100. Craigielaw

ST100 Word Review. Craigielaw is another of East Lothian's many excellent golf courses on the self-proclaimed "Scotland's Golf Coast". I was fortunate enough to have a voucher to play the course after attending the Scottish Golf Show 2012. However, I suspect that due to this offer the extra rounds by visitors have had an adverse effect on the condition of the course. The course was on full tees, greens and not on mats. The greens weren't too bad - a bit of top dressing but given the winter we have had they were pretty decent. The fairways were a different story - as you will see from the pictures below they clearly had taken alot of punishment last season and in my opinion a few more weeks of mats may have helped the fairways to recover. They weren't as bad as the Carrick at Loch Lomond (possibly the most overplayed course in Scotland?) but they did look as though they could do with less rounds. Aside from these minor issues, I thought the course was a decent enough track. The upturned greens weren't nearly as bad as I had heard and in fact were reasonably soft so allowed you to attack flags. I suspect at the height of summer this will not be possible but I liked the fact that there was a route into the green and this seems to be a course which would grow on you the more you play it. One word of advice if you have never played the course before - make sure you know where to go, the course routing isn't the most intuitive! The course has some very stiff local competition but it is a reasonable addition to the area.

Thanks. Thanks to the Scottish Golf Show for the voucher and to Stephen MacDonald and Gordon Blackwood for joining me. It was a fun day with the highlight being the first time I have beaten Mr Blackwood in a match play competition. So for that reason Craigielaw will hold a unique place in my affections!

ST100 Rating: 2 Stars - A good course; worth a visit if you are in the area.

Click on the photographs to view slideshow....

 

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Custom Fitting

It has been a while since I last just posted a blog entry about anything other than a top 100 course picture review! However, I have recently had the opportunity (early Christmas present) to be fitted by one of Scotland's top golf club builders. Scott Gourlay of Scott Gourlay Golf Technology based at Craigmillar Park Golf club in Edinburgh is a talented guy, he specialises in bespoke custom fitting. I am using the term "bespoke custom fitting" to try and differentiate between what you get at SGGT and what you may have experienced at a golf retailer. I describe it as the difference between getting a suit from a high street shop that is then altered to fit you (golf retailer custom fitting) and a Savile Row handmade suit (bespoke custom fitting). What is this difference? In my opinion it is time and extreme personalisation.

SGGT started me off with a 3 hour session at their centre using trackman. They let me hit with my normal clubs to gather a base line data and also asked me some details about the feel, my normal golf game, biggest weaknesses etc. After trialling a number of different shaft options (weight, length, etc) Scott had the basis for my new clubs. He then spent a week or so building demo clubs for me to test. I returned the following week for another 2 hours session to test out 3 sets of demo clubs from UK based golf club manufacture Orka. I tried the GS5 OS, GS5 Tour SC and RS1. I have to say the RS1's felt amazing but being forged blades I am just not good enough to get the best out of these precision tools. However, I was surprised to find that the forged SC Tour was the club that I felt most comfortable hitting and gave me the best results after some tweeking from Scott! I also trialled their Hybrid and wedges which are all now part of my set up! For driver and 3 wood the decision was between TaylorMade, Orka and KZG and as good as the other options were KZG had some phenomenal results for me.

All in all I have spent 5 hours hitting balls, checking results and speaking with Scott to make an informed choice about which clubs are best for me. Scott even helped me to decide on how best to set up my bag - I would have had more woods but as I am not the longest hitter on the golf scene Scott has advised that more clubs at the top end are actually all running into one and I would be better with a better range at the lower end of my bag. This attention to detail is the key, Scott explained everything that he was doing and I have never felt more involved or confident in a set of clubs. In my previous experience of custom fit this meant hit some balls on trackman. Most of them did check the loft and lie but that was about it. A standard set of clubs but more importantly a standard shaft. I can't tell you how important it is to make sure you have the correct shaft for your swing. The bespoke custom fitting experience, like Savile Row suits, costs more but it is worth it.

The KZG & Orka clubs are now here and have had a few rounds and I am absolutely delighted. They look gorgeous in the bag, perform on the course and I am very confident that these clubs will help me to slash my handicap.

My new bag set up is as follows:-

Driver KZG Driver GF 460

3 Wood KZG Q 3wood

Hybrids Cobra Baffler DWS 22* Loft

Hybrids Orka GS 5 25* Loft

Irons Orka GS 5 Tour Sc 6-PW

Wedges Orka J29V 52* & 56*

Putter Orka Type 1 P46

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2. Muirfield

ST100 Word Review. Above is the famous sign adorning the ornate gated entrace to one of the world's greatest golf courses, Muirfield. It was on one of Scotland's wet, windy and wild days that I braved the elements to take on this legendary course. The chance to play Murifield doesn't come along too often and therefore the rain wasn't going to stop me. However, it did mean my photographs weren't up to the usual standard so I apologise for that.

Even though it had been raining hard for a number of days the fairways were in excellent condition with absolutely no standing water. The tees were as good as some greens I have played on this year and the greens were sensational, particularly for December in Scotland. The course itself was difficult to judge as the wind did make it almost unplayable. My own experience was that the fairways were reasonably narrow but fortunately the rough had been cut down so my many wayward shots weren't badly punished. The par 3s were excellent with 13 being a particular delight. I am proud to say that I didn't end up in one of the bunkers at 13 like Mr Els in 2002. I think it would be impossible to play Muirfield without playing at least one bunker shot - there are some many bunkers all intelligently positioned. I did manage to end up in a number of the bunkers but without the same success as Mr Els!

After such a windswept round I retired to the clubhouse. Muirfield is a gentlemen only club with a strict dress code. However, women can play the course and can also use clubhouse as per this article with the Secretary. For anyone who manages to play the course I would strongly recommend that you also take advantage of the superb lunch. I was pleasently surprised by the warm and friendly welcome we received in the clubhouse - this is not the stuffy clubhouse I had been told to expect. All in all it was an excellent experience on a superb course. I would love to return to play the course on a more benign day but even if I don't get the chance it is still one of the greatest courses I have played.

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19. St Andrews (Castle)

ST100 Word Review. The newest of the fabulous collection of links at St Andrews, the Home of Golf. The Castle has had mixed reviews and has undergone some revision since opening in 2008. These changes have helped to make the course slightly less demanding but the greens are still unbeliveable difficult! I have to say I loved this course, I understand it is either a love it or hate it type of course. However, with the views of St Andrews as a backdrop, a sensationally spectacular signature hole at 17 and a challenging back 9 what is there not to like? If you dont have a good short game then this course will punish you. However, if you are visiting St Andrews I would highly recommend that you play this course. To show you how highly I rated this course, I would choose to play this course again instead of Kingsbarns; high praise indeed.

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62. Elie

ST100 Word Review. The Golf House Club in Elie has been playing golf over these links since 1875 and the course has remained pretty much unchanged since 1896. Therefore you are getting an authentic Scottish seaside links experience which relies not on distance or tricked up greens to offer a challenge but instead lets the elements decide on how well you will do! It is an interesting course which starts slowly but as you wind towards the beach becomes increasingly fabulous. The stretch from the 9th until the 14th is as good a stretch of holes as you will find anywhere in Scotland. In particular the 13th is one of the Scotland's finest par 4s and dont take my word for it, James Braid thinks that too! The course is ranked only 62nd which, in my opinion, is too high. I would suggest that this is a course which should be within the top 50.

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99. Gullane (No. 3)

ST100 Word Review. Another week, another round at Gullane! This time it was to play the smallest of the three top 100 ranked courses in this superb town on Scotland's Golf Coast. Gullane 3 may be shorter than its too more illustrious siblings but it is not an easy course by any stretch of the imagination. As a Gullane course it has those world renowned greens and beautifully maintained fairways. The course is like a mini Gullane 2, it is more fun but still challenging - but unfortunately as you pass by Gullane 2 and look over to Gullane 1 those are the challenges you really want to be playing! I enjoyed my round but next time I visit it will be to play 1 or 2 - Im just hoping the wind doesn't turn up!

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