Cover Art provided by Mr. Dave Baysden
Editor's note: When it came time to roll out our (long overdue) new website we wanted to do something celebrating the people we've met through golf and the places that are still out there for us to explore. We've only scratched the surface on who we need to meet and where we need to go. Jim Hartsell embodies that spirit to the fullest. I met Jim through Sweetens Cove a few years ago and we became fast friends. He's spent the last two-and-a-half decades exploring Scotland and digging deeper than nearly any American I know, non-Tom Coyne division. As an Registered Building Architect, he brings a unique perspective to golf travel, both on and off the course. We're thrilled to roll this series out over the next few months and hope you enjoy. - Tron
The Hidden Soul of the Game
Anstruther Golf Club - A Monument of Fun
The Midnight Troubadour
Tough and timeless, this polo is built for the long ride. Featuring a crisp, non-collapsing collar and a rugged, stretchy fabric, it's the perfect shirt for any cowboy's wardrobe.
By Jim Hartsell
War Memorial, Anstruther Golf Course. Located next to the 2nd green, this monument memorializes the men and women from Anstruther Easter and Anstruther Wester who died in WWI. Photograph by Jim Hartsell
"Golf is preeminently the game of the Scot: slow, sure, quiet, deliberate, canny even – each man playing for himself.” – Arnold Haultain, The Mystery of Golf, published in 1908
The town of Anstruther, about 20 minutes southeast of St Andrews, has everything you could wish for as a visitor on holiday in Scotland. It’s a beautiful seaside fishing village with pubs, shops, restaurants - all easily walkable – and with the first tee of a brilliant golf course right in the middle of it all. If you don’t have the best fish and chips you’ve ever had in one of the town’s many “chippies”, then you must be a vegetarian. The ubiquitous food staple of Scotland is prepared at a higher level in Anstruther. There is much for the non-golfer to enjoy in “Ainster”or “Anster.” (the local pronunciations). However, golf is our main focus. The game has been played on the links at Anstruther Golf Club, originally known as Billowness, since approximately 1890.
Recently there has been a growing acceptance of golf courses with less than 18 holes and/or a par other than 72, some of which I will examine in detail as this series progresses. Additionally, the idea that a course must have a certain mixture of long and short holes to be a real test of golf has come under welcome scrutiny. If there was one, Anstruther Golf Club would be a 10 on the Hartsell Scale. Easily described as – “A superlative golf course with unlimited architectural character, just exceptionally fun. Play it all day with your friends and then have fish and chips in the clubhouse, with a pint of Tennents.”
The par of a golf course is more or less irrelevant in Scotland; as the golf is so dependent on the conditions of the day. It may take two well struck shots to reach a par 3 or a par 4 might be driven with a well struck 4 iron. This is especially true at Anstruther, which is a totally exposed headland links. Additionally, the main objective in golf is to get the ball in the hole in less strokes than your opponent. Given these facts, does it really matter if a course is a par 34, 66 or 73? I believe that it does not. Any golfer would be pleased to go around Anstruther in level fours at 36. It has one of the most unique mixes of golf holes that I have ever played, with 4 par fours and 5 par threes for a total par of 31.
Anstruther Golf Club. Photograph by Jim Hartsell
Standing on the first tee - with the green located somewhere in the distance on a plateau at least 50 feet higher than the tee - you immediately know a special day is imminent. It is a scene unique in the world of golf. An imposing granite monument, originally dedicated to the local heroes of World War 1, sits at the top of the hill. It has silently watched over the links since 1920. Leave it to the Scots to place an important monument on a golf course, where it is sure to be seen and remembered on a daily basis.
Play at Anstruther is, of course, dependent on the wind. On the day of our visit it was steady at 15-20 mph, which I imagine is probably the daily standard. This gentle breeze completely changed direction between our morning 27 and afternoon 18, resulting in a drastically different golf course in the evening. Before lunch, the first hole played straight downwind. The steep summit could be reached with a well struck driver, leaving a traditional Scottish run- up shot to the green as the correct play. After lunch, the wind changed direction and the hill could not be carried with the tee shot, thus rendering the 2nd shot completely blind and vastly more difficult. Playing downwind, this 270 yard par 4 is an opportunity for a birdie. It would be wise to take advantage of this hole, because it is one of the few relatively easy chances on the course. This is one of my favorite opening holes in Scotland.
The 1st tee at Anstruther Golf Club. Photograph by Jim Hartsell
Once the summit of the 1st is reached, the joys of the Old Tom Morris designed links are fully revealed. The golfer can be forgiven for pausing a moment to take it all in – the town of Anstruther sweeping away below, the monument and the rocky shores of the Atlantic. The 2nd - a 160 yarder aptly named Monument - plays straight out to the ocean in a strong crosswind. The green is sited on the edge of the cliff with the expanse of the ocean as a backdrop; a memorable and testing par 3. Headland golf of this caliber is a rare and special pleasure.
The 3rd and 4th, both par fours, play on top of the plateau. The 3rd is a longish hole at 402 yards, has fairway bunkers to be avoided, but with a helping wind actually plays much shorter than the 4th at 286 yards. The 4th hole, Magazine, is one of the best par 4’s in Scotland. It plays along the clifftop, with the ocean on the right, dead into the prevailing wind. There is safety to the left. However, in taking the cautious route off the tee, the approach must played over an old stone wall and remnants of an old World War 1 arsenal building used for the storage of ammunition that was used for a gun training building on the 5th tee. The correct angle is down the right side of the fairway, but this brings the cliff into the equation. Whether you are bold or hesitant off the tee, the green seems to float above the ocean below. This is the Scottish golf of your dreams.
The 4th green at Anstruther Golf Club, viewed from the safe line off the tee. Photograph by Jim Hartsell
This brings us to the 5th hole, called Rockies. In my experience, it is a one-off in the world of golf. A blind, dogleg 247 yard par 3 played from the clifftop to well……the sky. It was once voted the toughest par three in the UK by readers of Golf Monthly, as a plaque by the tee proudly reminds us. I asked a friendly member in the bar if he thought it was indeed the toughest par 3 in the country, “Oh aye,” he replied matter-of-factly, “because it’s a par 4.” The majority of members do, in fact, treat the hole as a par 4. Many of the older men, and a lot of the ladies, play back down the 4th fairway to pitch straight down onto the green from the upper level. I played the hole 5 times and I am still at a loss to see how the green could actually be hit in regulation. There is a smallish strip of fairwa
Source: https://nolayingup.com/blog/hidden-scotland-anstruther-golf-club