Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2013 - 19

to America and eventually put his name
on more than 400 golf courses, most notably
Pinehurst No. 2 (site of the 2014
U.S. Open championships), plus a few
courses in Minnesota. For some, that's
reason enough to make the out-of-theway
pilgrimage.
Dornach was originally laid out by Old
Tom and later refi ned by John Sutherland.
" Whinny Brae, " the 161-yard, par-3
6th, captures the risks awaiting the wayward
golfer who cannot manage Dornach's
fairways and greens. Four bunkers
and steep drop-offs menace the sides
and back of the elevated green, making
it nearly impossible to approach the hole
indirectly.
Dornach's 445-yard,
Trump International Scotland
enues from utilities and green energy
subsidies would evaporate with a break
with the United Kingdom (while threequarters
of the Scottish population favor
a referendum on independence, only
about a third favor it). The Donald is
currently suing the government.
Herbert Warren Wind, the golf writer,
wrote that no golfer's education was
complete without studying Royal Dornach;
Tom Watson, who thrice played
Royal Dornach during a 24-hour layover,
said it was the most fun he's ever had
playing golf. Donald Ross was born in
Dornach at 3 Gilbert Street in 1872, and
he later served as apprentice to Old Tom
Morris at St. Andrews. Ross immigrated
into play; and most of the greens are accessible
via land or air.
The namesake castle dominates the
background from the tee to the par-3
third hole. The castle was once a refuge
for the exiled Stuart kings to the British
throne, and is within view of Culloden
Moor, site of the great Battle of Culloden
in 1746.
Royal County Down in Newcastle,
Northern Ireland,
sits beneath the
par-4 14th,
" Foxy, " a hazard-free slight dogleg that
features a raised plateau green, is one of
the fi nest natural holes in the world, said
Harry Vardon. The 13th, " Bents, " a 180yard
par 3, is surrounded by 10 bunkers;
and holes 16, 17 and 18 are as strong a set
of par-4 fi nishing holes as you will fi nd
anywhere.
Next we visited the home of the Scottish
Open for the last three years: Castle
Stuart. The brainchild of Mark Parsinen,
who also create Kingsbarns Golf Links
near St. Andrews, Castle Stuart is modeled
to refl ect the " transitional period of
golf, " between the years 1890 and 1935.
The result is a less penal style links-like
golf course. The course plays along the
North Sea and Moray Firth and affords
stunning views of the Scottish Highlands.
The fairways are generous; the
gorse and fairway bunkers seldom come
Mourne Mountains and Irish Sea. The
course was laid out in 1889 by a Mr. Patterson
just north of town on the Warrens
(known for its rabbit population). For
£4, Old Tom Morris extended the original
nine to 18 holes; Harry Vardon suggested
improvements in 1911, and Harry
Colt created the 229-yard, par-3 4th,
called one of the greatest holes in golf,
in 1925. In 1997, Donald Steel improved
the closing hole, and later created a new
16th hole, an almost drivable 337-yard
par 4. Thanks to the tinkering of masters
old and new, Royal County Down is considered
by many as the fi nest links course
in all of Ireland.
On the third tee, closest to Dundrum
Bay, our group found a note beside a
fi fth of Jamison. Almost fi ve decades ago,
Mark Wagner's dad, Dean, had given his
son a plaid golf bag, a Sam Snead Blue
Ridge starter set and a sleeve of Club
Special golf balls for his 11th birthday.
Dean Wagner, whose own mother was a
full-blooded Irishwoman named Flannigan,
passed away four years ago without
the chance to visit the Old Country. Wagner,
a commercial sales rep from Golden
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Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2013

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