Old Tom Trails - Crail Golfing Society
BY MURRAY BOTHWELL
6 MINS READ
The drive to the Crail Golfing Society’s Balcomie Links course takes longer than you think. Narrowing, tree-lined roads and ancient stone dykes guide you through farmer’s lands and past an old WW2 aerodrome until you begin to get glimpses of the glistening sea all around you. Here, at Fife Ness, two miles north east of the fishing town of Crail you’re in the land of big skies. The countryside you see on the horizon when looking down over the Balcomie Links is Carnoustie and Arbroath to the north. On a clear day you can even see the mountain Lochnagar on the Queen’s Balmoral estate. To the south you can spot the golfing coast of North Berwick, Dunbar and beyond. Luckily, Tom Morris was arriving from St Andrews, just up the road.
The club, founded in 1786 by eleven local gentlemen, is the seventh oldest golf club in the world: two years before George Washington was elected the first President of the USA, and three years before the storming of the Bastille in Paris. Locations for them to play their matches varied, but there is evidence that competitions had been played on the Balcomie site since the mid-1850s.
The first 9 holes of the Balcomie Links were designed by Tom during 1894, at the age of 73. He was still two years away from competing in his last Open Championship. Tom was not content though with delivering a traditional links layout, and given his considerable experience he capitalised on using the dramatic seaside landscape to his advantage. Playing from high to low and back, and along the rugged shoreline with its raised beaches, everything that nature can throw at you will come into play. And with such stunning vistas all around you, you can see it coming too.
The golf course formally opened in 1895, and Tom was quoted as believing there was not a better course in Scotland. He returned in 1900 to extend Balcomie to 18 holes. The links features several testing shots over rocky bays, and long par-3s that play to greens perched atop steep cliffs. The course has a memorable opening hole that plays from the top of a cliff down to an inviting fairway. This leads to a pitch over a bunker and a turf wall to a blind green that is flanked on both sides by bunkers as well as a burn.
These traditional links, retaining Tom’s original holes, provide a tremendous experience for golfers of all abilities and guarantee a day of fun as you battle both nature and your own game. The course has many memorable holes within its 5,786 yards, some of which can be found in its diverse and distinctive set of short holes, all of the card proving that you don’t need to top 6,000 yards to have a great outing. The 14th is the most photographed hole by visitors, a par-3 with an elevated tee near the Pro Shop and high above the beach, dropping down to a heavily bunkered green.
The 5th in particular is classically Tom’s work. Called Hell's Hole, this could easily describe the difficulty of playing the hole but the name comes from the rocky area of the beach on the right of the fairway. A 450-yard par-4 that takes you to the northern end of the course, it features a tricky dog-leg right that bends in the middle, right where your tee shot ought to land. Just like the 4th hole at Prestwick today, a design forged by Tom and nature. So you know where you are hitting... but the sea gets in the way, and you need to hit over it from the tee to walk off with a par. Perhaps this is the 1st tee at Machrihanish again you wonder? If your tee shot goes too far right here, you'll end up on the beach. Too far left and you'll lose your ball in the rough or land in a perfectly-placed bunker. Hitting it down the middle is also fraught with risk, as golfers often see their golf balls rolling far too far into the rough. Watch the wind, too. The prevailing wind is behind you… for now. An easterly makes the safe shot almost impossible for the average golfer. And while the green is protected by hills on two sides, a flat flag is deceptive – above it, the wind is probably howling as usual.
In this mecca of golfing gems, Crail’s Balcomie has the most beautiful front nine you'll find anywhere in Scotland. Every hole is played with the smell of salt in the air, and everywhere you look you’re presented with splendid sea views. Quite simply, it's golfing heaven.