[John Mayhugh]

Garland,
One of these days, I'll try that three day ticket. Seems a good idea.

Curious if maybe your son played best at Craighead?

[Garland Bayley]

He shot 41 on the front at Castle. By far his best 9. I doubt he played his best at Craighead, but he struggled in the morning at Balcomie, so that may have some influence as Craighead had some of the widest playing corridors, if not the widest, of where we played.

[Mark Pearce]

He shot 41 on the front at Castle. By far his best 9. I doubt he played his best at Craighead, but he struggled in the morning at Balcomie, so that may have some influence as Craighead had some of the widest playing corridors, if not the widest, of where we played.

Whoa!  I'm a member at 2 Fife clubs.  One you have chosen to rubbish on this thread.  The other is Crail.  I really like Craighead.  I think it's a great example of what a bright architect can do on a poor piece of land with a limited budget.  Frequently I'll play it above Balcomie.  But it's tough.  SSS74 is almost always 77 in comps.  Mostly because the green complexes are tricky.  But also because there's not much leeway off the tee.


There's no way that anyone, with their brain half engaged, could honestly say that Craighead has wider playing corridors than Elie.  Or, for that matter, the Eden.  Or Balcomie.

[Mark Pearce]

That said, my kids also like Craighead.  And it belongs in the conversation, where many wouldn't let it in.  So I wouldn't despair of your son yet.  Not for that, anyway.  Choosing to wear stretch denim on a transatlantic flight, however, that makes no sense....

[Bob Montle]

Is liking Craighead an age thing?

If I was still a young pup would I like it better?
My round at Balcomie was full of the joy of life and of being there.  I would happily have played it again.
Alas, I tried Craighead and it was a huge disappointment to me.

I loved the New Course and some idiot told me that if I liked the New then I would love Craighead.
Hmmph

[Mark Pearce]

Bob,


Not sure it's an age thing.  I think it's a "hard" thing.  To enjoy Craighead you have to drive it well and be willing to be harshly punished for small errors around the greens.  6 or 7 years ago I had the golfing weekend of my life in the first two rounds of the club championship.  My 81 round Craighead was only 4 over CSS (I was playing off 14) and with a 71 round Balcomie saw me qualify 3rd or 4th overall for the second weekend.  But you have to be a bit of a masochist, I think, to enjoy it.


It does have some quirk (more than most moderns) and some really good green complexes.  But it's unforgiving and to love it you have to live with that.

[Garland Bayley]

...  I have a theory that any decent links is worth at least 5 unless there are unusual circumstances involved.  ...

You see, Doak rating of 3 on links courses is really saying they rate 5! Just like Doak rated Elie in the original CG.

[Garland Bayley]

...
There's no way that anyone, with their brain half engaged, could honestly say that Craighead has wider playing corridors than Elie.  Or, for that matter, the Eden.  Or Balcomie.

Am I going to have to measure fairways on Google Earth?
My friend Bob, who John Mayhugh knows from Sagebrush, and perhaps Kings Putter, arranged the trip, as I had arranged trips to Wales, and to Northern Ireland for him to join in the past. He says he liked Balcomie best. He's weird, as he played abysmally there, narrow corridors and all.

[Mark Pearce]

...
There's no way that anyone, with their brain half engaged, could honestly say that Craighead has wider playing corridors than Elie.  Or, for that matter, the Eden.  Or Balcomie.

He says he liked Balcomie best.

I'm sure he wouldn't be alone.  It does have some really good holes (2, 3, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 18) and some spectacular views and gets right down to the sea on more of those than Elie and, obviously, more than Eden.  There's some quirk and it's short.  There's a reason I haven't given up my Crail membership after I got into Elie.  But in the end, Elie is clearly better than Balcomie and beats out the Eden because those new holes at Eden are so bad and even Elie's "breather" holes (7, 14) are good holes (once you get round the concept, on 7, of a par 4 which in the prevailing wind can be reached with a mid-iron)

[Jon Wiggett]

Is liking Craighead an age thing?

If Mark likes it obviously not 

[Ryan Coles]

I really liked Craighead. Without speaking up for Garland (again) I played Balcomie on a busy Summer day and it felt claustrophobic with crossovers and groups on the wrong fairway etc. But in its defence the Course was packed. 


Although fairways may not be wider, the Craighead certainly had a more spacious feel the same afternoon. I think the courses complement each other quite well. Many will disagree but I’d take 36 holes there over Lundin & Leven. 


I’d agree with Mark when he says it’s not great land and imagine it wasn’t a big budget. We all liked it but I imagine Mr Hanse would probably pass on it now that his star has risen.

[Mark Pearce]

One of the downsides of Balcomie in Summer months is that the course is always packed.  Crail does very well indeed out of visitor fees and a lot of the local members out of caddying.

[Ira Fishman]

I will take the Four hour Four ball we had at Balcomie on a crowded day over the Five hour round we had the next day at Kingsbarns. KB is the better layout, but it is too slow and more than twice the price.


Ira

[Peter Pallotta]

This is starting to sound like golf's equivalent to climbing Mt Everest -- travel long distances for a rare opportunity, only to find 6000 people already there & traffic jams all the way to the summit. Maybe it's time for Sean et al to profile and promote GB&I's tier *three* courses!

[Scott Warren]

Elie is hell bent on enforcing their arcane rules. As far as I am concerned, they may be part of the reason there is a thread about Scottish golf being in trouble.

Our luggage did not make it with us to Scotland, and my son wore fashionable stretch denim Jean's on the plane for comfort so he did not have his golfing pants to wear. No matter that half the eight or so lads and gents gathered by the first tee were more shoddy in appearance with their old corduroy pants and such. No excuses accepted, and a shallow lecture on tradition was what we got. So their shop made a sale of one pair of pants, which resulted in them no having a chance to sell four meals, and no prospect of at least two of us returning.

If they had some brains they would know their stupid rule was made for the Levi's of old, and enforce it appropriately.

Too bad I'm not a Twitter user so I can excoriate them there too.

Time flies — We are approaching the first anniversary of this most auspicious and wonderful post.


I have made a note in my diary to wear my finest pair of jeans on May 21 in honour of Garland and his son. All are welcome to do likewise.

[BHoover]

I love it. This is a moment in GCA history that needs to be commemorated and celebrated, preferably with re-enactments across the globe.

[Sean_A]

Delete, sorry.

Ciao

[Sean_A]

Well, I hear the long sock rule has been dropped! Maybe the club will now allow stretch jeans to be worn 😎.

Ciao

[Ben Sims]

This has been a great thread that I’d missed somehow. I wonder if Elie has overseas memberships?

[Duncan Cheslett]

Deleted

[Mark Pearce]

Well, I hear the long sock rule has been dropped! Maybe the club will now allow stretch jeans to be worn 😎.

Ciao

Indeed.  Interesting last Summer to see that most members (and most younger members) continued to wear long socks with shorts.

[Mark Pearce]

This has been a great thread that I’d missed somehow. I wonder if Elie has overseas memberships?

Full membership is less than £800 p.a.  I'm not aware of an overseas membership category.  There is a waiting list for membership.

[Scott Warren]

Interesting about the socks.

I recall being invited to play at Worplesdon with a group of members in 2010 and being told “ignore the bit on the website about short socks being okay - as far as we are concerned the rule is still long socks with shorts!”

I wore trousers. I didn’t think to ask about fashionable stretch denim, but I suspect the answer would have been no.

[Michael Whitaker]

Well, I hear the long sock rule has been dropped! Maybe the club will now allow stretch jeans to be worn 😎.

Ciao

Indeed.  Interesting last Summer to see that most members (and most younger members) continued to wear long socks with shorts.

I like the long socks. It’s different. Has an old school vibe to it. I hope they keep the stocking rule.

[Dan Gallaway]

We'll be playing there in mid-May and had every intention of luring one of our group into wearing shorts and short socks to the course as he is unaware of the policy.  I guess we'll just enjoy the course and save the prank for another time.

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