Kiawah Island Club - Cassique

            Kiawah Island is a golf and beach resort located in South Carolina. It is home to 5 championship golf courses designed by Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Gary Player and Clyde Johnston. In addition to being home to The Ocean Course, which is ranked #45 in the world, the island also houses two additional, very exclusive golf courses. These two courses are part of the Kiawah Island Club and are the River Course, and Cassique. These two courses aren’t listed on the Kiawah Island website or in any Kiawah Island literature. The courses cannot be stumbled upon while on the island. They are set behind gates within gates and only a hard-to-get membership in the Kiawah Island Club can grant access. Tom Watson designed Cassique, which serves as his first solo design on North America. The course was ranked #85 in Golf Digest’s 2009-2010 America’s 100 Greatest Courses.

            Playing Cassique this past weekend meant that I have now played every course on Kiawah Island. Cassique is my favorite… Ocean Course included. The Kiawah Island Club golfing experience is about as high end as it gets. The course was named after a Kiawah Indian chief who hunted the lands before the British came and settled the Charleston area. The course features a massive clubhouse with one of the most impressive locker rooms that I have personally seen. Golfers from Jack Nicklaus to Tom Watson have lockers in the spacious locker room. Large flat-screen TV play SportsCenter above large couches and tables with the newest golf reading materials. There’s a small bar in one corner with another small bay with cigars and men to clean shoes in another corner. A large table with food, snacks, and drinks sit next to the exit. I only wish I had been able to take a shower in order to make a PowerShower rating!

            The golf course isn’t unreasonably challenging. Instead, Tom Watson did an excellent job of designing 18 very interesting holes that make one hell of a solid course. Watson gave the golfer a choice on the 4^th tee that can change the routing of the course. Holes 4-6 can be played in two different ways, one being called Nip & Tuck and the other being called Pulpit. The Pulpit routing brings an extremely impressive par 3 into play (pictured below) with a tee perched on the highest point on Kiawah Island. Had I not been with a member and caddies, the routing options would have been a bit confusing. The par 3 5^th is very high on my list of favorite par 3’s that I have played.

The pin is tucked on the left side behind the large hillside on the left.

            The 8^th hole is a very challenging short par 4 due in part to a difficult and small green. A back right pin placement is a sucker pin with the back right portion of the green being only a few paces wide. The 9^th hole has a massive false front, which makes for a very difficult approach. The large false front reminds me of the 11^th hole at Country Club of Charleston (a Seth Raynor design), which is a difficult Redan hole par 3.  

            The 11^th hole is a long 550-yard par 5. My very helpful caddie, Brian, said that he thought it was the strongest par 5 in South Carolina. I have played quite a bit of golf in South Carolina, and I would have to agree with him. The hole requires a draw off the tee and a fade for the second shot. Bunkers are placed strategically throughout the challenging hole, but none are placed in unfair positions. It is an extremely enjoyable and tough par 5. The 18^th hole at Cassique is a gorgeous dogleg left par 4 that has a large lake short left of the green. I could go on about every single hole on the course. Nearly every single hole remains vivid in my memory - the sign of a great course.

            If given the chance, have a dinner in the Cassique clubhouse. The food was amazing and was served and ordered in a very Southern traditional style. Instead of individual entrees and appetizers being ordered, an assortment of menu items are ordered for the table and everything is passed around and shared by all the diners. It was an interesting take on the 5 star dining experience.

            Kiawah Island is one of my favorite places in the South. The resort golfing experience is completely different from any of the UK courses, but each has its merits, and I always take up any opportunity to visit Kiawah. 

Gullane Golf Club (Course No. 1)

*I did not have my camera during my first round at Gullane No. 1. I have since played all three courses at Gullane for University of St Andrews team matches, and I hope to return soon to write a more complete post.

Gullane Golf Club is located in East Lothian, Scotland and has three courses. Interestingly, the courses are numbered in order by age. The club was established in 1882, but golf is said to have been played on the site as early as 1650. Gullane No. 1 is the oldest course of the three and is considered my many to be the best. The course is very enjoyable, and was in great condition during my round in late July. The views on the course are stunning. The 7^th tee box provides a stunning view looking at  Muirfield in one direction and the Firth of Forth in the other direction. The fact that Gullane No. 1 serves as a Final Open Qualifying venue whenever the Open Championship is at Muirfield speaks to its strength.

            There were very few weak holes at Gullane No. 1. The 3^rd hole was recently voted one of the top 500 holes in the world by Golf Magazine. The 2^nd hole is also very strong with a narrow fairway, working uphill towards a narrow, long green. The 17^th hole is a downhill par 4 with a Redan hole style green complex.

            Gullane Golf Club is by no means unknown or a “hidden gem.” That being said, it most likely doesn’t appear on many golf tour company’s list of courses to play. This is most likely due to other, more famous courses being located in close proximity to Gullane. No. 1 is a gorgeous course and if you have time, play it! I played the course with a member and her son who is a very good friend of mine from St Andrews. After being beaten in a Stableford points match, we enjoyed a late lunch in the clubhouse. A great dinner at The Ship seafood restaurant in Edinburgh completed a very enjoyable day.

Gullane is a roughly 30 minute drive from Edinburgh, leaving very little for reasons not to make the drive and play. The entire East Lothian area, known as "Scotland's Golf Coast," is full of spectacular golf, and is certainly worth a visit.

On a side note, Muirfield doesn’t have a pro shop available to visitors on its grounds. Instead, Muirfield clothing and other paraphernalia can be purchased in East Lothian, sharing space with the Gullane pro shop. So, if looking to spend some extra money, pick up a Muirfield shirt and ball marker while spending time at Gullane Golf Club!  

The Other St Andrews Links Courses

            Imagine having an older brother who always gets more attention than you. You are one of seven siblings, but people always come to your house to visit him, not any of you. You are a very interesting person yourself, but you’re never given a chance. You are overlooked by nearly everyone. Every five years tens of thousands of people come to watch your older brother show off his goods. Living under his shadow is tough to deal with, but you struggle through it with the rest of your siblings.

            This is one way to imagine the relationship between the Old Course and the other six courses at the St Andrews Links. The other courses, especially the New Course and Jubilee Course, are overlooked and not given the credit they deserve. I would have added the Castle Course to that last sentence, but it has gained some limelight due to its recent construction and press. In this post I will be giving short write-ups of the other St Andrews Links Courses.

Jubilee Course:

            The Jubilee Course is considered by most locals to be the most difficult course at St Andrews. It is the closest course to West Sands Beach and is therefore the most exposed to the elements. The course has gorse lined, narrow, fairways and tough sloping greens. Dunes play a large role in the course design, which isn’t found on any of the other St Andrews Courses. The second green wraps around the side of a dune leaving very difficult approach shots depending on pin positions and angles in the fairway.

            The picturesque and very difficult ninth hole is a 225-yard par 3 from the medal tees. The green falls off steeply on the right side and has the tenth tee and OB lurking close on the left side. It is a very challenging hole leaving a difficult finish on the front 9. The short par 4 15^th requires the player to think his way down the hole. The green is hidden from view off the tee by large dunes. A long iron off the tee leaves a short iron into a green with a massive false front and large dunes in the back.

            Breaking par on the Jubilee Course is very impressive. Depending on the wind, the back nine can be extremely difficult and yield some very high scores. Strangely, my lowest round in Scotland was shot on the Jubilee. If you’re in St Andrews and are looking for a good beating, play the Jub!

The New Course:

            The New Course is extremely underrated. It was built and designed by Old Tom Morris in 1895. The fact that many local St Andreans consider the New Course to be their favorite course speaks loads. Quite a few people consider it to be a better course than the Old. Its main weakness is its opening two holes. They are weak par 4’s that are nearly identical to each other apart from a few shifted bunkers.

            If the New Course was located somewhere else in Scotland, it would be considered one of the great Scottish links courses. Unfortunately, it lives under the shadow of its older brother. Similarly to the Jubilee, the 9^th hole is a very difficult par 3. It is about 230 yards long and has the estuary to the left, and tall grass on the right. Luckily for the player, the green is a bowl, which can collect balls run up the center of the fairway. The 10^th hole on the New Course in included on the list of the Golf Magazines 500 Best Golf Holes in the World.

            The finish to the course is very enjoyable and the 17^th hole adds a challenge to the end of the round. If you are in St Andrews and you miss out on the ballot, try to play the New Course. Tee times are made on a first-come first-serve basis on the day of play. Many of the University club medals are played on the New Course. My first round in Scotland, which started my UK golf love affair, was played on the New!

The Castle Course

            The Castle Course is located ten minutes outside of St Andrews towards the Fairmont. David Kidd, the creator of Bandon Dunes in Oregon, designed the course that was opened in 2008. The course is set high above the water and features ocean views from nearly every single hole. The course opened to quite a bit of criticism because of its extremely tough and undulating greens. The greens were later redone and some of the unnecessarily difficult undulations were flattened out. Unlike many of the St Andrews locals and others who play the courses frequently, I really enjoy the Castle Course. I have been able to play it quite a few times and thoroughly enjoy getting out of town and playing the challenging beast. The course, even after multiple revisions, is still met with quite a bit of criticism from golfers.

            The final two holes are stunning and leave a good taste in the golfer’s mouth (even if the scorecard ruins that good taste…).  The 17^th hole is a picturesque par 3 over a cliff line. The picture below will describe the hole design better than I can…

            If you are travelling to St Andrews for the first time, play the Castle Course in addition to the Old, New, or Jub. I wouldn’t recommend playing it in lieu of any of the other courses.

The Eden Course

            The Eden Course is an enjoyable round of golf and is not the most challenging course at the St Andrews Links. Tourists or other golfers taking trips around Scotland do not usually play the course. If you’re looking for a quick afternoon round, hop over to the Eden Course.

The Strathtyrum and Balgove Courses

            These courses at St Andrews are easy straightforward courses. The courses are typically played by new golfers whose handicaps are not low enough to play any of the other courses. The Balgove is only 9 holes. I wouldn’t recommend playing either of these courses unless you are in St Andrews for an extended period of time. For a reference, of the 120 or so rounds of golf I played at the St Andrews courses, I only played 1 round on the Strath. 

Carnoustie Golf Links

            Plenty has been written about Carnoustie’s Championship Course. In this write-up, I focus more on our overall experience along with the great generosity of the Scottish people.

            In Tom Coyne’s book, A Course Called Ireland, he speaks about a phenomenon he encountered in Ireland, which he refers to as “Acts of Uncommon Irish Hospitality.” During our round at Carnoustie, we experienced multiple Acts of Uncommon Scottish Hospitality. The day began by getting a bus to Dundee, which was followed with a bus to Angus, which was supposed to drop us off at Panmure Golf Club. The bus driver forgot to tell us where to get off the bus. This caused us to miss our tee time at Panmure. When we finally got off the bus, we found ourselves standing in the middle of Angus, annoyed and angry at Scotland’s public transportation system. Frustrated, we started walking down the coast, figuring that we would eventually hit Carnoustie Golf Links.

            The plan had been to play Carnoustie the following day, but we decided to ask the starter if he could work us out at any point without a tee time. He told us he had an opening at 2:30PM that afternoon and asked us to come back around 2PM. So, like any respectable golfers travelling Scotland, we hit the pub at 9:15 in the morning. There’s nothing like three or four bacon rolls and an equal number of pints to wake you up in the morning! The plan was to then venture out into the town and see if there was a cheap place to spend the night, hoping to play the course again the next day without having to travel back to St Andrews. This is where the Acts of Uncommon Scottish Hospitality started.

            Our first stop was Carnoustie Men’s Golf Club directly across the street from Carnoustie Golf Hotel. We decided we would ask the lady who ran the restaurant for advice on where to spend the night. She responded to the question by saying, “I would normally let you both stay in my sons' room! But they’re both back in town since it’s spring break. Sit down, have some food, and I will call some of my friends.” After being served a nice warm meal, she said that she had called nearly all of her friends with extra rooms, and couldn’t find anyone without guest. But, she had called the local Travel Lodge and they would be willing to give us a room for nineteen pounds. We thanked her profusely and made our way back to Carnoustie Links to give a PowerShower rating to their showers. Unfortunately, the showers in the locker room were poor lacking in shower pressure and heat. This led to a very poor PowerShower rating of 2. 

            I decided to take a caddie during my round at Carnoustie and looking back it was my best choice of the entire day. My caddie was the Carnoustie Caddiemaster, Martin Roy. He had been caddying at the links for over thirty years and had been inducted by the Professional Caddie Association of America into their Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the World Golf Village in St Augustine, Florida. He was the first non-American caddie to be inducted. He had caddied for everyone from George Bush Sr. to Tiger Woods. He got me around “Carnasty” in 77 strokes on a windy March day finishing double bogey - bogey. I have never seen anyone with more knowledge of a course. It was also very impressive how after only a few holes, he had a very good grasp on my golf game. This good grasp of my game led him to make some very impressive club calls that I never would have known to make.                                                                                                                  

            After the round he asked how we would be getting back to St Andrews that night. We explained our plan to spend the night in the Travel Lodge, to which he replied, “I was a student once. I know you’re trying to save money. Let me drive you back to St Andrews tonight.” St Andrews was a 45-minute drive back down across the Firth of Tay. He lived five minutes from the course. Saying that he earned his tip for the round would be an understatement! He drove us the entire way back to St Andrews and stayed while we took him out for a meal at the Grill House. It was experiences like this that made The Gauntlet very memorable. We ended up not coming back to Carnoustie for a round the next day, but we’ll be heading back as soon as possible. 

Castle Stuart Golf Links

           Being in close proximity to both Dornoch and Nairn, Castle Stuart Golf Links is definitely the “new kid on the block” being only two years old. Located in Inverness, Scotland, it is a rural course, and is worth the long drive. When I was offered the chance to go play Castle Stuart with a group of St Andrews golfers for a mere 25 pounds, with free transportation, I jumped on the opportunity.

            The day we played the course was some of the worst weather in which I have ever played golf. We saw every form of weather, short of snow, during the four-hour beating.  There was hail which felt like getting shot with BB guns, horizontal rain which stung any exposed skin, high winds which put any shot above the ground at its mercy, and sunshine which made us sweat under our Galvin Greens. The moment at which I knew Castle Stuart was a good course was while standing on the 18^th fairway, having lost eight or so balls, covering my eyes for fear of having them put out by hail, and thinking, “I wish I could go around again!”

            Six of the holes on the course are bordering water. These holes are truly on the water and when the tide is high, water can be splashing up next to the tee boxes, greens, and fairways. One of the best examples of this is on the first hole with a hillside of gorse on the left, and the water splashing on the player’s right. The 10^th is a spectacular hole with the player hitting from an elevated tee down to the fairway, which has the water running down the entire left side. The remaining twelve holes that are not bordering the water are no letdown. The views are spectacular and each hole poses a challenge to the player. 

            The Scottish Open was just held at Castle Stuart. The course received tons of rain before and during the week, which led to a shortened event and very low scoring. I hope that this low scoring and the poor conditions don’t taint anyone’s view of Castle Stuart and what it has to offer. I will hopefully make a trip back to the rural location within the next year!

***A more extensive blog post with more hole descriptions and pictures will be posted upon a future trip to the course.