North Berwick Golf Club

The West Links, beginning and ending in the center of the charming resort town of North Berwick, is quintessential Scottish golf. Golfers of all ages abound here. Children are encouraged to play, and they are often seen on the practice green when they are not playing the adjacent "wee course". The eighteen holes go out and back along the Firth of Forth and afford absolutely marvelous views of the sea, Bass Rock, and a lighthouse, which is said to have inspired Stevenson in writing Treasure Island. The wind is usually blowing stiffly here, and can do wondrous things with flight of one's ball.

The club dates from 1832, but golf was being played here at least a hundred years or more before that. An ancient shepard's wall meanders through the course and is a significant design feature on several holes. There are blind shots, agonizingly deep bunkers, small burns and deep depressions on the greens. To score well here, one must be ever mindful of the somewhat quirky demands of the course and play carefully from point to well-chosen point rather than simply smashing away with the latest piece of expensive technology. The ragged, ramshackle appearance of the pro shop near the first tee can deceive. The West Links is an Open qualifying site, has hosted many national events of importance and is a favourite of better golfers who savour older course design.

It was also a favourite of the legendary designer, C. B. MacDonald. He used Redan, the fifteenth hole that is arguably the most famous par three design in the world, in numerous course designs including the fourth hole at the National Golf Links on Long Island. His disciple, Seth Raynor, used the West Links to fashion several holes at the famed Carmargo Club in Cincinnati where, oddly enough, Redan also appears as the fifteenth hole. The green slopes from right to left, there are three bunkers to the right, a large one to the left, and one's shot needs to carry about 190 yards to the green-a testy challenge, even on the calmest of days.

David Strath, a competitive contemporary of Young Tom Morris, extended the course to its present eighteen holes when he served as greenkeeper from 1876 to 1878. In fact, the Morrises were playing a match here in 1875 against the Parks when Young Tommie received a telegram that his wife had taken ill during childbirth. Despite a swift steamer across the Firth, Young Tom arrived most unfortunately after both the wife and child had died. He was never the same and died later that year on Christmas Day, reputedly of a broken heart.

Stath's design talents were immediately recognized not only with Redan, but also with the 13th, a short par four aptly named "Pit", whose green is tucked securely behind the stone sheperd's wall in, well, a pit. And beware the devilish undulations of the sixteenth green. Attempting to qualify for the 1992 Open at Muirfield, a hapless professional failed to qualify when he took six putts to hole out on 16. Messrs. Ben Crenshaw and Phil Mikelson similarly sat out the championship when they both carded 84s on the West Links. While Strath's early death at 39 was considered a great loss to early architecture (a St. Andrews bunker is named for him), the West Links remains his timeless legacy. It is great fun and a worthy addition to any expedition.

Independent travellers: To find the course as you drive easterly on the A 198 from Gullane, go through the first traffic light (in North Berwick) and take the second left. Report to the starter's station on the first tee. H&B members have privileges in the clubhouse (no golf shoes) of the North Berwick Golf Club located behind the 18th green. There are changing rooms and a lounge for drinks, tea or meals. The ladies in the restaurant make a particularly good tea scone.