# Course Review - Carnoustie Burnside



## Paul_Stewart (Aug 9, 2010)

Having finished my two-day stay in St.Andrews, time to head 20 miles north to Dundee and the famous Carnoustie links.  And having played the Championship course a few years earlier, time to take on the No.2 course there, the Burnside which is a truly great links in its own right.

Located to the right of the 18th of the Championship course as you look from the clubhouse, the Burnside plays to around 6,200 yards from the yellow tees and has the same Barry Burn winding its way round many of the holes.

The 2nd and 3rd are excellent par 4s before you start to see many of the doglegs, heather-lined fairways and pot bunkers so evident on the main course next door.

The 9th is an amazing little par 3 to an elevated green with a 25-foot drop to the right that I decided to test out by blocking an 8-iron.  The 10th is a blind tee shot short par 4 and then you come to a closing stretch of holes to rival the main course.

How many courses have a par-3 as Stroke Index 1?  The 14th at Carnoustie Burnside is a 228-yard monster to an offset elevated green with gorse everywhere.

And if you think the 17th on the Championship course is tough, the equivalent on the Burnside is 473 yards, also twice carries the Barry Burn and has a lot more trouble besides.  It also has a Portakabin some 160 yards on the left which I may or may not have hit with a really mega snap hook.

The Burnside costs Â£36 to play, a quarter of the price of the Championship course and is a real test of links golf.  You are always aware of the sleeping dragon next door as you play it, but taken on its own merits, this is one of the best links courses in Scotland.


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