Course review: Cruden Bay Golf Club
The view of 8 green from the climb to 9 tee at Cruden Bay Golf Club
After a wet one at Royal Aberdeen, we couldn’t have been more stoked to show up at Cruden Bay Golf Club the next morning to long shadows and warm air.
We had only heard amazing things (and seen amazing pictures) about CB, so we had been looking forward to this one for a while. In fact, the day before we were talking about how it almost feels like tournament nerves when you’re on the first tee of a course you’re so excited to play and you desperately want to make the most of it.
Even the starter’s shack at Cruden Bay is unlike any other.
Cruden Bay is an Old Tom Morris layout from 1899, and after having played all three it feels fair to call it a spiritual cousin of North Berwick and Lahinch. Lahinch makes sense as it was laid out by OTM himself 5 years earlier, and they share the same core traits: handsome golf courses in unbelievable settings that are both extremely high on the quirk-meter™.
The opening stretch can best be described as fun. The short par 4 2nd is guarded by an extremely elevated green (somewhat unusual in links design) with a nasty drop off long. It’s followed by an even shorter driveable par 4, with a green site surrounded by its namesake village. To reach the par 3 5th, you follow a snaking walker’s path to skirt a gulley, further solidifying just how quirky and cool this course is right out of the gates.
Nick poses after making eagle on the short par 4 3rd
The picturesque walk to the 4th green
The infamous climb from 8 green up to 9 tee hangs over you for the front nine as you watch tiny little ants in the distance on top of a mountain that doesn’t seem like it could possibly be part of the golf course. As promised, the ~6 minute climb has the best payoff in the world.
Old Tom Morris spared no ground laying this one out—it covers so much land and combines challenging length and great variety of shots with his trademark playground moments, like the sunken bathtub green on 14.
The bathtub green on 14 is tucked below fairway level, making for a receptive approach.
We drove back into Aberdeen kicking off a long (not yet settled) debate about whether Cruden Bay, Lahinch, or Elie is the most charming golf course in the world. The answer is probably whichever one we played last.
