Western Gailes Historic Research Study

Hole 1
The first hole in a sense sets the pattern of what is to follow. It runs conveniently northwards,
and since the prevailing wind is from the south or south west one often has a flattering start.
And one needs it, for although the first is a drive and a number something for even modest
players, there is plenty of room for error, especially on the green which, although in-gathering
like nearly half of the greens, is full of subtle slopes and calls for wary putting.
Hole 2 (Played straight along railway)
The second is a more noble and exacting hole. The tee is elevated and affords a view of all the
fairway - and of all the bunkers lying in wait for the crooked drive. In a west wind it is a terror,
for the railway runs along our slicing side, and we are still heading north. It is an excellent two
shot hole of just over 400 yards to a green in a hollow. No one will be unhappy to take a 4 there
at any time and in any company.
Hole 3 (No Longer In Existence)
Now we come to a teaser, for the third is in my view one of the best drive and pitch holes I
know. It has one of the rare old fashioned virtues, a cross bunker which is not even the most
fortuitous shot can jump. It is a veritable chasm, right on the fringe of the green, and if the
green is dry after a drought and the wind is strong behind the player, then not even a battery of
blasters can stop the ball at the hole unless played with deftness beyond the ordinary. That presupposes
that you have placed your tee shot comfortably on the fairway, but there are bunkers
right and left that have a magnetic attraction, and altogether in its 327 yards it holds more
opportunities of error and even disaster than one choses to contemplate.
Hole 4 (No Longer In Existence)
Even sterner tests are immediately ahead, and the fourth, where we turn into the prevailing
wind, is nearly quarter of a mile long and plays every inch of it. It demands two perfect shots in
any conditions, and into a stiff head wind it takes two and a bit - and the bit has to be played
circumspectly, for the green is compact of hills and hollows, with a double step to add to its
difficulties. Getting to the green, however, is a man’s job. From the tiger tee the carry over
heathery hills and hollows is substantial, but the fairway is tolerably wide and level and there
is every chance of a brassie lie. A good lie is needed, for the second shot must be hit fair and far,
first of all to carry a hummocky ridge and then to carry or trundle up over a short but steep
slope at the front of the green. There are, inevitably, flanking bunkers to catch the crooked shot,
so that a 4 is superb and a 5 not bad at all.
Hole 5 (No Longer In Existence)
Number 5 is rather like the third, little bit good. It is only a drive and a pitch, but what a drive!
It has to carry a high ridge with sand and bent and heather awaiting the timid topped shot. It
has to be cunningly placed, because the hole is dog-legged to the right and the approach is the
easier the more precisely the tee-shot is placed. Still, we should get our 4, and we’ll need it, for
there is precious little chance of a 4 at the next.
Hole 6 (Played from the left to the present green)
The sixth is one of the two long holes on the course, some 500 yards, in a generally southerly
direction - which affords a fine view of the Heads of Ayr but invites the attention of the
prevailing wind. Again the tee shot has to carry quite an expanse of heather, but this time one
must take a chance with lie and stance, for the fairway is, like all good seaside fairways, rather
hummocky and you may need a brassie but have to take an iron and instead to overcome a steep
rise. But if you do get a brassie lie, as most times you will, you have to hit a quite small target -
a gap in the sand dunes leading to a comfortable stretch of fairway from which the third shot is
played, blind or half-blind, to a pear-shaped green in a hollow with a great shoulder running
down into it from the right to complicate the putting if one is timid with the approach. Only the
brave, the brawny, and the fortunate ever get home in two; most people are content to reach the
haven of the green in three and get down in two putts.
Hole 7
The seventh is the first - and I think best - of the three one-shot holes. It is played from an
elevated tee, an excellent thing in short holes, though here it means one is exposed to the full
force of the wind. Here it sweeps in unobstructed from the sea, which is at high tide only a
mashie shot away, and it would be nearer still were it not for the reclamation work. There is no
place for the tee-shot but on the green, for there are little traps to the right, a huge erosion
bunker on the left, and between tee and green is an acreage of sand and bent. It is an excellent
3 at any time.
Hole 8
At the eighth hole we encounter our first burn, situated just where it should be - across the
front of the green, like the Swilken at St. Andrews. The hole is, too, about the same length as
the first at St. Andrews, though much more testing from the tee. Again the carry is formidable,
especially into the wind, and if you force to make sure of getting over, and, as often happens
when forcing, hook even a little, there is a bunker awaiting your ball. Fortunately the green is
spacious and one could easily enough avoid - but you have to play two good shots and two
careful putts to do so.
Hole 9
The ninth which like all the holes from the sixth to thirteenth, is played towards the south and
with the sea always in immediate view, is like the third and fifth, a ticklish drive and pitch. The
pitch may easily be a hearty bang with a big iron in the wrong weather, but on a general day
one of the pitching clubs should take you home to the lozenge-shaped green in a hollow,
provided you can steer your drive between horrid country on either side and avoid the collection
of bunkers around the front part of the green. So there we are at the turn, par 36 and not a bad
hole on the nine.