By:
Sean Zak
December 19, 2022
You possibly can match all of Anstruther Golf Membership into one single photograph. Not many programs can say that.
Sean Zak
At GOLF.com, our passion can also be our job. Meaning, similar to you, we spend a lot of the yr teeing it up excessive, swinging laborious and attempting to keep away from double bogeys. However some programs we bump into are merely extra memorable than others. Right here, for the second straight yr, we unveil our favourite public programs we performed in 2022.
With farmland on one facet and ragged Scottish shoreline on the opposite, the 9 holes of the Anstruther Golf Course sit in a peculiar spot. Gazing on the course from any angle, you possibly can think about a long-ago dialog that begins with, So, what ought to we do with this land?
On the opposite finish of that query was not only a golfer, however many golfers: the Anstruther-based members of East Fife Golf Membership who, again within the Eighteen Nineties, wished to play their golf a bit nearer to residence. What a novel thought. In the present day, it’s the cutest, easiest 9 holes that can even promise to drive you loopy sufficient to cross Go, not acquire $200 and take an instantaneous, second spin across the observe.
You’ll have heard of Anstruther earlier than. It’s a principally phonetic, a enjoyable identify to say out loud. It’s only a 20-minute drive from St. Andrews correct and the proper warmup for a drained physique contemporary off a redeye. The possible purpose you’ve heard of Anstruther is its fifth gap, nicknamed Rockies, which is likely one of the most troublesome par-3s on this planet. It’s a memorable one, for certain. And doubtlessly unfair. However we’re not right here to delegate that.
The true attraction of Anstruther is the sensation you get once you’re on the market. To me, this skinny plot of agency {golfing} land is only a larger model of the yard golf I grew up enjoying with my grandpa. We spent many summer time afternoons within the churchyard subsequent door making “golf holes” by sticking 2-by-4s into the bottom and enjoying towards them. As soon as our balls made contact with the wooden, we turned in any route we wished and designed a brand new gap. It may very well be any size as long as you prevented shut contact with Oak Avenue — or the church home windows.
Anstruther’s holes play forwards and backwards, and forwards and backwards, similar to the churchyard holes I made my first birdies on. There’s the golf green lower, which in all probability will get trimmed as soon as per week, after which there’s the tough lower between holes, barley permissible to the bare eye. However from the sky you possibly can inform they lower this tough with an precise lawnmower. The stripes of a back-and-forth lower pulling the grass in alternating instructions stand out fantastically for the birds.
Have you ever ever seen two greens nearer to one another than the third and the seventh at Anstruther GC?
Sean Zak
There are three consecutive par-3s at Anstruther — the fifth, sixth and seventh — and I’d problem you to discover a extra totally different trio of 3s on this planet. They name it their very own model of Amen Nook. Two of Anstruther’s greens are separated by about two paces. There’s the lovable 2nd the place a 115-yard carry will sneak you over two greenside bunkers however a 135-yard carry may find yourself within the sea.
There’s a WWI monument, relics of the primary two clubhouses and, on the sting of the coast, a Scottish flag whipping within the wind. The first gap is an uphill par-4 that feels such as you’re enjoying right into a tidal wave. The ninth performs down that wave, is longer because the crow flies however performs one shot fewer on the scorecard.
There are not any yard markers at Anstruther. No sprinkler heads that inform you concerning the 89 yards between you and the middle of the inexperienced. There are two teeing choices — white and yellow — however you gained’t catch anybody enjoying the whites except it’s a members-only competitors day. Play the yellows except you pay your dues. Better of all, there are simply 9 tee bins for 9 holes. The gap is the space. If this par-3 is just too lengthy for the feminine or junior in your group, play it as a par-4! One other novel thought.
Anstruther is golf, this endlessly advanced recreation, simplified down to only the essential stuff. You’ve gotten a gap on a inexperienced and a fairway that runs to it. There are a handful of bunkers, certain, however none that may wreck your temper. There’s actually only one troublesome shot on this complete property, and for that purpose individuals will journey out of their approach to take it on themselves. The remainder of the photographs are straightforward ones, or so they appear. Hit your ball 230 yards however not 245. Loft your wedge up there 105 yards however not 120. Should you chunked it 20 steps forward, strive once more.
If you’re executed, a pint or two awaits within the uncluttered and sufficiently easy clubhouse. As most clubhouses alongside the coast do effectively, the whole ingesting and consuming space is surrounded by home windows. You wouldn’t need to be there when a twister comes by way of, however the tradeoff is sunsets pouring inward on the common. I’ve been advised the fish ’n’ chips on supply is likely one of the greatest platters on the town. The one concern is Anstruther is endlessly a fishing city. There’s supreme competitors for that declare.
Would possibly I recommend The Wee Chippy, a couple of 10-minute hike from the first tee. Would possibly I additionally recommend you discern between the sugar shaker and salt shaker. I discovered it troublesome to amend that mistake.