Five minutes… that’s all it takes to be
immersed in the beauty of the Scottish countryside. Heather falls like a shawl
over the shoulders of mountains, flooding between the pines as the road winds along
the valley floor. Cairnryan Port is left behind, to the south, and now the five
hour journey to Aberdeen begins.
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| The 4th hole at Cruden Bay - a gem of a par three. |
It’s a long drive, especially with the
additional three hours from Wexford to Belfast, but this is all about the
beauty of Scotland… and the convenience of having your own car. An Aer Lingus
flight from Dublin to Aberdeen would have been simpler, no question, but the
convenience of having your own car makes it worthwhile. Besides, I wouldn’t
have fit the ladder on the plane.
This is a photography job – my first
outside Ireland – and trying to figure out what to take and what not to take on
the plane was doing my head in. The ferry was the obvious answer and the ladder fits easily in the car boot.
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Approach to the par five 6th. Under 500 yards... but Index 1. Yep,
it's a brute to get at the green. |
After the heather-strewn glens the road
drops down to the ocean and Ailsa Craig makes its presence known… and that
means only one thing… Turnberry is a few miles ahead. But that’s another
story.
It was 7pm by the time I arrived at Cruden
Bay Golf Club, north of Aberdeen, and the sun was out. I met Les Durno, the General
Manager, and he took me out on the course, to the well loved 4th hole. There’s
only one buggy here… for the Ranger... so do what you’re supposed to do on a golf
course, and walk.
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| The panorama from the clubhouse bar - whets the appetite, eh! |
"From June 4th we’ve had rain every day… for
66 days in a row,” he told me, pointing out the lush, silky fairways. “Golfers
are complaining it’s too green!”
As a photographer, I certainly wasn't.
My room for the night is at the White Horse Inn, in Balmedie, halfway between Cruden Bay and Aberdeen. The bar and
restaurant are really rather chic and
funky. I’ll get a pic up on here tomorrow. For now – it’s a 5am start so I’m
hitting the sack.
Yes, it had to happen... and happen it did in the current issue of Irish Golfer Magazine. A list of Ireland's Best 100 Golf Holes has been published and the nit-picking has begun. Is anyone surprised? No, of course not. Everyone has their favourites... which is as it should be.
