Golf Clubs and Putters

Birdie Blue Wedge

What makes a great golf course?

So what makes a great golf course?

The world is full of good, average and poor even designs to test us, but very few get the award for "great" that, in our view, means that the type of course you try to play before his death, no matter the cost.

Is an important issue for two reasons.

First, because there is no written or objective criteria to define to greatness. And second, Kingsbarns, just outside St Andrews, has won both in terms of praise and recognition since its opening in 2000, having already won the title "" Great.

But while the criteria for that label does not appear in a rule book anywhere, perhaps here at Mulligan we must consider our own terms.

First, a course should be memorable - no slack here. If you have played a design once, and have difficulty remembering the difference between the first and 18, or may not immediately bring to mind the best holes is not good enough.

Secondly, should provide a challenge of golf itself, but that does not mean simply that it is difficult - Blue Monster in Doral is terribly difficult, but not very well. Pine Valley is both.

Thirdly, should be subtle, and require careful thought or a few visits to assess properly the evidence that it represents, and probably the best example of a subtle test is the Old Course at St Andrews.

Fourth is aesthetic splendor, although, as with all things, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For some, the rugged and wild landscape of Royal Dornoch or meat is not attractive, but to golfers, who represent the Mona Lisa.

Finally is almost indefinable element of mood, or atmosphere or environment or any other label you like. Some places spend millions of dollars and employ the best brains in the world golf but somehow disappointing, while others have that 'wow' factor of almost filling the floor, or so it seems.

That place is Kingsbarns. Although golf has been played in this stretch of coast Fife since 1793, virtually nothing of original course was kept until Mark co-owner and the architect Kyle Phillips parsin, moved 300,000 cubic meters of earth to create course today. In the process discovered a burn that nobody knew (and which plays a significant role in the golfer's approach to 18), but noticeably, the Kingsbarns created looks as if you've been there since the beginning of time.

Each hole has a unique view of the sea, more than half of them is visible on your line as you play, and run in parallel several to the coastline but probably the most impressive is that it is Kingsbarns, like Augusta National, equally enjoyable for high handicaps and for professionals Tour. At 6652 meters (par 72) of visitors green teas is not too long and, like many other good songs, at a relatively smooth before asking more questions to their search.

It is also, we're delighted to say, a fan of good, short par four, which is in danger of becoming a forgotten part of the armory the architect of golf. This is exemplified in the 6th, which is only 287 yards, but, like all good short holes, offers a choice and decision. Knock a long iron or hybrid directly to the two bunkers and end up beneath them with a relatively simple wedge green, you can not see, and that going downhill, away from you. Take a big stick, the right target and bring the bunkers, however, and you land on a narrow strip of fairway that feeds to the surface of green, with eagle and birdie opportunities likely. But go a little harder and you're on a bank of heavy grass, underhit and will be on sand - a classic risk / reward strategic hole.

Later in the round comes a quartet of holes 12-15, to be compared with anything in the world, and that includes the famed Amen Corner at Augusta National. Includes a couple amazing five dogleg right to left along the coast and is reminiscent 19th at Pebble Beach, a short but challenging par three, which is facing a dramatic rocky outcrop, a short par four that seems a cinch, but flattered to deceive, and another par three, the green seems to be almost in the ocean.

The first time I set eyes on the place, Sir Michael Bonallack, former secretary of the R & A and the champion five times British Amateur, said: "Kingsbarns might well be one of the last true seaside links sites capable of development in Scotland. Mere words can not convey how extraordinary is the place. Must be seen to be believed. And once seen never forgotten. Not a man given to hyperbole.

Kingsbarns has its share of bunkers, but not too many, which deliberately does not have the gorse, it is almost impossible to draw a golf ball from her, and not forced, is heroic. Marcos parsin studied several of the great courses of Scotland before sitting down with Kyle Phillips to design your own and concluded that, above all golfers must walk compared to 18, with a smile on the face, without looking as if they had gone to 10 rounds with Lennox Lewis.

To follow this philosophy took the approach the Augusta National, in its simplest terms, means that getting from tee to green is relatively easy, but if you want to score, you must be on the right side the green. The putting surfaces are very large and full of subtle (and sometimes very obvious) waves, which means that a straight putt is a rarity and the first part of his game that has to be in good working order is your putting stroke. The Greens are also in excellent condition throughout the year - largely thanks to ongoing policy of closing at the end of November each year and reopen in late March.

Kingsbarns not have the rough, rugged looks, a Doonbeg Neanderthal or Royal County Down, with dunes and mounds huge deal, but a soft, gentle landscape, which makes it easy to feel in harmony with their environment and where, as PG Wodehouse once wrote of another case: "All nature seems to scream" Fore! "'It is built by golfers for golfers and nowhere is this more evident that the club underestimated, which is all a hole 19 should be - comfortable, sociable and friendly. Oh, and none of its new luxury kitchen, here you get the type of worm that is needed after a round of golf - burgers and fries solid size of your thumb.

Kingsbarns is expensive - 2008 green fees are £ 130 in April and May and 170 pounds between June and November - but it's worth, and if you get the chance to be your cup grandmother to get there.

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