Carnoustie

If St. Andrews is the home of golf, then Carnoustie surely must be the home of working class golf. Its courses are public and shared by no fewer than six local clubs. Both the small town and the practice ground around the courses abound with golfers whose rough hands and grizzled countenance reveal a stern, demanding existence occasionally made lighter by a round of golf. On a children's putting course near the first tee (the wee course) and the Buddon, one can see Scotland's future artisans developing their golf swings.

The local District Council, which owns the links, has entrusted Carnoustie's tradition of elegalitarianism andartisanship to a links management committee run by representatives of the six local clubs. To hold a yearly ticket to play the famed championship course, one must first purchase a ticket for one of the secondary courses then wait for an opening. (Rather like a private club, what?) The current wait for an annual championship course ticket about 13 years. Without that ticket, playing the championship course costs the same green fee whether the golfer is from Carnoustie or Carmel.

Perhaps no Scottish village exerted more influence on the development of golf in the Americas than Carnoustie. By 1920, nearly 300 Carnoustie men had immigrated to the States as golf professionals, course designers and greens keepers. Most influential on the American game were the Smith brothers-Willie, Alexand Macdonald. Willie and Alex won the US Open; Macdonald was twice runner-up. Bobby Jones learned the game from another Carnoustie man, Stewart Maiden.

The course is a tribute to its renowned designers. Walter Hagan believed Carnoustie the best course in Britain and one of the three best in the world. William Davis, creator of Golf Digest's Great 100 list, called the course "one of the world's supreme tests of golf." I return as often as I can and always encourage first time visitors to Scotland to include Carnoustie on their personal rota. My visits continued throughout the 1980s despite the pitiful condition of the course. Thus, I was ever so grateful when the locals completely restored their severely tarnished gem in preparation for the return of the British Amateur Championship to Carnoustie in1992. The Scottish Open was contested here in 1995 and 1996. The Open Championship returned in 1999 for the first time in a quarter century.

Major Basil Haversham, OBE
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