerr which is quite extensive and also includes a plan. The plan has a bit less detail than the first but shows the wall, burn, ditch and green which is a single almost oblong shape with a sharp end towards the northern end, similar in shape as it is now, but again no second plateau suggested. Kerr gives a pretty good description of the first 14 holes and then...."The fifteenth (Redan) and the last three holes remain exactly as they were before."


Very frustrating. However the yardage on the first plan is 350 yards while the second plan is 380 yards. Hard to see how they could have a got an extra 30 yards in without extending/moving the green. 


Niall

[Bryan Izatt]

A couple of years ago, a long time member told me that the tee for the Redan was once supposed to have been on top of the dune to the left of the 14th fairway. In the first picture below looking back from the 14th green the tee would have been in the rough at the top of the dune on the right side of the picture.


The second picture is looking from the top of the dune across to the 15th fairway and green.  It was zoomed in so the foreground with the wall is lost but this is what it might have looked like from that tee.  The tee might also have been a bit to the left of this providing a little different angle.

[Bryan Izatt]

Niall, is this the plan you were referring to?

[Niall C]

Bryan


If only I'd known you could have saved me about an hour of one fingered typing ! Is this from the same book that David referred to ?


The top plan doesn't show quite the same detail as the one I've got from the Golfing Annual but it is the same routing. Your version doesn't really show the green but the one I have shows a fairly sizeable and almost circular plateau. From the description in the Golfing Annual the writer doesn't seem to think the chipping on to the green is that difficult which makes me wonder if it has been reduced/reshaped or something because I'm sure I'm not the only one that finds the present iteration a challenge even from 20/30 yards out.


With regards the tee for the Redan, the last time I was there I had a horrible shank-like shot at the 4th and I've a vague recollection of finding a flat spot when looking for the ball, and that would be short and to the right of the cross bunker at 14. No idea if that is correct, I'll need to try and remember and explore that next time I'm there but I don't think the suggestion the tee was to the left fits in with the plans and would I think have made the hole a lot more than the 266/270 yards it was measured at being.


Niall

[David McIntosh]

Niall,

The plans Bryan has attached are the ones from the book I referred to (and the ones I mentioned when we played in January).

From a Google maps measurement, if you were to head in a straight line westwards from the Redan green (at about 10 o'clock) you would end up somewhere along the ridge on the 14th hole. Depending on whether the 266 yards (or 243 metres) are taken from the middle or front of the green would dictate how far back on the ridge you'd have to go, although I'm sure that yardage would deviate up and down for movements to the tee markers.