Braid's Half Dozen
BY MURRAY BOTHWELL
7 MINS READ
The young James Braid won his first local tournament at Elie Golf Club aged eight, and was reportedly playing off scratch by the age of sixteen.
Subsequently, his life moved to London where he realised after three years that working as a clubmaker was not for him, so he turned professional in 1896 and won five Open championships before he retired two years after his final 1910 Open win.
He went on to become one of the most active golf course architects in the history of the game. Braid was often asked to enhance, or significantly alter, earlier courses as well as create designs from new, which was becoming marginally more affordable with the introduction of new technology and machinery. Unlike some of his peers, he restricted his travel due to severe motion sickness yet by understanding topographical maps his portfolio extended to over 415 courses around the world, not all of which sadly remain to this day. Examples of his work range from the prestigious and well-known championship layouts to remote village courses tucked away on peaceful hillsides with spectacular views but, when played, each one of them will give the golfer a thorough test of his golfing ability.
Braid’s knowledge was captured for future generations of architects in his book “Advanced Golf”, identifying amongst many other things the ideal number of long, medium and short holes there should be, the optimum length of the course, how the landforms should be integrated into the designs and how the greens should be presented and protected. Acutely aware of the growth in the game’s popularity, provision was to be made at all times for alternative tees, unnecessary bunkering that delayed the start of a round and avoiding general wear and tear. His principles are still highly relevant to architects today, and can be found in all of his finest examples across Scotland.
Kings Course Gleneagles
The King's course at Gleneagles, opened in 1919, is a masterpiece of design and places emphasis on the golfer's ability to shape shots and be creative. At just under 6,500 yards off the whites, its rolling path between heathland, heather and pine sometimes plays second fiddle to glimpses of wildlife and the spectacular views down the valley. Natural forested amphitheatres gather the ball in places, occasionally from a blind approach like the third hole over a high ridge, and plateau greens feature too whether on short par-3s or long par-4s. In common with other courses, Braid would tag what he felt was the best of the 18 designs with his own name: look out for them on your travels. The par-4 thirteenth hole, Braid’s Brawest, (Braid’s Best) demands positional play all the way to the putting surface. Lee Trevino once said of the King’s course "If Heaven is as good as this, I sure hope they have some tee-times left."
Braid wove his magic too over the links at the then-untitled Royal Troon course where the original holes designed by Hunter, Strath and Fernie were altered and adapted to create one of the most definitive challenges of golfing ability and skill. Contending with the wind, deep rough, and extensive gorse and broom, you can be quickly punished for inaccuracy. Building up your score on the front nine is highly recommended, as a north-westerly wind can make the back holes extremely tough - so much so that the course has won a reputation as the most demanding on the Championship circuit. Although tee times are limited and highly sought after, it’s perhaps that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the course which remains testament to Braid’s visionary ability of pitching golfer against nature at its best.
Dunbar Golf Club
Lying to the north of Royal Troon, The Irvine Golf Club is a perfect example of the consummate skill with which Braid sculpted the ancient dune formations and heathland to make 18 challenging golf holes which have been regularly used for Championships. The bunkering off many of the tees is typical of the man, enticing risk and reward play by offering ambitious lines which are cleverly guarded by fairway-edge traps. However, bunkers are not always required. One par-4 which is often discussed post-round over a beer under the clubhouse’s high, ornate ceiling is the fourth hole, The Moor, thanks, in part, to the West Coast railway line running the full length of the hole as OB on the left, with a prevailing wind coming from the right. From plateau tee to plateau green, even the most conservative play to the lower fairway can end up being thwarted, with the River Irvine and the railway line lying immediately behind the green. And all without sand. The course which Braid designed here is as memorable as the views over to the Isle of Arran and beyond.
It was at the east coast’s Panmure Golf Club in 1953 that the legendary Ben Hogan made his detailed preparations for victory at Carnoustie in his only Open Championship appearance. Years before though, in 1899, when the Club moved to its current course and, prior to Braid putting in his own preparations, the land was described as consisting of “large hummocks and deep ravines with marshy looking bottoms, and covered with the coarsest of bent grass, whins and rushes...”: perfect for talented golf architects! In 1922 Braid submitted his course improvement plan for the Barry Links, which was only fully implemented some 15 years later with the Club’s purchase of additional land. Its lush, tight turf and challenging green complexes are mixed with some blind drives, deep, meandering burns which guard the greens and an ever-present ‘breeze’ that helps, or hampers, in equal measure. The Panmure Club was intensely private until they relaxed their rules to admit unaccompanied visitors post-1980s, and the opportunity to be able to play here now and appreciate the quality and history of their course is one not to be missed.
Golspie Golf Club
Further south, on the east coast of Scotland, lies Dunbar Golf Club. Their course was shaped twice in 14 years by Old Tom Morris, before it reached its much longer Open Championship qualifying length of 6,425 yards once Braid, in 1922, and Sayers later on, extended their links. Braid’s course is a challenge - it punishes a bad shot but it is never penal. Well-defined holes follow the natural contours of a quite narrow strip of linksland between the old red sandstone deer park wall and the rocky shoreline. It’s not the longest championship course, but any golfer thinking this equates to a lack of challenge will soon be put right. Braid’s design, laid over the talent of Morris, is built upon those old fashioned golfing virtues of club selection and shot-making. The ever-present – and ever-changing – wind off the sea demands accuracy and judgement from all levels of golfer, rewarding only bravery and skill. Dunbar’s East Links are regularly voted amongst the best in the country, and with views of the Firth of Forth at every hole it’s rightly called the Pebble Beach of Scotland, and one not to miss from your list.
Finally, travelling to Golspie would have taken some time back in 1926. To reach this stunning course on the North Coast 500 takes far less time now, yet the sights and welcome which await you here are as warming as they were when golfers first stepped off the train to play Braid’s latest design, implemented across this much older course. The original routing, more closely associated with the shoreline, became varied and challenging under his direction with additional bunkering and the moving of some greens. Breath-taking views to both sea and mountains make it a delight to play for all abilities.
Golspie is a course where, initially, meadowland turns to links holes along the salt-splashed margins of the Dornoch Firth which, in turn, veer away from the shore and up into tree-lined, heathland fairways dappled with rich, purple heathers before winding their way back down to the coast over stretches of parkland and links again. With unforgettable pin placements, tiered plateau greens and judicious bunkering throughout, this unique mix of fairway formats demands full concentration as clubbing yardages begin to vary and strategies alter to suit. It’s the course you knew you had to play some day, but didn’t know it existed… until now.