Western Gailes Historic Research Study

Hole 10
Of the tenth hole I prefer to write as it was before the war and no doubt will be again. At
present it is a poor hole, almost within reach of a drive by the long hitters who have courage
beyond intimidation of another burn running across the front of the green. For the rest it is a
drive and a short pitch from the old tee, tucked into the bents on the seaward side of the ninth
green and offering a difficult blind drive over a ridge to a fairway running off to the left towards
two bunkers neatly placed to catch the crooked short and the crooked long drive. It is not a
great hole but it is good enough.
Hole 11
Greatness comes at the eleventh, especially from the tee hard against the fence protecting the
course from the incursions of wind-blown sand. From that tee it is a dog-legged hole to the right,
with a ridge running along the right-hand side of the fairway and bunkers and heather off to
the left. Two good shots and perhaps a little more are needed to reach the green, which used to
suffer from undulations but has now been flattened out and should be more kind to the accurate
approach.
Hole 12
The twelfth is another dog-leg to the right, just as dog-legged as you choose to make it, for there
is a short way to the hole and a long way, but the short way is full of peril if one slices even a
little. There is another burn here, but what might be called a burn second class, for it is truly
only a ditch. Moreover, one should not go near it, for it lies a goodly way off the line to the right,
although the second shot is such a long one - wood or even a big iron - that it can easily enough
be visited.
Hole 13
After two longish holes we deserve a breather, but it is a physical breather only, for the short
thirteenth is tricky as they make them. Here is our third burn, again right across the front of
the green, and it is none the less daunting because it is invisible from the tee. But there are
bunkers too, all round the green, and again only the perfect shot will serve.
Hole 14
Now we turn home and start with the first hole we see from the railway on the up line. The
fourteenth is the second genuine par 5, and honest three-shotter from an elevated tee, with the
railway hugging the right hand side of the fairway (though with an intervening stretch of
heathery rough) and bunkers strategically placed throughout its 500 odd yards. In fact, the
prudent player will tack along the fairway, driving to the left, playing his brassie a little to the
right and then heading straight for home so commanding and exciting a hole as the sixth.
Hole 15
The fifteenth is the poorest, as it seems to me, of the three short holes, though goodness knows
it is difficult enough. There is heather off the tee, bunkers on three sides of the green, and not
much green to play for. Adequate but not very exciting.
Hole 16
The sixteenth is a difficult two shot hole, with the drive having to be steered between bunkers
at just the right distance to catch the wayward shot. The second has to be played over a burn in
front of the undulating green, but there is room and to spare for the shot that is not quite home.
Hole 17
With the seventeenth we return to dogs’ legs and exciting terrain. This is a long two-shot hole
with the fairway bending to the left after following the railway for more than half its length.
There is a cunning ridge on the left hand side of the fairway, rather like a covered-over railway
embankment and almost as high. From the top, one has an excellent view of the flag tucked
away in a nest of hillocks and hollows, but from the base of the ridge one has a blind shot that is
the more difficult because the ball has to be raised sharply. It is the sort of hole that is a 5
oftener than a 4, and for no reason that one can pin down.
Hole 18
The last is a good finishing hole, not too long (a drive and some sort of iron), not too difficult, but
difficult enough to give the man who is one down and one to play a real hope of salvation. There
are plenty of bunkers for his opponent to enter, both from the tee and the second shot, and the
green is fairly level and rewards good putting.
So we are back at the clubhouse, having sampled one of the great golf courses - perhaps not as
great as Muirfield and Carnoustie are great, but full of golfing goodness.
These hole by hole comments are from the book by S.L. McKinlay, entitled “ Western Gailes in
the first 50 years from 1897 to 1947”. The descriptions give an interesting insight into the
playing characteristics of each hole during the time of World War II, including the hole 3rd, 4th
and 5th holes before they were altered for the encroaching road development.