Nairn Golf Club (1887)
14th, Par-3, 224 Yards
Nairn, Scotland, UK
Architects: Andrew Simpson, Old Tom Morris, James Braid,
Updating: MacKenzie & Ebert (2017)
Scotland is rightly referred to as the “home of golf” and the tagline is most apt for a country with 550 courses.
Far too often attention is paid to the clubs that have hosted The Open Championship — The Old Course at St. Andrews, Muirfield, Turnberry, Royal Troon, et al.
But the depth of Scottish golf is its most amazing dimension.
One of the most spectacular seaside courses is Nairn. The club boasts sea views from every hole. If you are a right-hander and you’ve got a slicing problem, you could find the beach from your very first tee shot.
The sea is in play on six of the first seven holes; make sure you’ve got an adequate supply of balls.
Through the years a course will encounter a good bit of wear and tear and be in need of a proper updating.
Nairn opted to hire Mackenzie and Ebert in 2017 and the finished work has only added to its original appeal.
Among the most important contributions is the challenging par-3 14th.
The hole starts from an elevated teeing area and the green is framed by a solitary tree and the Moray Firth in the background.
Partner Tom Mackenzie outlined the issues encountered.
“Everyone loves an exhilarating, dramatic downhill par-3 but the hole that we found did not deliver as much as it should. The green was fiercely guarded by cross bunkers which terrorized the shorter players and played no role in how better players played it, said Mackenzie.
“The green was small with a sharp valley that ran all across the back of the green. There was no room to place flags in the valley or beyond it. The valley was a wonderful but un-used feature. The back of the green was choked with trees and gorse.
The solution that was implemented in the winter of 2018 was to re-bunker the hole, opening up possibilities to land the ball short and run the ball on.
“We proposed a new much larger green with a broader softer valley, but with many new flag positions on the far side of it as well as a couple of sneaky positions in the base, said Mackenzie.
“The original green was the inspiration, although it does have similarities to the Biarritz green at North Berwick. The nest element was to clear out the back of the green, leaving the lone pine silhouetted against the firth.”
The Nairn of 2025 has only been strengthened because of the most recent work carried out and the 14th is a clear demonstration of that total effort.
