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Warning: Novel length-post!
This isn't so much of a review, but more of a trip report of some kind.
If you want a review of the actual course itself, then here it is: Fantastic.
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Sitting at the office with post Carnoustie depression, so thought I’d write a little piece about my first trip to this magical place.
Found a package deal from Golf Travel Centre in August last year, and the clock has been ticking extremely slowly since then. 2 nights’ accommodation at the golf hotel including breakfast and one round on each of the 3 courses for a bargain price of £275.
The days leading up to our journey from London to Carnoustie, the BBC must’ve suspected that they were attacked in a DDOS attack by Russian hackers as “someone†updated the weather report for Carnoustie at a rate of about 300 times a minute. It all looked swell on Thursday in the car, but about an hour after being welcomed to Scotland via a large billboard sign the clouds gathered in a formation making me wonder if we somehow had been teleported into an episode of Game of Thrones. Coming into Dundee the rain was pouring down, while the weather forecast apps was showing “light rain and sunâ€. Me and my playing partner looked at each other and asked ourselves if it was possible that the forecasts were somehow Scotland-calibrated, and that this was what light rain meant up there.
We finally came to Carnoustie and check in at the Hotel was painless, so up with the bags and down to the bar overlooking the 18th green. We were surprised that so many decided on leaving their 2nd shot short of the burn to give themselves a short chip on to the green (this is something I’ll get back to later on…) to try and putt in for par, but most seemed happy to settle for a bogey.
As said earlier, we had one round booked for each day (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), and started off with the Burnside course. Eyes wide open at 6 am, with a feeling in my body reminding me off Christmas in my childhood days. Me and my playing partner decided to walk the Championship course before breakfast as sun was rising. Never seen so many green keepers in my life. The first noticeable thing was Hogan’s Alley. Standing on the tee looking out over the hole, we both asked what the “thing†was. Where are you supposed to go with your tee-shot besides between the bunkers and the OOB?
We walked in after having seen about 10-12 holes to get something to eat and prepare ourselves for our first experience of the links. The starter at the Burnside course was very friendly, the sun was shining and fairly wind still, so inside me I thought that I had a good chance of getting a good score. I started with 2 blobs. Managed to find the green on the first par 3, and my first par was signed, sealed and delivered! Oh, I got ahead of myself there. Coming around the turn I had 10 points, and confidence down in my shoes. Managed to scrape together 9 straight 2-pointers on the back 9 though, so the day wasn’t a complete disaster. I really enjoyed the Burnside course bar the first 4 holes which felt they were a bit of “alibi-holes†just to get 18 holes in. But the course turned around on the 5th which was a lovely par 3 that was surrounded by the burn who was like a snake surrounding the hole place.
Post round drinks and watch the players who were finishing their Championship round. Droves and droves of Americans who all had caddies with them. The Americans sure did splash their cash in the shop as well, which of course is something Carnoustie had taken notice to, as the prices were a bit steep in my opinion on most things. The obligatory ball marker came in at £14, so I had to put down the £5 note I had in my hand and use the contactless option instead.
Day 2 and the Buddon course on the menu. Overall, I liked the setting of this course better than Burnside as it had a a somewhat mix of links and parkland feel to it. The greens on the Buddon could’ve been better though, but they weren’t bad by any means. I got my first and only birdie here, so that enhanced the experience.
Le Grande Finale. Sunday. Tee time 11:40 on the Championship course. Once again the alarm was set at 8:30, but I was wide awake at 6 am. Walked the parts of the Championship course that I missed during the first morning before heading for breakfast. Time was moving annoyingly slow, and I decided to head to the practice green already at 9 to warm up. Finally, the time was come to get in line to tee off. I was shaking of adrenaline and nervous as ever been on a golf course. The 4-ball ahead of us did calm my nerves down a bit though after one of them pulled it so much left the ball went out of bounds and ended up somewhere behind the Rookery. The second guy pulled his shot as well and ended up in the burn.
We got greeted on the tee again by a very warm and friendly starter who told us stories of what I can only imagine he had been telling for years and years, but it didn’t feel as he was putting it on. He explained the line of direction on the first, said to try and just enjoy it, and if you place your ball strategically, the course would be like a sweet pussy cat – but if not…
Despite a raising pulse, my heart pounding through my shirt and shaking hands, I managed to get the driver right down the fairway and it felt like I was invincible. My approach shot was a soft pitch who landed 15 feet from pin, but I still managed to 3-putt it. Second hole with a fairway bunker in the middle of the fairway, about 200 yards from tee, and then bunkers on both sides, about 40 yards further away. I yet again hit a good drive, but the ball slowly but surely leaked out a bit to the right, and of course it got swallowed by the bunker. Took me 2 shots out, and hole ended with a blob. I wasn’t down beat though as I had actually hit some decent shots. After this things just clicked and I pared 3 holes on the trot. Life was magnificent, sun was shining, I was playing in shorts and not a worry in the world. Little did I know…
On the 9th I hit a perfect drive, but an even better 6 iron to the pin which was about 165 yards away into the wind. About 12 feet away and just didn’t put enough in it to get it in the hole, as I left the put just shy of 2 feet short. I had told my playing partners prior to the round that if we’re not talking inches, I want to hole out. Walking up to the ball one of the guys said 2it’s good you can have itâ€, and instead of calmly marking the ball I got slightly annoyed, put myself in an awkward position in order not to get in the putting line of one of the others and hit the ball. Of course I missed. And here starts my own Michael Douglas Falling Down-collapse. I had 18 points after 9 holes on Carnoustie Championship course, and one missed putt was all it took for me to fall into a big black hole of negative thoughts. I shanked my chip shot on the next hole, and it just snowballed from there. I tried to tell myself to just enjoy such a magnificent course with all its history, and the conditions couldn’t have been better. A gentle breeze, sun shining and 9 holes of great golf. I had none of it in my mind at this point though, which is something looking back now I’m deeply disappointed with in myself. I hit a few more good shots here and there, but managed to find my way into trouble on the rest of the holes, with the best saved to last. Perfect drive on the 18th, leaving me with 175 yards to the front of the green, meaning I had to carry about 160 to get over the burn. I had seen so many people on the previous days take that same shot on and end up in the burn. It’s like an optical illusion. You look at the course planner and the sprinkler head and it says the same. 175 to front green. Standing there, it looks like 220 to the green. I gripped probably harder on my club than I have ever done before and pulled the trigger just to see the ball leaking out right and getting swallowed by the burn. Walking up towards the green I felt like Van De Velde, and the trip ended the same way it had started 3 days earlier – with a blob.
We had a quick drink and ran through the combined internal competition scores for all days and then got back in the car for a 8 hour journey back to London.
Getting through the front door, my girlfriend asked if I’d ever go back. How naïve of her. I had already started to look for another deal to get back up there while sipping on my drink on the 19th.
I’ve got unfinished business, and I intend to set it straight as soon as I possibly can.
This isn't so much of a review, but more of a trip report of some kind.
If you want a review of the actual course itself, then here it is: Fantastic.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sitting at the office with post Carnoustie depression, so thought I’d write a little piece about my first trip to this magical place.
Found a package deal from Golf Travel Centre in August last year, and the clock has been ticking extremely slowly since then. 2 nights’ accommodation at the golf hotel including breakfast and one round on each of the 3 courses for a bargain price of £275.
The days leading up to our journey from London to Carnoustie, the BBC must’ve suspected that they were attacked in a DDOS attack by Russian hackers as “someone†updated the weather report for Carnoustie at a rate of about 300 times a minute. It all looked swell on Thursday in the car, but about an hour after being welcomed to Scotland via a large billboard sign the clouds gathered in a formation making me wonder if we somehow had been teleported into an episode of Game of Thrones. Coming into Dundee the rain was pouring down, while the weather forecast apps was showing “light rain and sunâ€. Me and my playing partner looked at each other and asked ourselves if it was possible that the forecasts were somehow Scotland-calibrated, and that this was what light rain meant up there.
We finally came to Carnoustie and check in at the Hotel was painless, so up with the bags and down to the bar overlooking the 18th green. We were surprised that so many decided on leaving their 2nd shot short of the burn to give themselves a short chip on to the green (this is something I’ll get back to later on…) to try and putt in for par, but most seemed happy to settle for a bogey.
As said earlier, we had one round booked for each day (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), and started off with the Burnside course. Eyes wide open at 6 am, with a feeling in my body reminding me off Christmas in my childhood days. Me and my playing partner decided to walk the Championship course before breakfast as sun was rising. Never seen so many green keepers in my life. The first noticeable thing was Hogan’s Alley. Standing on the tee looking out over the hole, we both asked what the “thing†was. Where are you supposed to go with your tee-shot besides between the bunkers and the OOB?
We walked in after having seen about 10-12 holes to get something to eat and prepare ourselves for our first experience of the links. The starter at the Burnside course was very friendly, the sun was shining and fairly wind still, so inside me I thought that I had a good chance of getting a good score. I started with 2 blobs. Managed to find the green on the first par 3, and my first par was signed, sealed and delivered! Oh, I got ahead of myself there. Coming around the turn I had 10 points, and confidence down in my shoes. Managed to scrape together 9 straight 2-pointers on the back 9 though, so the day wasn’t a complete disaster. I really enjoyed the Burnside course bar the first 4 holes which felt they were a bit of “alibi-holes†just to get 18 holes in. But the course turned around on the 5th which was a lovely par 3 that was surrounded by the burn who was like a snake surrounding the hole place.
Post round drinks and watch the players who were finishing their Championship round. Droves and droves of Americans who all had caddies with them. The Americans sure did splash their cash in the shop as well, which of course is something Carnoustie had taken notice to, as the prices were a bit steep in my opinion on most things. The obligatory ball marker came in at £14, so I had to put down the £5 note I had in my hand and use the contactless option instead.
Day 2 and the Buddon course on the menu. Overall, I liked the setting of this course better than Burnside as it had a a somewhat mix of links and parkland feel to it. The greens on the Buddon could’ve been better though, but they weren’t bad by any means. I got my first and only birdie here, so that enhanced the experience.
Le Grande Finale. Sunday. Tee time 11:40 on the Championship course. Once again the alarm was set at 8:30, but I was wide awake at 6 am. Walked the parts of the Championship course that I missed during the first morning before heading for breakfast. Time was moving annoyingly slow, and I decided to head to the practice green already at 9 to warm up. Finally, the time was come to get in line to tee off. I was shaking of adrenaline and nervous as ever been on a golf course. The 4-ball ahead of us did calm my nerves down a bit though after one of them pulled it so much left the ball went out of bounds and ended up somewhere behind the Rookery. The second guy pulled his shot as well and ended up in the burn.
We got greeted on the tee again by a very warm and friendly starter who told us stories of what I can only imagine he had been telling for years and years, but it didn’t feel as he was putting it on. He explained the line of direction on the first, said to try and just enjoy it, and if you place your ball strategically, the course would be like a sweet pussy cat – but if not…
Despite a raising pulse, my heart pounding through my shirt and shaking hands, I managed to get the driver right down the fairway and it felt like I was invincible. My approach shot was a soft pitch who landed 15 feet from pin, but I still managed to 3-putt it. Second hole with a fairway bunker in the middle of the fairway, about 200 yards from tee, and then bunkers on both sides, about 40 yards further away. I yet again hit a good drive, but the ball slowly but surely leaked out a bit to the right, and of course it got swallowed by the bunker. Took me 2 shots out, and hole ended with a blob. I wasn’t down beat though as I had actually hit some decent shots. After this things just clicked and I pared 3 holes on the trot. Life was magnificent, sun was shining, I was playing in shorts and not a worry in the world. Little did I know…
On the 9th I hit a perfect drive, but an even better 6 iron to the pin which was about 165 yards away into the wind. About 12 feet away and just didn’t put enough in it to get it in the hole, as I left the put just shy of 2 feet short. I had told my playing partners prior to the round that if we’re not talking inches, I want to hole out. Walking up to the ball one of the guys said 2it’s good you can have itâ€, and instead of calmly marking the ball I got slightly annoyed, put myself in an awkward position in order not to get in the putting line of one of the others and hit the ball. Of course I missed. And here starts my own Michael Douglas Falling Down-collapse. I had 18 points after 9 holes on Carnoustie Championship course, and one missed putt was all it took for me to fall into a big black hole of negative thoughts. I shanked my chip shot on the next hole, and it just snowballed from there. I tried to tell myself to just enjoy such a magnificent course with all its history, and the conditions couldn’t have been better. A gentle breeze, sun shining and 9 holes of great golf. I had none of it in my mind at this point though, which is something looking back now I’m deeply disappointed with in myself. I hit a few more good shots here and there, but managed to find my way into trouble on the rest of the holes, with the best saved to last. Perfect drive on the 18th, leaving me with 175 yards to the front of the green, meaning I had to carry about 160 to get over the burn. I had seen so many people on the previous days take that same shot on and end up in the burn. It’s like an optical illusion. You look at the course planner and the sprinkler head and it says the same. 175 to front green. Standing there, it looks like 220 to the green. I gripped probably harder on my club than I have ever done before and pulled the trigger just to see the ball leaking out right and getting swallowed by the burn. Walking up towards the green I felt like Van De Velde, and the trip ended the same way it had started 3 days earlier – with a blob.
We had a quick drink and ran through the combined internal competition scores for all days and then got back in the car for a 8 hour journey back to London.
Getting through the front door, my girlfriend asked if I’d ever go back. How naïve of her. I had already started to look for another deal to get back up there while sipping on my drink on the 19th.
I’ve got unfinished business, and I intend to set it straight as soon as I possibly can.
Very enjoyable. Those last 4 or 5 holes are tough, can destroy a card but stick in the memory.
