Playing Dunbar
I’d heard about the gap in The Wall. Those who had experienced the revelation referred to it with a reverence as a gateway to some of the best golf they had ever experienced. How, by stepping through the Narnia-like gap into one golfing world from another, it instantly created a benchmark against which all other golf courses they played would now be compared.
I needed to experience it for myself.
Dunbar’s East Links lie on a famously historical stretch of coastline, overlooked by the town of Dunbar. With its fairways squeezed into a narrow strip of land between the exposed beach, spray-covered rocks and The Wall, this 6,600-yard par-72 course features layers of golfing genius, namely Old Tom Morris, Willie Park Snr, Ben Sayers and James Braid. It’s a regular Open qualifying course and host to many championships in its time.
I was looking forward to my game. A Senior’s Open, it was going to be my introduction to this challenging course and whilst slightly nervous on the 1st tee, a short par-5, I managed to get the drive away making full use of the parallel 2nd fairway to the right. Good start, I thought – not many looking at me. The prevailing wind gave me a chance of reaching the 1st green over its protective burn and nearby pond in two, but no chance once turned around into wind. Between me and the 2nd green, eight bunkers awaited my natural fade down the right-hand side of the fairway. I found two.
The short par-3 3rd hole falls gently to the coast, protected by seven bunkers, a Club House and a Pro Shop. Still nervous at 1-over par for two, I took a moment to register the stunning views which had been obscured by The Wall. In the distance lay the tip of Fife, and the ancient course of Crail. In line with the pin, the gap in The Wall. As we walked off the green I kept my pent-up excitement to myself, but it was difficult. I felt each breath, each movement of gravel. Within seconds, I’d walked between the weathered sandstone blocks and the breeze took my breath away. As did the vista from the 4th tee: it was everything I had hoped for, read about, wished to experience. I wasn’t the only one to voice some expression of amazement: it’s difficult not to! Playing from the rear of the tee-box, we were only feet from the slate blue sea with its white rollers. The tide was in, and the breakers showered salty spray across the grass as they crashed and tumbled behind me. Ahead, 352 yards of a narrowing fairway that follows a slight bend in The Wall, and the coastal margin, and whilst a natural fade would seem ideal here, I have been known to pull a random hook out of the bag. Wind behind puts the two bunkers on the right in range, and the green is positioned beyond and over to the left, its apron almost touching the water’s edge. The visual impact of The Wall and The Beach creates a virtual tunnel, and I tried to match my swing tempo to miss the crash of an impending wave. Having waited for so long to experience this single, defining shot I desperately wanted to avoid going left. And I did. I succeeded in sending it in a high arc, left to right and bounced it off The Wall well short of the bunkers, leaving me a more than tricky shot over them and downwind into the green. Still, there was always the view and also the next tee’s vista where, once again, I was standing on a tee that sat right above the rocky, wave-blasted shoreline.
Pebble Beach, often a course mentioned in the same breath, is the Dunbar of America’s coastal courses although more of this East Links’ 18 holes lie on the seashore than its comparative cousin’s. You can see the sea from every hole here, a feature reserved for only a few links courses and such is the open nature of Dunbar. Bunkering is generally light; the threat of gorse is occasional, but the short rough and the wind are enough to make matchplay a more welcoming option.
At the 11th hole I’m back at the shore once more, into the loop, 7-over par and the target is to keep the ball to the left. A new sleeve of balls was opened, and I promptly dispatched one towards Elie. The 13th hole gave some respite as the wind tucked in behind me once more, and I managed to hang on to a par before turning back into the “breeze” and onto arguably the signature hole of the course. For as many balls as I was losing to nature, surprisingly it wasn’t getting me down at all. The walk from the 15th green takes you immediately onto the 16th tee, the way golf courses used to be with green and tee almost touching each other. Was there a nod to this 16th hole when designing the 15th at Kingsbarns? Perhaps. It felt like it, with the spray now lifting into my face and the fairway disappearing in front of me to a narrow strip of land.
With a rise in my handicap now guaranteed, I played steadily enough for the final few holes to walk off the 18th green having experienced an incredibly fun and rewarding test of golf. Now back on the land side of The Wall I glanced to my right, as we signed and exchanged our cards, and caught a glimpse of that different land. The memory of walking through the narrow gap in that stone wall sets us apart, those who have shared that experience. I licked the salt from my lips. It’s worth the visit, as that memory of the 4th tee at Dunbar will be with me forever.
May the 4th be with you… too.