On to the final leg of the tour and the course which impressed me the most. It would seem the design history of
Cruden Bay is a mess. We know certain key characters were involved, but because of the ongoing changes over time it is hard to know what Old Tom Morris, Archie Simpson, Tom Simpson, Herbert Fowler and even a few minor characters such as Mr Weir contributed. The general consensus seems to be that the course is roughly a 50-50 split between OTM/A Simpson (1897ish) and T Simpson (1926).
Tom Simpson had a long association with Cruden Bay so it could be that he worked on the course without his long-standing partner, Herbert Fowler, but certainties cannot be counted. Simpson thought so highly of Cruden Bay that he included three holes among his 18 best in GB&I. Given Simpson's penchant for self-promotion one is wise to take this three hole proclamation with a pinch of salt. For instance, the first is included and it isn't a bad hole at all, but in the cold light of honesty it shouldn't even be mentioned for such honours. The 8th, however, is a special hole indeed and the 18th may not reach the heights of best 18, but it is a very fine hole regardless.
In any case, what is in the ground today is magical. T Doak claims the routing is near perfection because it follows a pattern the walker would take if out for a stroll. I am not sure this is the case, but the routing is quite interesting because the path runs through a bottleneck (#s 14 & 15) where the width allows for one hole. To get to this point we must climb the large meadowy hill on which the 9th plays over. Without a doubt, this is the weakness of the walk. Many have suggested that if the the land utilized for the 9 hole St Olaf course could be incorporated into the design #s 9-15 could be taken out of the equation. This may be true, but I am not in the least convinced the course would be nearly as fun nor as scenic. There are too many exhilarating shots such as at #s 11, 12, 13, 14 and dare I say 15 which if did not exist would in all likelyhood be land explored for possible changes to the course. The land is always greener on the other side of the hill. Suffice it to say, what Cruden Bay currently offers is something special.
#s 1 & 2 are too restricted to be what I would call good holes, but they make a decent enough start to the game if one doesn't mind playing conservatively. Below is the approach to #1 and a long look at #2.
The first of a marvelous set (isn't it wonderful to refer to a set of short 4s?) of short 4s, it is at third that Cruden Bay awakes - as much as a blind hole can. The fairway funnels to the green, but it can be a difficult two-putt.
The 4th is a good par 3 in a great setting, but I would suggest that it is the least interesting of the lot. I think the source for my lack of enthusiasm for the hole stems in the 40 yard gap between the daily and medal tees. It isn't possible to build a mid-tee, but I think at 165-170 this would be a far better hole.
Climbing to a high tee, the very long two-shot 5th cloistered between dunes is fully revealed. The hidden two tier green is most interesting because the back section seems to fallaway. The golfers are making time because there was a horrendous forecast for the day and we all knew it was just a matter of time. We did get a bit wet, but 20 minutes after coming in it rained holy hell.
More to follow.
Ciao