As regular readers of the blog will know, I've now played all of the Scottish courses that are recognised by Scottish Golf, the body that administers the amateur game in Scotland. I've a few unofficial and pitch and putt courses still to go but I've not managed to play any new courses since the Maverston 9 holer last year. It was therefore pretty exciting to get the chance on 5 August 2020 to play the newest course in Scotland, Dumbarnie Links, a genuine new links course a few miles south of St Andrews.
I'd heard very positive reports about this course from a couple of Dunbar GC members who had played it recently and I'd also read rave reports on the internet and in various golf magazines, suggesting that Dumbarnie was the real deal, destined to rank alongside the very best courses that Scotland has to offer. The course website, at www.dumbarnielinks.com, is really superb but I was keen to judge for myself whether Dumbarnie was as good as those reports had suggested. OK, and I hope I'm not getting carried away here, but Dumbarnie easily met those expectations. The design, construction, condition and setting were all outstanding. One of my personal tests of a golf course is whether I'd really want to play it again. For some of the courses I've played on my travels around Scotland, that'd be definite no, with some additional and unprintable comments. For Dumbarnie, it's a definite yes and I can't wait to play it again. Once the clubhouse and some further landscaping are complete this course will definitely be recognised as one of the very best links courses in Scotland and one of the top ranked courses we have.
In recent years I've worked on assessment panels ranking courses for various golf magazines. Any Top 100 Course etc judgement is inevitably subjective, requiring careful consideration of factors such as architecture and design, conditioning and presentation, consistency, scenery and ambience of the course, playability, variety and challenge etc. but experience tells me that Dumbarnie is already a Scottish Top 20 course. Fife is naturally the home to some of these and for me, Dumbarnie has joined the likes of the Old Course St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Crail as must play courses for Fife-based golfing trips.
Dumbarnie opened for play on 29 May 2020 and was founded and designed by Clive Clark, the well known course architect and former Ryder Cup player. The 345 acre site rises from sea level to around 80 feet, with the clubhouse set to overlook the course. Instead of a traditional out and back layout, contesting the prevailing winds, the design weaves its way through a myriad of newly created sand dunes requiring play under all points of the compass. I particularly liked how the design made use of elevation changes, with a number of elevated tees. Fairway widths were surprisingly generous. I'd played Dumbarnie on a relatively still day, but I suspect that those wide fairways might be welcomed on the kind of windy days that can beset our links courses.
I played Dumbarnie with Chris, a sports journalist that I've done some occasional work for, and my close friend Douglas, another of the mad souls set on playing every Scottish course. 4 August had been a horrible windy and wet day when sensible folk like me sheltered indoors with a good book, avoiding the flooded roads and heavy downpours. 5 August had been forecast to be fair, but as we arrived for our early afternoon tee time, the rain started again. Dumbarnie stretches from 5901 Yards from the men's white tees to a meaty 6940 Yards from the black tees, with other tees that could extend the course to a really formidable 7620 Yards for pro tournaments. Given the rainy conditions we opted for the white tees, making the 5901 Yards, Par 72 course more manageable - in theory!
Dumbarnie started with a south facing 363 Yard Par 4 from an elevated tee. A burn running along the left side of the fairway and in front of the green made things interesting. I guess that my home town, North Berwick, would have been visible in the distance but the rain and smirr put paid to that! These were the views from the tee and for my approach shot, an easy 8 iron from 138 Yards. I managed to just miss the green to the right but a 10 foot putt for par didn't go as planned. The greens turned out to be impressively true, but were running a lot slower than they looked, after all of the recent rain. Still, a bogey start wasn't too bad.
The west-facing 2nd hole was a 455 Yard Par 5 that suggested I'd need good course management. A burn cuts the fairway into 3 sections, as shown below. A couple of reasonable shots with Driver and 3 wood left an Approach Wedge to a slightly uphill tiered green, with the pin tucked into a low point on the front left of the green. 3 putts for another bogey from 30 feet reaffirmed impressions about the likely pace of the greens. By then we'd also noted the impressive condition of the fairways. On some new courses I've played, fairway growth has been sparse but at Dumbarnie all the fairways were really good, with strong growth on sandy soils.
The 3rd hole is a short 294 Yard Par 4, dog leg left facing south-east. We'd already noticed the architect's use of two different bunkering styles, either deeply riveted or more naturally shaped fairway bunkers with overhanging rough edging, and this interesting contrast is shown in this view from the 3rd tee. Driver, Gap Wedge and a couple of putts for my first par.
The 4th is a 332 Yard Par 4, turning south west, into what would normally be the prevailing wind direction. Short, but on a windy day.....! Another par though. The 5th is a really interesting risk and reward hole and the first of the double fairway holes. Going left off the tee to a narrow fairway leaves a more direct and shorter second shot. Go right to a wider fairway and face a far longer approach. Our choice of the white tees meant this hole wasn't quite as formidable as it would otherwise be but I got out of position on the left, had a really awkward stance inches short of one of the fairway bunkers and had to settle for double bogey after another 3 putt green. Poor course management, Alan.
This is the 6th, and the first of the four Par 3s. We guessed there's a great view south west over Largo Bay. An easy 7 iron, slightly uphill and an equally easy par. A very meaty 226 Yards in a pro tournament into the prevailing south west wind, though!
The 7th is a really good 477 Yard Par 5, slightly uphill. Another good par after a couple of straight shots and an easy short iron to the angled green. Next was the shortest hole on the course, the downhill 122 Yard Par 3 8th, as shown below. Chris had taken a wedge but I tried an easy 9, didn't hit through the ball and skied it into the penalty area running to the right of the green. Double bogey from there was disappointing, on what looked to be one of the easier holes.
The 9th was my favourite hole at Dumbarnie, as shown below. This is a 351 yard Par 4, facing south from an elevated tee. The line was just right of the fairway mound (and thanks to the small boat on that line in the distance!). Ironically, one of my best drives left a short iron to a heavily contoured green. Another par, albeit with a Mulligan from the tee, after a lost ball somewhere to the right of the nearest bunker! With that Mulligan, I was out in 42.
The 10th is a really strong Par 4, at 423 Yards, played in the heaviest of the rain showers we experienced. 474 yards off the Blue tee and 524 off the tournament tee, facing south east. What you don't see from the tee is that a burn, extending into a large pond, cuts across the hole at the landing zone for decent drives. I'd hit a straight drive and was glad that I'm not the longest off the tee these days! A 6 Rescue over the water veered right, into the penalty area so a double bogey from there was acceptable. Good hole though!
The 11th is a short 247 Yard risk and reward Par 4 as shown below. I managed another par after duffing my tee shot short and left into medium rough. I'd a great and very lucky lie and a good 7 iron found the green for an easy enough par.
Next came the 12th, a 332 Yard Par 4, played in more heavy rain. I'd hit a decent straight drive and managed a punched 8 iron to a yard for a rare birdie. Go me! The 13th is a formidable 488 Yard Par 5, extending to 603 for tournaments. I hooked a drive into light rough but had a blind second over a fairway bunker, with trouble ahead. I opted for a recovery wedge, leaving the choice between going for the left section of the fairway, with a shorter route in over nasty looking fairway bunkering, or a longer approach from the wider right section of the split fairway. A poorly played wood found one of the bunkers and cost me a double bogey, saved by a rare single putt.
14th next, a simple looking 147 Yard Par 3. A 7 iron to the back of the green, leaving a 15 foot downhill putt, which I left in the jaws of the hole. The 15th was a 521 Yard Par 5 (603 off the very back tee!) and another of the split fairway holes. I could have gone right, leaving a daunting carry over rough and bunkering to set up a short approach to the green. However,I opted for the safety of a the left section of the fairway, leaving 3 wood and an easy 7 iron to within 10 feet. I missed the putt but an easy par.
The 16th, as shown below, was the longest of the Par 3s at 159 Yards, slightly uphill to a heavily contoured and tiered 47 yard long green. From the tee, the front of the green looked to be fairly shallow, but was deceptively deep. Anyway, that's where my tee shot went, leaving a long putt, which I did in 3!
Next, the 17th, a sharply dog leg right and uphill Par 4. The direct route would leave a short pitch to the green but I opted for the safety of the corner of the dog leg, leaving an 8 iron to the green. Another 3 putt though after misjudging the pace of the green.
Finally, to the closing hole, a 393 Yard Par 4. The drive landing zone is generous, leaving an inviting long shot to the green, as seen here, with the clubhouse still under construction. I missed the green short and right, finding a bunker. Another 3 putt green and I was round in 85 with a remarkable 39 putts. Net 73 but on a drier day, with more normal green speeds, I'd hope to do a bit better. Next time though, I'd go for the more demanding blue tees, extending the White tee course by around 500 yards.
We were all very impressed by Dumbarnie and in parts, it reminded us of other courses. The old wall on 17 had echoes of Renaissance, some of the bunkers could have been from Machrihanish Dunes and other parts brought Kingsbarns, The Castle and other courses to mind. Indeed, we wondered whether, in time, golfers playing such courses would see reminders of Dumbarnie. Dumbarnie has opened in the most difficult times facing Scottish Golf that we can remember, with almost no foreign golf tourists being able to travel, thanks to Covid 19 restrictions. Despite that, the course was busy on 5 August, with Scottish and other UK national visitors. In time, it looks set to attract large numbers of visitors, particularly as an additional destination for those coming to play at St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Crail etc. It certainly has the quality they'd be looking for and I have a number of friends in the USA and Canada who are already keen to try Dumbarnie for themselves. Hopefully next year, Glenn, Scott, Mark, Chuck and the rest of you guys!
Finally, a view from the back of the 17th looking roughly south towards North Berwick and Edinburgh. That dark cloud soon blew over to leave the course bathed in sunshine, just as we got back to the car park. Next time maybe I'll time it better.
