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Dunbar Golf Club © 2006, Richard & Mary-Alice Jafolla A final qualifying course for the Open ChampionshipThe North Sea will be your intimate partner on fully nine of eighteen holes on this brilliant course. That's the good news. It can also be the bad news if the wind is howling off the North Sea. But that's just the way it is on seaside links courses. Unless it's a bitter cold wind (which will make your round seem more like Anchorage Golf Club), it just adds another layer of difficulty to your round. This is unlikely, however, because Dunbar has the reputation as the sunniest spot in Scotland.
Some of the views on Dunbar Golf Course are really breathtaking. On a clear day one can see all the way across the Firth of Forth to the coastline of Fife. Between the imaginative layout of the course and the beautiful scenery, it all adds up to a great day of golf. Like so many golf courses in Scotland, when the course was laid out only the objects that had to be removed were removed. If the hole could be laid out around something, that "something" was left standing. On Dunbar Golf Course there are many holes--seven to be exact--that have remains of ancient stone walls incorporated into the hole layout as marking out of bounds. Some of the walls are 10 feet high!. Yet, rather than interfering with the holes, they actually enhance them. Beginning With Bunkers Galore -- The course begins interestingly enough with two par 5s followed by a par 3, with 29 bunkers influencing your club selection on these three holes alone! Makes you wonder what's in store for the rest of the round! These first three holes play out and back from the clubhouse and do not skirt the sea. On the 4th you begin your relationship with the North Sea and on nine of the next fifteen holes you will be playing right next to it. It's not until the 18th that this relationship ends. Dunbar Golf Course is a fair course with good length and well-placed bunkers. There is really not a weak hole on the course, which has made it an obvious choice as a final qualifying course for the Open Championship when held at Muirfield. Steve Elkington qualified at Dunbar for the 2002 Open Championship and went on to lose to Ernie Els in a playoff. The 7th is typical of the imagination used in laying out this course. It's a dogleg right with a 10' wall running up the right side of the fairway from tee to green. A short drive or one too far right will not allow you to see the green on your second shot since the wall will block your view. Even if your drive is long enough, it's still a semi-blind shot over gently rising ground. Quite a hole and typical of the thought that went into the layout of this unusual course. But number 12 is the one to watch. It's rated the second most difficult but don't you believe it. It's one of the toughest holes you will ever play--especially if the wind is blowing even a little bit. First of all it's a 457 yard par 4. As if that's not difficult enough, the North Sea is to your right, so any slice is wet. The landing area for long hitters slopes to the sea and is as undulating as a rumpled bedspread. Need more convincing? Okay, how about this: The green is terraced and has water on the right side and the back. The wind can blow it in the water or into one of three bunkers on the front and sides of the green. It's a great hole and one of my all-time favorites not only for degree of difficulty but for sheer beauty. The greens are not as difficult as some courses in the area, but that doesn't mean they are easy. Rather than big humps and sweeping curves, the greens rely on more subtle breaks that are more difficult to discern. Take your time getting your read, then trust it. Watch out for the flags. They are only five feet high rather than the usual six feet. This makes the green look farther away than it actually is. Buy a yardage book before you start your round and check your distances on each shot before choosing your club. Don't trust your judgment because these flags will fool you--even on short wedge shots So what's the verdict? It's not quite a "must play" but it's very close. It's got superb physical beauty, it's a fair yet demanding layout, and it has a great many unusual features, You won't find many golf courses like it. Definitely play it if you get a chance. It's one of those courses you'll always remember. Golf Nook Scotland -- a solid BIRDIE Miscellaneous notes -- There is a comfortable and clean clubhouse with changing area and showers available for visitors. Also, they have a good lounge presenting excellent bar food and, of course, drink. The lounge overlooks the 3rd green, so you can watch the players showing the same frustrations you just experienced. A driving range is handy for warming up. Club rental is also available. In addition to the great links course, there is an excellent practice facility. These include a large putting green and a practice ground with many target greens. It also includes a short game area with bunkers, target greens, and chipping area--a real bonus because few golf courses in Scotland have any kind of practice area other than a putting green. Michael Hackett, the Assistant Professional, tells me that number 6 is not really the most difficult hole as it is rated. He says the ratings are based on the medal scores of members from the year before. Number 6 has a stream running in front of it and members often mis-hit their second shots into the stream, thus running up their scores. It's actually a much easier hole than it seems. Scorecard
SSS: White - 71, Green - 70, Red - 73 Directions: About a 30 minute frive from North Berwick and 30 miles east of Edinburgh off the A1. It's a half a mile east of Dunbar town center. Watch for the signs. Rates: Weekdays: 18 holes - £37 Day ticket - £45 Weekends: 18 holes - £45 Day ticket - £60 Trolley - £3 per round, £5 per day Battery powered trolly - £6 Buggie rental - £20 Club rental - Callaway - £20 steel shafts, £25 graphite shafts PGA Pro: Jacky Montgomery Asst. PGA Pro: Scott Gourlay Asst. Pro: Michael Hackett Tel: (0)1368 862086 Secretary: Mrs. Liz Thom Tel: (0)1368 862317 Fax: (0)1368 865202 Dunbar Golf Course East Links, Dunbar East Lothian EH42 1LL SCOTLAND _________________________________________________________________________ What To Do All Day Dunbar, an old-fashioned little town dating back to pre-Roman times, is consistently recorded as the sunniest and driest town in Scotland. To give you a feel for how time has passed it by, there is no public phone box that takes phone cards anywhere in town! You can see some nice photos of the town on their website: www.dunbar.org.uk If you are pottering about here while your golfer is playing the Dunbar Golf Course or the WInterfield course, you'll see the house at 128 High Street where John Muir was born. The United States likes to claim the great conservationist as their own, but he is actually a Scot. Muir spent his boyhood in Dunbar until his family emigrated to America, where he later established the first National Parks. Recognized as the founder of the worldwide conservation movement, the story of his life and work and his enduring influence is split between two venues in town, both of which you might like to visit--his birthplace on High Street and Dunbar Parish Church. Both are open daily. Visit the harbour with all its fishing boats as well as a ruined castle right on the seafront. You can leave the car on the High Street and walk down to the harbour--it's only a couple of minutes away and there's good walking there. A beautiful coastal footpath runs along the sea at Dunbar. (Shown on your Ordnance Survey.) It can be easily accessed from the WInterfield Golf Course (not the Dunbar G.C.) just as you enter the town from the northwest (from North Berwick). I once spent a serene couple of hours walking along this path. Lauderdale Park is one of the lovliest public parks you will ever see. Aside from the gorgeous flower gardens and lawns, the park has the most wonderful children's play equipment--very aesthetic and imaginatively designed. You can park the car right at the entrance. Very easy to find--just a few blocks from the town centre, toward WInterfield Golf Club. Ask anyone in town where it is, or consult your Ordnance Survey map. When in Dunbar, be sure to stop here. Belhaven Brewery - Scotland's oldest independent brewery company is in Dunbar. www.belhaven.co.uk tel/ (0)1368 862734 As always, you can buy good food in the shops for a picnic lunch, or you can stop in a small cafe' or pub, or you can eat at the golf clubhouse. _________________________________________________________________________ Where to Stay Roxburghe Lodge Wynd - Here's something deserving serious consideration. Roxburghe Lodge Wynd offers two separate luxury class self-catering flats, which means you rent them usually on a weekly basis and you do all your own meals, etc., just as you would at home. The flats (apartments) are in a brand new building and the location could not be more perfect--almost adjacent to the Dunbar Golf Course and overlooking the sea! Check out their website www.dunbarholiday.co.uk and please refer back to "Where to Stay" on my North Berwick Golf Coast area page, where I describe these deluxe flats in greater detail. |
