Last Monday was a day off for me, and it was a good day to be off work. The sun was blazing down from a cloudless sky and the wind was not too strong. My wife and I decided it was a good day for a visit to Durness, to walk on the beach and play a round of golf. Well, after a short walk together on the beach, I would be playing golf, while my wife enjoyed a solo walk on one of the local walking routes!
The photo above is of the second tee and the eleventh tee at the Durness Golf Club. On every other golf course I have played, each tee has its associated green. You play from tee to green. But on this course, there are only 9 greens, shared between the 18 tees! It must get rather chaotic when the course is busy! Normally I only play 9 holes, the front nine, or the back nine. Maybe once the summer comes I'll play both halves of the course!
The course is rugged, although not as mountainous as Lothianburn Golf Club just to the South of Edinburgh where I used to be a member. That course has 500 feet of height between the nearest and farthest parts of the course! At Durness the main challenges are the narrow fairways, the rough, the wind, and the rabbits. I'm sure that the ball I lost went down a rabbit hole!
The 5th hole above is a long hole down the hillside, with a large knoll 3/4 of the way along the fairway which stops your ball running on down towards the green. It was the first hole of the round where I managed to hit the green in regulation - 2 shots for this par 4. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get down in 2 for my par, but a 5 was good, and 2 better than each of the the first four holes!
The 6th hole is a great challenge and usually a very beautiful scene. The green is on the far side of Loch Lanlish, in the centre of the far shore. The loch is too big to hit across. You have to go round it, on the left side. As if the loch wasn't enough, there are two more water hazards cunningly placed to catch the unwary golfer! My second was a dribbler, but I was pleased my 8 iron approach shot flew through the air to land close beside the green. If it had fallen short it would have made a big splash! A six for that hole, and 5 for the short par 3 which follows it. The sun was so low that I only caught a glimpse of the ball flying low before I was dazzled by the sun and lost sight of the ball. I did find it but it was in the rough and my next two shots were, only just avoiding the greenside bunker. Down in two after that though! And another 7 on the 8th as my approach shot dropped short into the greenside bunker.
The last hole, pictured below is my favourite! It's a short par 3, between 100 and 150 yards depending on whether you are playing from the 9th or the 18th tee! When the tide is in, with the waves crashing in from the sea, it's a fearsome prospect. And it's not much better when the tide is out, leaving a yawning chasm from tee to green! My 7 iron flew true and the ball landed perfectly in the centre of the green rolling on towards the flag. Two putts and that was me down for my first par of the round. Yippee! I decided not to play any more holes, and headed up to the club house, on the right of the photo below.
Before meeting up again with my wife, I was surprised to see two surfers practicing their art on the beach at Durness. It was just the last day of February, and they looked like a couple of giant penguins togged up in their wetsuits! Perhaps like me it was their first outing of the year!
My wife had enjoyed her walk as much as I had enjoyed my golf. We relaxed and chatted as we drove gently Eastwards along the North coast, and then South and North around the shores of Loch Eriboll, until we completed the 28 mile drive back to our home in Tongue. A splendid outing!
The pertinent question here is did you go to Cocoa Mountain for a hot chocolate?
ReplyDeleteObviously that's what we all want to know!! :p
We did not want make you all even more jealous, and it is expensive enough just to get to Durness! So we took sandwiches and a flask. We'll visit the Mountain another time.
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