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Evan_Green

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DOUBLE Crossover Hole - Cullen GC
« on: March 31, 2007, 04:43:29 PM »
Upon reviewing a routing map of Cullen Golf Club in Scotland, it came to my attention that the 510 yard 15th crosses over BOTH the 14th and 16th Holes! (The 15th Crosses over the 14th green on the tee shot and over the 16th fairway on the 3rd shot). (All of this right in front of the ocean!)

Same is true for the 9th hole (which crosses over BOTH the 8th and 10th)

This is truly fascinating to me. I was not previously aware of the existence of any double crossover holes before coming across these at Cullen...is anyone aware of any others?

Also if anyone has any pictures of the 8-10th or 14-16th at Cullen, I'd be most appreciative if you would post them.



« Last Edit: March 31, 2007, 09:48:50 PM by Evan_Green »

Phil McDade

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Re:DOUBLE Crossover Hole - Cullen GC
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2007, 05:01:52 PM »
Evan:

Unfortunately, my pictures of Cullen were in the pre-digital age, and I have yet to scan them suitable for posting on the web.

Cullen is quirk times 10. One of its best known holes is the one proceeding the 14th, which is the course's version of a Dell, with a rock marking the direction of the (unseen) flag, with the green resting behind one of the sea stacks there. A truly unique course, in part because it's a small links on a very narrow strip of land that nonetheless feels big -- and makes the golfer feel small -- because of the enormity of the sea stacks sitting on the course.

There has been reference here on GCA -- and if I come to it I'll send it along -- of a very good website devoted to pictures of golf courses around the world, and it has pictures of Cullen. Pretty amazing place, more so for the out-of-this-world setting than the golf, although there are some good golf holes there.

Stonehaven -- just south of Aberdeen, along the coast -- also has a double crossover hole -- I think it's #5, Jake's View, with a tee perched high atop a hill (right next door to the commuter trams that go whizzzzing by on your backswing) straight down to a green below; it crosses two fairways!

Not an uncommon feature on courses in Scotland where the local design team/architect had to make do with constricted land.

lesueur

Re:DOUBLE Crossover Hole - Cullen GC
« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2007, 04:12:56 AM »
Here's a few shots of Cullen. I don't remember which holes these are but maybe someone else can ID them??













Matthew Hunt

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Re:DOUBLE Crossover Hole - Cullen GC
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2007, 05:21:31 AM »
Where is it and is it dear to play?

lesueur

Re:DOUBLE Crossover Hole - Cullen GC
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2007, 07:16:27 AM »
It's up in Moray (North East Scotland) on the coast just East of Elgin.

It's very cheap to play at around £20-£25.

Phil McDade

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Re:DOUBLE Crossover Hole - Cullen GC
« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2007, 01:14:46 PM »
Michael:

Wonderful pictures -- they give a good flavor for what a golfer encounters at Cullen, a somewhat otherworldly golf course.

The first picture, I'm not positive, but it may be the green site for the 13th hole, a par 3 Dell-like hole of 149 yards. The tee is behind the sea stack on the left, and to the left of the giant sea stack on the right. The 14th tee (longish par 3) is right around where the shot was taken, and goes to the right of the large sea stack on the right.

The second picture, I believe, is the 12th green, a 182-yard par 3 in which the tee is to the left (off the picture), near the North Sea. There is a nifty little bump/rise just before the green that you can see in the picture that you have to take into account when playing this long par 3. The tee shot for the 13th hole -- the 149-yard Dell-like hole -- is near that bump, and the green is hidden behind another sea stack that you can't see to the right of this picture.

The third picture shows the small town of Cullen way in the background, and the narrow strip of land on which the course lies. It's something of an out-and-back course, as the first tee and the 18th lie side-by-side, although there is some criss-crossing all around the course. The first hole (344 yd par 4), far off in the distance, runs along the base of the ridge on the right. The 2nd hole is a straight up the hill - 130 yards, and add a club or two. The 3rd-through-6th holes play on top of the ridge, a portion of which is barely visible on the right of the photo. Then you reach the 7th hole, the best of the course, a 231-yd par 3 from on high on the ridge to a green waaayyy down below. The long par 5 15th (510 yds) runs along the coast in the middle left of the photo. Holes 16 and 17 track back toward the sea stack pictured, and then 18 runs alongside the left side of the path (in the far distance; it turns left and forms a dogleg) that runs through the entire middle of the course.

The fourth picture shows the far end of the course. The 8th fairway is on the upper left of the picture, 9 (the double-crosser) cuts across from left to right, with the green perched right on the edge of the beach (upper middle of picture, light colored grass) and 10 and 11 coming back in the direction of where the photo was taken.

Pictures 5 and 6 show just how big the sea sacks are, which primarily come into play in the middle sections of the course.

Matthew -- it's very dear to play. It's an area bypassed by many golfers (Americans, esp.) because it sits in a pretty rugged part of the northeastern Scottish coast, and lacks a big-name course. My sense is that few folks really get east of Nairn or maybe Lossiemouth, and west of Cruden Bay, in search of courses. But there are several interesting -- if not championship -- courses in these parts, and folks are incredibly welcoming of visiting golfers. Several of the towns have courses squeezed into small parcels of land, and they show how inventive the local Scots were with compromised land in building interesting courses. Cullen is one of most interesting ones. If you go, make sure you stop in the clubhouse and have some Cullen skink -- the local "chowder" that's quite good.


Sébastien Dhaussy

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Re:DOUBLE Crossover Hole - Cullen GC
« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2007, 03:29:57 PM »
Lahinch 18th hole (par 5). The drive crosses the line of holes five and six.  
« Last Edit: April 01, 2007, 03:30:25 PM by Sébastien Dhaussy »
"It's for everyone to choose his own path to glory - or perdition" Ben CRENSHAW

Padraig Dooley

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Re:DOUBLE Crossover Hole - Cullen GC
« Reply #7 on: April 01, 2007, 03:37:22 PM »
At Cork GC the tee shot on fifteen goes over the fourteenth green and the first fairway.
There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun.
  - Pablo Picasso

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