Royal Aberdeen -- A regal links to inspire even the most jaded  Golf International Inc. In a country blessed with as many outstanding golf courses as Scotland, it's understandable that many escape the attention of visitors. The fact that some of these "forgotten" courses are among the best layouts in the entire country, is a little more difficult to comprehend. For the visiting golfer prepared to venture even just a little off the well-trodden path and look beyond the dozen or so Scottish layouts with household names, there are amazing discoveries to be made.  Royal Aberdeen's 8th green -- protected by 10 deep and hungry bunkers. One of the most overlooked of all Scottish golf regions is the northeast coast with the proud city of Aberdeen as its capital. Within a 40-mile radius of the city center you will find over 50 layouts, the names may not sound familiar but each one is quality and almost a third are links courses. The undisputed King of the area's layouts is the historic, Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, located at Balgownie links, just a mile north of Aberdeen. Founded in 1780, this is the 6th oldest golf club in existence, though the club moved to its current home in 1888. Ranked among Scotland's top 12 courses and the top 40 in the British Isles, Royal Aberdeen has one of the strongest front 9's of any golf course around the globe and according to many, the toughest series of closing holes in all Britain, yet this beauty remains virtually unheard of by most American visitors. One of the few Americans quite familiar with golf in and around Aberdeen is New York real estate mogul, Donald Trump, who recently bought an 800-acre seaside site, north of the city. Mr. Trump modestly promises to build a pair of the best links course in the entire country that will be hosting both The British Open and The Ryder Cup someday! Of course he also wants to build a 500-room luxury hotel with all the usual Florida-like trimmings including 250 private homes and heaven knows what else.  Links golf gets no better. Don't be frightened away; The Donald is currently embattled with the local preservationists and planning board, who are doing their darnedest to stop any such development and an interesting war is shaping up. The man who is used to getting his own way is fighting a group of rather stubborn minded, though thoroughly principled Scots, who are not so easily impressed by big talking Americans with money and unique hairstyles. The battle is likely to last for a few years at least and my money is on the Scots to win. Royal Aberdeen's anonymity may or may not be coming to an end, but final results probably won't be known for a long while. In the meantime, this is a layout that has been waiting for well over a century to prove its worth and its patience is wearing thin. Royal Aberdeen is a course that epitomizes all that is good with traditional links golf; it does so unabashedly and with the pride only a veteran could muster, proving its point from the very first tee box. It is a course for the true connoisseur of links golf. At first glance the layout appears to be a relatively straightforward, out and back track, running alongside the crashing North Sea. The fairways are lined with impressive sand dunes, bringing a sense of majesty to the scene, but don't be fooled by the good looks -- they belie the challenges that await. This is a clever old-timer, with all of the cunning and mischievous quirks, only a world-class links layout can provide. Never ever underestimate any links, least of all this one.  Royal Aberdeen -- 18 holes of testing links golf ranked among Scotland's Top Dozen. The original design came from brothers Archie and Robert Simpson of Carnoustie, then in 1925, the great James Braid was called in to refine the course and add some length. The Royal Aberdeen that confronts today's visitor is deceivingly short, measuring less than 6,400 yards from the tips, but be warned, it's a treacherous journey every step of the way. There are a total of almost 100 bunkers, each and every one thoughtfully placed along the narrow fairways and around deceptively generous greens; they are ominously deep and voraciously hungry. The rough is even more fearsome -- wherever there are breaks in the liberal outcroppings of gorse and tough undergrowth, gnarly sea grasses immediately take over - this is rough you really don't want your ball to find. The wind coming in from the North Sea is a special challenge at Royal Aberdeen where it always manages to blow a little bit harder and more erratically than elsewhere. Although the out and back layout may suggest the wind will be behind on the front nine and in front on the back, that's not quite the case.  Royal Aberdeen Golf Club -- founded in 1780, but only now being discovered by visitors.
Each hole takes off at a slightly different angle than the hole before, providing a constantly varying wind direction and confusing matters even further. The meandering burn that winds its way through the course doesn't make matters any simpler. Make no doubt about it, Royal Aberdeen is the equal of the toughest course you have ever played before and somewhere along the way, it has lost any manners it may have been taught during its youth. Rather than taking the customary approach and gently ease the player into the challenge with a couple of forgiving opening holes, the gauntlet is thrown down at the start and the fight doesn't end until you reach the 19th hole. You may be a little battle worn at the end of your round, but there will be that wonderful feeling, perhaps known only to golfers, that you have been tested to the extreme and lived to tell the tale. After playing Royal Aberdeen, there will memories to last a lifetime and plenty of tales to tell. You will also be wondering how this remarkable links has escaped the fame it so justly deserves, for so long. For suggestions on how to best include Royal Aberdeen on your Scottish golf trip, click here. © 2007 David Brice / Golf International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Golf International -- Providers of quality golf travel arrangements since 1988. |
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