The season five finale takes us to Tobacco Road GC near Pinehurst, N.C. for a conclusion to our season-long betting game and a deep dive into Mike Strantz's most unique golf course. Thanks to everyone who tuned in this season and to Original Penguin for making it possible.


We're back in the United States for another domestic Tourist Sauce season that visits the low country of South Carolina and the sand hills of North Carolina with plenty of jollyness in between!

No Laying Up’s original travel series explores the history and beauty of golf around the world. A visually-driven exploration shows the crew playing and diving into the stories of some of the most unique golf courses in the golf world — with fascinating characters to match. From Oregon, Ireland, Scotland — the guys' next adventure could be anywhere. But no matter the setting, you can expect the same humor and fun-loving wit from the No Laying Up crew.

How did No Laying Up's Tourist Sauce begin? The man behind the camera remembers | GOLF.com,

No Laying Up highlighting Michigan golf during new season of 'Tourist Sauce' debuting Wednesday | WXYZ Detroit,

Tourist Sauce

Carolinas

Episode 10: Tobacco Road

In the second-to-last episode of the season, the gang takes on Donald Ross' masterpiece, Pinehurst No. 2. D.J. and Neil square off in a hickory battle, while Hueber takes on the 7,500-yard U.S. Open tees.

Episode 9: Pinehurst No. 2

It's a divide and conquer episode, as the boys leave Pinehurst Resort to see what else is in the area. Randy and Neil check out Pine Needles, Soly and Tron head over to Mid Pines and D.J. and Hueber get the backstory on Southern Pines.

Episode 8: Pine Needles, Mid Pines, Southern Pines

Neil is pushing in all his remaining chips in a rematch against Soly at the revamped Pinehurst No. 4. We also take a tour of the new Pinehurst Brewing Company and are joined by NLU Young Hitters Justin Hueber and Lauren Coughlin.

Episode 7: Pinehurst No. 4

Weighing in at just 5,100 yards, Pinehurst No. 3 is a course that's not as often talked about, but it can have the same kind of bite as its more famous counterparts.

Episode 6: Pinehurst No. 3

For many of us, the Wilmington Muni was the highlight of the first leg of the trip. Affordable, fun and diabolical, the Donald Ross course served as the host venue for our highest-stakes match yet.

Episode 5: Wilmington Municipal GC

After the putt-putt extravaganza, we're on to two of the best public courses in the Myrtle Beach area, Caledonia & True Blue. They're both Mike Stranz designs and, even better, they're right across the street from each other.

Episode 4: Caledonia & True Blue

And now for something completely different... In the Putt Putt capitol of the world, the NLU boys square off in a grueling 72-hole mini-golf tournament at Jungle Lagoon and Hawaiian Rumble.

Episode 3: Myrtle Beach Mini-Golf

Round 2 of the Carolinas season is at the famed Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, where Soly has challenged Neil to their own version of the "War on the Shore."


Episode 2: Kiawah Island (Ocean Course)

We're back in the United States for another domestic Tourist Sauce season. Episode 1 comes to you from Secession GC, a private, mega-laid-back club near Beaufort, S.C. We also introduce a new betting game and a new way to pick a Tourist Sauce champion.

Episode 1: Secession Golf Club

It's time for the finale of Tourist Sauce Ireland, presented by Callaway Golf. Our final stop is Enniscrone Golf Club, a wild, rugged course on the west coast of Ireland. Thanks to everyone who has tuned in this season and a special thanks to Tom Kennedy and 

In Tourist Sauce Season 4, the No Laying Up crew takes their average golf game across the pond to experience the dunes, wind, and 'craic' on the West Coast of Ireland. They are joined by Author Tom Coyne, the authority on Irish Golf.

Ireland

Episode 10: Enniscrone Golf Club

County Sligo (or Rosses Point) Golf Club was one of the most handsome stops of the trip. An elegant, sprawling Harry Colt design that feels almost more Scottish than Irish, it was Part 1 of the final day of our trip.

Episode 9: County Sligo Golf Club

It's a tough place to get to but man is it worth it. Carne Golf Links was one of our favorite stops on the trip. A rugged, brawny links on the Mullet Peninsula, this Eddie Hackett design is one of Tom Coyne's favorites in the entire world.

Episode 8: Carne Golf Links

They say the front nine was designed by Arnold (Mr.) Palmer and the back nine was designed by God. Today, we're at Tralee Golf Club to show why it's a very, very special place.

Episode 7: Tralee Golf Club

Waterville is one of the most charming, hospitable clubs in Southwest Ireland. It was a treat to fly the flag there for a day.

Episode 6: Waterville Golf Links

Dooks is an underrated gem of Western Ireland, an intimate, open piece of land that feels both Scottish and Tropical. That, plus some drunken dancing in Killarney , makes up Episode 5.

Episode 5: Dooks Golf Club

Tourist Sauce (Carolinas): Episode 9, Pinehurst No. 2

Tourist Sauce (Carolinas): Episode 6, Pinehurst No. 3

Tourist Sauce heads to "The Granddaddy of Irish Links," Ballybunion GC in County Kerry, where the guys try to keep it together while battling hurricane-force winds. Special thanks to Jacob Sjöman for the incredible drone footage, since all aircrafts were clearly grounded during our visit.

Episode 4: Ballybunion Golf Club

Tourist Sauce (Carolinas): Episode 5, Wilmington Municipal GC

We took one day off from the links golf itinerary to stop by Adare Manor, the impeccable resort that will host the 2026 Ryder Cup. It was as good as it looks.


Episode 3: Adare Manor

Lahinch is among the most famous golf courses in Ireland (and for good reason). We stopped by for an up-close look at the Klondyke, the Dell and everything that makes Lahinch what it is.

Episode 2: Lahinch Golf Club

The season five finale takes us to Tobacco Road GC near Pinehurst, N.C. for a conclusion to our season-long betting game and a deep dive into Mike Strantz's most unique golf course. Thanks to everyone who tuned in this season and to Original Penguin for making it possible.

Tourist Sauce (Carolinas): Episode 10, Tobacco Road GC

Welcome back to Tourist Sauce, presented by Callaway Golf. This season we're headed to Ireland, where the first stops are the Doolin Pitch & Putt and Doonbeg. Let's go launch 'em.

Episode 1: Doolin Pitch & Putt And Doonbeg

The next stop for the NLU travel series is the Carolinas, where the boys will try to outlast each other to become the Season Five champion.

Episode 1 of Tourist Sauce is presented by Original Penguin.

TRAILER: Tourist Sauce Season Five, "The Carolinas"

Tourist Sauce (Carolinas): Episode 7, Pinehurst No. 4

Tourist Sauce (Carolinas): Episode 8, Pine Needles, Mid Pines, And Southern Pines

We're back for another season of Tourist Sauce, presented by Callaway Golf, and this time we're headed to the Emerald Isle. Season Four features some of the most stunning golf we've ever played and it debuts Tuesday, October 1, with special guests Tom Coyne and Chad Coleman.

TRAILER: Season Four (Featuring Tom Coyne)

It’s Championship Day. Soly vs. Tron. The Battle of the C-Suite. You’re going to see a lot of TPC Harding Park over the next decade of professional golf, including at the 2020 PGA Championship.

 to get the full experience and see the comments!

Welcome back to Tourist Sauce, the No Laying Up travel series. After successful campaigns in Australia and Scotland, the boys piled in an RV for Season 3 to explore golf up and down the California coast.

California

Episode 9: Harding Park

Beautiful babies Neil and Randy are back and this time we're headed to the Biggest Little City in the World. In Part 1, we explore Washoe GC – the "granddaddy of the public courses in Reno." It also wouldn't be Reno without a little gambling.

No Laying Up’s original video series highlighting the search for budget golf, interesting people, and good times all over the USA. In Season 4, Neil and Big Randy try their luck at the tables and on the courses of Reno. 

No Laying Up’s Big Randy and Neil search for budget golf, interesting people & the mega bonus all over the USA. Challenged with a rigid budget, the duo embarks on a more familiar version of the golf world. Discovering hidden gems in your backyard and the obscurities of the world doesn't require being a part of the C-Suite. Neither does remembering why the guys love golf, from the laughs and lessons learned in between...and the friends they made along the way, of course.

From Iowa, Arizona, Southern California, all the way to Peoria — 

'Why don't we lean the other way?': How 'Strapped' became a YouTube cult hit | Golf Digest, 

Monday Finish: Homa's Secret, Sergio's future, No Laying Up's triumph | GOLF.com,

Golf vlog 'Strapped' airs its episodes shot on courses in Peoria, Pekin | Peoria Journal Star, 

Strapped

Reno

Strapped, Reno: Part 1, "Games of Chance"

We’re down to the semifinals and it’s Tron vs. D.J. at the house that Tiger built. Welcome to the George Thomas-designed Stanford GC, where our tour guide is men’s head golf coach Conrad Ray.

For more No Laying Up video content visit 

New videos premier every Tuesday! Like and comment for a chance to win products from 

Episode 8: Stanford

The crew continues up the coast to Santa Cruz to play Dr. MacKenzie’s Pasatiempo.

Subscribe and comment to win a weekly prize from Callaway Golf (Recent prizes include Epic Flash Driver, Stroke Lab Putter, Callaway Apex Irons, and OGIO golf luggage).

Episode 7: Pasatiempo

The boys stick around Monterey for another day and head on over to Pacific Grove Municipal to play the “Poor Man’s Pebble Beach.”

Episode 6: Pacific Grove

As mentioned in the episode, Royal Dornoch rolls all the best elements of Scottish golf into one package. It’s generally rugged yet the playing surfaces are refined, located seaside yet offers some elevation change, features world class bunkering, boasts magnificent scale while simultaneously possessing some quirk, etc. From an off-course standpoint, the club is welcoming, the town is remote, yet accessible and the weather is unpredictable. Checks all the boxes.

From a hole-by-hole perspective, the 1st hole provides a warm handshake to start the round. As evidenced by DJ’s escapades, the 2nd ramps up the stakes and demands accuracy. The stretch from the 2nd through 6th is as good as it gets in golf. The 3rd plays downhill, doglegging left to a wide fairway that feeds into four brutal fairway bunkers on the right side and then to a massive green. This is really where the scale hits you. The 4th is relatively straightaway and an easier drive than the previous hole but features a more difficult approach. And then the 5th is among my favorites in all of Scotland. Playing only 350 yards downhill, you can hit whatever you want off the tee and try to play to whatever yardage suits best. However, there are tradeoffs to any route you take and the approach is intimidating, even from 75 yards, with three deep bunkers fronting a deep, narrow green and a drop-off along the right. Distance control is essential. And then the 6th is the devilish par three featured prominently in the episode. Soly also wrote a 

The 5th and 6th greens (Note: some of these pictures in this writeup were taken in September on a return trip to Dornoch)

While I’m undecided on whether I like the new cliff-side 7th (will reserve judgment until it’s open for play) I fervently think it’ll make the 8th a better hole, as it’ll ensure that only a great drive gets down the slope.

The aforementioned slope cutting across the 8th fairway

The ninth is a relatively straightforward par five that highlights one of the strengths of the course – slightly elevated greens that make accuracy that much more integral (and chipping that much tougher in the event of a missed green.) And then there are places like the backside of 10 green (pictured below) that will feed a miscalculation or over-aggressive shot 20-30 yards off.

The 11th is a long four featuring a rumpled fairway and gorse guarding the entire right side and two well-placed bunkers on either side of the green. The 12th (dogleg left par five through the dunescape) and 13th (175 yard par 3 with a small green and trouble everywhere) are a stern mid-round test.

You arrive at the 14th weary from the stretch you’ve just played, yet need to keep it dialed in because you’ve got a 440 yard dogleg left in front of you that demands a drive down the uncomfortable left side a to secure a good look at the green. The farther right, the more you’re blocked out by swales abutting the right fairway and a drastically elevated, shallow green that repels anything coming in from the right. Brilliant hole, one of the best I’ve ever played.

Here’s a look at the Book of Yardage for the 14th

The 15th offers a respite with a short par four featuring a mound blocking the green. A good drive leaves a short pitch into an ample green. The 16th is wide and plays longer than the 401 yards on the card (this is where I blew it right off the tee and Soly got into trouble on the approach.)

Chocolate drops between 16 green and 17 tee.

No. 17 is another stunner: a downhill, dogleg-left par 4 that drops off abruptly about 200 yards off the tee (similar to No. 8) and then plays back up to an elevated green that looks far scarier from the fairway than it is. Next time I play here I’m going to lay back off the tee on the upper fairway for a look at the green on the approach, rather than going down the slope and having a blind shot in.

Upper fairway on No. 17 during a subsequent trip

Finally, the 18th is an absolute brute. 456 yards slightly uphill to a massive green fronted by crazy swales. A rewarding finish, no doubt. Dornoch has a magical quality about it, and the course somehow exceeds its colossal reputation.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz-A0a49-4s

WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE PLAYING THIS COURSE?:

 Put your phone away (or put it on airplane mode if you’re gonna take pics) and enjoy the splendor of the place. Also pack your waterproofs, because the weather can change quickly.

 Despite the mix-up with the haggis toasties the offerings are on point. The view is exceptional, as the grille sits on the second floor with a commanding look over the 1st tee, 18th green and the club’s other course, the Struie.

, which is just about my favorite hotel in the world. I was blown away. Best water pressure of anywhere we stayed on the trip, comfortable beds, and the perfect lounge and restaurant. The service was exceptional. I went back three months later and paid rack rate for a couple nights. The hotel sits about 30 steps from the first tee and not much farther from the town. Perfect.

In Season 2 of Tourist Sauce, a golf travel series from No Laying Up, the guys head to the Home of Golf for 12 unforgettable rounds of golf, and a lot in between.

Scotland

Episode 12: Royal Dornoch

Brora is a special course, and the place I’d most want to play everyday in Scotland. There aren’t a ton of individual holes that stick out (unlike Dornoch or Berwick), rather it’s consistently solid throughout. The course is truly more than the sum of its parts, and that’s even before considering the graciousness of the professional, Malcolm Murray, and the pastoral setting.

Soly’s writeup from the round of his (*alleged) ace

 is probably a better resource for a hole-by-hole and photography, as the light he enjoyed that day was as good as any I’ve seen in Scotland.

Opted to do a photo essay and some high-level thoughts about the course here. While you may look at the pictures below and think that the course is rustic or even in shitty condition, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. As mentioned in the episode, the greens were as good as any we putted on the trip. The links land that James Braid found here features some of the gnarliest natural fairway rumples and rolls I’ve ever seen. Lastly, the routing is refreshing in that it’s an out and back affair that doesn’t feel like one, as there are a few twists along the way, namely nos. 6, 13, and 16. Lastly, massive props to Malcolm, for personally creating one of the better yardage books I’ve used. Tons of usable info – distinctly opposite from that down the road in Dornoch.

 Brora architect James Braid, who designed over 200 courses across the British Isles and Europe, also won five Open Championships and was the only guy to successfully defend his Open title until Padraig Harrington.

 Put on your walking shoes and mentally prepare for one of the most pleasant walks on the planet. Everything about the place puts you at ease.

 Clubhouse is pretty basic and I did not eat there on either visit, owing partly to the quick pace of play (well under four hours) and partly to the proximity to Dornoch. Make sure to visit the pro shop for some merchandise – in a country with relatively crappy logos and merch, Brora punches well above its weight.

Offseason (Nov-Feb) £40; Mar £45; Apr £55; May-Oct £80 for 18, £99 for all day, £225 for unlimited weekly ticket.

, about a 25 minute drive south of Brora. A few good options up in Brora if you’re looking to get away.

Episode 11: Brora

Nairn doesn’t knock your socks off at first glance, and that’s what I like about it. Charm, flaws, nuance and superb conditioning are all tied together by an enviable location hard against the Firth of Moray.

Of all the courses Soly played during his ‘summer of love’ in ’17, Nairn is the one I understood the least (

). There are two reasons for this: flat courses are tougher to explain, and (somewhat relatedly) charm and nuance are even tougher to explain. Flat courses are typically defined and punctuated by loads of bunkers, and the exercise of navigating the minefield can be rewarding if you’re on your game. Nairn definitely falls in that category as it requires some real decision making, but it also doesn’t kick you in the teeth if you’re a little bit off or the wind is up. That you can make birdies and eagles enhances the experience and adds to the charm. The convivial membership, exquisite views and the club’s keen sense of history create a real mystique.

Pictured clockwise from top: No. 18, No. 17, No. 16 green, No. 2 tee, No. 1

The first seven holes (with the exception of No. 3) run away from the clubhouse along the coast and are most representative of the course. The burns that run across Nos. 2, 3 and 16 provide a buffer from the main clubhouse area. No. 4 is covered at length in the episode and counted among the best par threes of the trip. In the aerials above you’ll notice both the plethora plethora of bunkers (both sand and grass), but make note of the width of the fairways, the wispyness of the rough and how far many of the bunkers are set back from the greens – many are more visually imposing than they are penal.No. 4 is covered at length in the episode and counted among the best par threes of the trip. I felt the real treat of the front nine was No. 8. The hole plays 350 yards to a convex green and is the type of hole you play for the first time and then realize immediately afterward that there was a hell of a lot more going on than you realized standing on the tee. The picture below on the left was taken during our trip in July and shows the fairways, which were more burned out and crusty than any others we played in Scotland. The picture on the right (also of No. 8) was taken on a return trip in October and shows a course that greened up in certain spots and completely died in others. Many of the spots that died were replaced by mud when the rains came in September. The price to be paid for a magical summer.

An important note to keep in mind for the back nine at Nairn: We’re used to 36-hole days, but we’re not used to driving between rounds and staying at a different location each night. Our itinerary yielded incredible variety and truly felt like an adventure, but certainly took its toll. By the time we reached Nairn we were pretty beaten down and tired. This manifested itself on the back nine and we simply didn’t film enough. I wish we had a complete highlight package from Soly’s epic collapse. The next best thing is a look at the scorecard from that day (which also shows how we score Tilt.) Truly spectacular stuff:

The front nine sits between the back nine and the coast, yet the views don’t subside. The routing uses subtle angles to make the most of the treeless landscape and hint at the coast at regular intervals (on nos. 10, 13, 14, 15 & 17.) The inward half also provides more variety than the outward, starting with an easy par five in No. 10, an easy par three (albeit without wind) in No. 11), and a gnarly long par four in No. 12. The course then takes an unexpected turn (literally 90 degrees) up the a hill for No. 13, the aptly named crown. I was conflicted on this hole, as it sticks out like a sore thumb on an otherwise flat course, but it features a cool green and makes possible No. 14, which is a long par three that heads straight back down the hill toward the firth. Two imposing bunkers sit well short of the green and mess with your eye, and a severe slope that runs between two penal bunkers and chocolate drop mounds for anyone offline (see: Soly below). Again, the par threes at Nairn are ridiculous.

You then walk back to the 15th tee to play a 300-yard par four that once again plays directly out toward the firth. Another great hole that yielded an eagle, a birdie, a par and a bogey in our group. The rumpled fairway short of the green makes possible all manner of bounces, and provided for a spectacular juxtaposition between the lusher low points and the burned out ridges:

Nos. 16 through 18 are more standard fare but provide a challenging finish. We were certainly ready for the 19th hole and our tour of the archive room.

Simply put, Nairn is a club in the best sense of the word. Light on the bullshit and the exclusivity, and heavy on the competition and social spirit. In planning the return trip to Scotland with Zac Blair and Guido Dan in October there were courses with better pedigrees to go visit, but I insisted on us including Nairn on the itinerary because it represents the best of Scottish golf. We’d played Boat of Garten that morning and drove up for a late lunch and an ensuing round. We walked into the clubhouse and I was greeted like an old friend by Sharpie, Sean and Findlay. What must’ve been most of the club was present in the bar watching the Ryder Cup on the heels of competing for an inter-club trophy.

 featured a stout cast of characters on both teams and set the stage for Matt Kuchar’s longstanding tradition of getting boat-raced in international competitions. He went 0-3 over the course of the two-day event.

 Block off four hours after the round and make sure you have a designated driver.

 Great food, great bar, great hospitality, great members. Any questions?

Range from £110 to £160 April through September and then £50.00 November through March.

We stayed in Elgin the night prior but there are some really cool hotels/inns just down the street from the club, namely the 

. Next time I look forward to establishing a home base at Nairn for a couple days.

Episode 10: Nairn

I was prepared, perhaps even eager, to not like Castle Stuart. Ours was a trip to the home of the game to play the classics, and a modern resort like Castle Stuart did not fit neatly into that designation. After all, why come to Scotland and play something called a “modern links” when scores of real links exist? These courses often offer spectacular views and superb conditioning but lack the fundamental substance and character that comes from trying to approximate a classic with a modern spin. Details get missed, quirk is brushed aside and the routes of play are “Americanized.” A run-up area is either flat or over-engineered. Balance is elusive when conjuring something out of flat farmland.

Conversely, the three Gil Hanse courses I’d played previously (Boston Golf Club, Streamsong Black & Pinehurst’s Cradle) were nuanced, non-formulaic and befit the surroundings, providing hope for more of the same. DJ, our in-house Hanse aficionado, possessed a rare optimism that morning, which helped replace my skepticism with openness. And Soly assured us that CS (coincidentally he and Castle Stuart share initials) would blow our minds. He’d 

When we arrived the “resort” style amenities were all unapologetically present – swift service, a great practice area, thoughtful food offerings – and after a few days of more sparse offerings it was nice to get a taste of home. But in a preview of what was to come on the course, everything was thoughtful and restrained, plainly suggesting that the golf was the star of the show. The details and nuance we encountered on the course were refreshing. It was plainly evident that Gil and the owner of the course, Mark Parsinen, had dedicated the time and effort to get things right. On a return trip to Scotland a few months later I had a chance to see Parsinen’s first effort, Kingsbarns, a Kyle Phillips design down in Fife between St Andrews and Crail. While it’s a fine routing that garners near-universal acclaim, Kingsbarns lacks the ripples and rumples and run-up areas of Castle Stuart. The player is often asked to fly the ball to the green. It feels more like an imitation of Scottish golf rather than the real thing. While I hesitate to psychoanalyze Parsinen’s intent, I imagine he learned a great deal at Kingsbarns and put those takeaways into practice at Castle Stuart with Hanse.

Like Kingsbarns, Castle Stuart takes the less-obvious routing, which weaves back and forth from the coast to cliffs above to offer flourishes and views throughout the round (10 & 11 hugging the coast in the picture above and 18 on the cliffside to the left.) For that reason it doesn’t run out of gas and most holes feel water-adjacent. And the aforementioned details that are so often missing are present in spades. Bumps, bulges, run-offs and knolls abound, and are accentuated by exceptional conditioning – burnt out fairways with perfect greens that were smooth and dense but not overly green. We played armed with the confidence that we could use the slopes as intended and that the ball would react properly on the ground. The thump of an iron on the fairway was an auditory pleasure unlike anywhere else we played. Not surprisingly, the par fives here were better than those we played anywhere else on the trip (a nod to the advances in ball and metal-wood technology that classic links courses never envisioned.)

Most of the front nine is pictured below, with the first three holes along the Firth to the left of the screen. No. 4 darts diagonally and then Nos. 5 through 9 wiggle back toward the clubhouse. The opening trio of tee shots provide an unsettling look for those who guard against a right miss and No. 1 was the most difficult opener of the entire trip. No. 2 eases you back in; a par five offering a reasonable look at birdie.

No. 3, pictured below, is a triumph of the human spirit and captures everything this course got right. Playing around 300 yards slightly downhill to a point, the temptation to go for it is too strong to pass up. And the litany of bad outcomes is just as strong. A well-executed tee shot leaves an easy putt from on or just short of the deep green. Three bunkers and flowing gorgeous stacked sod faces dot the fairway at varying points and demand accuracy for anyone laying up and leaving a dreaded fifty-yard bunker shot for inaccurate tee shots. Long grass abuts the entirety of the right side. And for those who go for it but miss left, even by the slightest margin, tiny lips abut the left side and demand a nipped wedge from a tight lie to a narrow green backed immediately by the Firth (see: the Mickelson video below). One of the most brilliant holes I’ve ever played.

The stretch from No. 4 through No. 8 is solid and features a variety of holes. No. 9 is a cut above the rest – a 350ish par four that often plays downwind and features a sizable shelf down the right on which to land a driver. We had a windless day, so the hole was an exercise in strategy, as explained below in the caption.

The fairway slopes sharply right-to-left and shots funneled left are faced with a steep, blind approach to a green fronted by a severe false-front. The slope also forces you into being very decisive with club-selection off the tee, as anything too short leaves you hitting to the narrowest ledge on the right, but anything too far may flirt with the death bunker on the left. But at no point does the hole feel unfair because if you muck up the drive you can use the generous landing area right of the green to funnel down to the green.

Nos. 10 and 11 (pictured below) are among the most scenic holes I’ve ever played, though the memory is somewhat marred by the nightmarish display that Randy exposed us to on the green.

12 is an exhilarating uphill par five summed up succinctly by the yardage book: “Hitch up your kilt and get your drive in play. Then have some fun.” No. 13 (the featured image at the top of this page and the background on my desktop) isn’t featured prominently in the video because A) it’s a 420-yard uphill ball-buster and B) the view out toward the Kessock Bridge connecting Inverness and the Highlands was jaw-dropping and we simply enjoyed the moment. The contours short of that green, and the way they interact with the angles offered up by the sharp dogleg are the defining characteristic of Castle Stuart that stick with me above all else five months later. It’s not hard to imagine Hanse jamming out on the dozer, enjoying the view and honing the hell out of his craft.

The stretch from 14 (green pictured below) through 16 offers more of the same thoughtfulness. Despite being the holes farthest from the water, the staggered cliffs guarantee world-class views interspersed between large dunes. No. 17 is a thrilling par three that terrifies me to think about on a windy day with a decent round going.

The finishing hole offers up a blind-ish tee shot that begs you to use the gradual slope that bends down to a massive green and feels forever away, but is surprisingly approachable with a long iron or wood. This hole is a friendlier version of No. 18 at Streamsong Black.

 In 2011, after a 15 year run at Loch Lomond, the Scottish Open was played at Castle Stuart for the first time. The event was shortened to 54 holes due to flooding, landslides and wind. 

 Get there early. The breakfast sandos are delightful and it was the best clubhouse coffee we had in Scotland.

 Perfect blend of Scotland and America. Service is quick, coffee is fresh and strong, views are unbeatable, and the menu is delicious, fast and simple. The clubhouse is a distinctive Art Deco structure, think Royal Birkdale, but aligned vertically.

May-Oct: £210 per round, £275 for 36 holes. Apr & Nov: £155 per round, £210 for 36 holes.

The property offers on-site accommodations in the form of three cottages/lodges. Part of the beauty of Castle Stuart is in the location. It’s right next to the Inverness airport (and you can fly in from London or Amsterdam, among other destinations) and a convenient day trip to a host of other courses along the Moray Firth. We stayed in Elgin the night prior and drove to Dornoch after our day at Castle Stuart and Nairn. Parsinen achieved his stated goal of providing a high-end resort option to build critical mass for the Highlands region to be viewed as a true destination instead of three or four courses to add on to a larger itinerary.

Episode 9: Castle Stuart

We wrapped our morning at Cruden Bay with lunch in their clubhouse. On the menu was Cullen skink, a thick, hearty chowder made from smoked haddock, potatoes and onions. We each ordered a bowl (I loved it!) and quite literally got our first taste of Cullen. Puns aside, none of us had any real expectations for the course. It made its way onto our itinerary for a couple reasons: both Tom Doak and Tom Coyne had written highly of it; and it sounded like a fun departure from the big, brawny, renowned courses we were in the midst of. We would have no idea how true that second bit would be…

Cullen is located in Moray, on the Moray Firth, an old fishing village that is as quaint and picturesque as an old Scottish fishing village connotes. It’s an area of Scotland that is a bit more remote due to the routing of Scotland’s highway system, with the end result being many golf tours sail past Cullen (and a host of other delightfully interesting tracks in the area) as they make their way from Aberdeen to the Nairn/Inverness area. I don’t want to tell you how to plan your Scottish golf trip, but I will say that the experience at Cullen was comfortably one of my favorites of our entire Scotland trip. Cullen is the type of course where nearly six months later I can remember damn near every hole and every shot I hit that day. It’s a course I think about often, replaying again and again in mind. It captured our group’s imagination, and as such, I couldn’t recommend any more highly making the hour and twenty minute drive from Cruden Bay up to Cullen for a spin (or two) around the links.

Before getting to the hole notes, I want to call special attention to our host on this day, George Clark. We could not have asked for a better sheppard around the links. Not only is George a tremendous player (two-time club champion in a very Crenshaw-esque manner twenty-five years apart), but his love and passion of Cullen augmented our day tremendously. George is the General Manager at Cullen, but even that job title doesn’t seem to do his work justice. He is involved, out of necessity, in just about every facet of the Club, and has been for many decades. And he does it all while living ninety minutes away in Aberdeen! Cullen is a labor of love for George, and we were privileged to bear witness on this day.

: like a lot of opening holes in Scotland, this benign par 4 more or less serves as a comfy warm up.

: you know the maxim, ‘the shortest distance between any two points is a straight line’? That’s what I think about when I think about this hole. The routing needs to get golfers up on top of the ridge and the shortest distance is a straight path directly up the ridge wall. It’s a bananas, blind, uphill par 3. I can’t think of another hole I’ve played anywhere that’s similar to this one (a thought that comes to mind with a lot of these holes).

: the drive at three is one of the more uncomfortable shots on the entire course. It’s really a par 3.5 with the fairway bottlenecking into a green that is protected by O.B. left, a sheer drop off a ridge right, and junk long. Here’s the hole flyover off the Cullen website (their website is 

: another fun par 3 played across a crevice in the ridge. The green is mostly blind, so again, it’s a bit of hit and hope!

View looking back from 4th green into Cullen.

: is a bit similar to #3 but with more length and more forgiveness. There’s O.B. left but it’s not quite as snug. There’s room to the right especially if you lay back off the tee. Like #3, it gets a bit tighter towards the green complex with a bunch of gnarly trouble left, long and right.

: the last hole up on top of the ridge plays back towards town, which is a wonderful backdrop. Again, the danger forces your miss on this hole. Short and left is dropping off the ridge, long is dead, but there’s plenty of room to bail out.

: George’s favorite spot on the course, and with good reason. It offers the best views of Cullen, the course, and the ocean. It’s a big, downhill par 3 played from on top of the ridge to the flat land below. A crazy fun tee shot were your ball is in the air forever.

: this short par 4 is a good birdie opportunity and also is a bit of a respite from the sensory overload from the past few holes. The flyover is below:


: a damn fun shot on this long par 3. It plays downhill towards the ocean with some whiffs of a reverse-redan green complex that funnels balls from short and left onto the green. DJ’s tee shot here during our round was a thing of beauty, one of his best shots on the whole trip, and his giggly reaction to the contact and watching his ball run is an indelible memory for me.

: a short par 4 with a burn protecting the green which forces strategy from the tee box. Soly had the length to carry the burn (even though he played to the wrong flag lol), while Tron two-hopped his drive in, and DJ and I came up just short. The beach and ocean hug the whole left side.

: this is the first of four straight par 3s, a stretch known locally as “Roon the Rocks.” It’s a long hole, 245 yards, with the defining feature being the large rock structure situated just behind the green. There’s a little cave in the rock that I 

 to explore. From the empty beer bottles in there, I’m guessing some local youths like to do nefarious things in there. It could also possibly be where the Bogey Man lives.


: this hole features prominently in our video. We were standing on the tee and I legitimately had no idea where the green was. Finally George had to point to it. You can’t really see any of the green complex, only a small aiming stick for general guidance. All this amongst the big, red rocks. Completely insane.

: a mid iron shot, 152 yards, but again with no visual on the green and having to thread large rocks and crevices. I think my favorite aspect of the tee shot is the proximity of twelve green.

13 green in the foreground, 14 green to the left.

: the last of the four par 3s is another long iron at 206 yards. The right part of the green is visible, and the flag as well–at least the day we played it. There’s a large rock with encourages a right-to-left shape off the tee.

: the lone par 5 at Cullen! The tee shot plays immediately across the 14th green, which again, is visually pretty interesting. The routing of the hole is fairly mundane, though the ocean and water offer hazard to the left, and there are some traditional links humps and bumps in the fairway that give a lot of character to the hole.

: this is a 350 yard par 4, and if I’m being honest, is the one hole at Cullen that doesn’t stick out in my mind too much. For that reason, here’s the flyover so you can see it for yourself:


: probably wouldn’t be in anyone’s top 3 holes at Cullen, but upon reflection it’s damn close. It’s a reachable par 4 (270 yards) with a lot of tall grass and trouble right, and the world to your left. The green hugs the tall grass right, and more than that, there’s an unpaved road which cuts right in front of the green along with a small ridge. It makes the green blind and introduces some fun dynamics for the second shot, assuming you haven’t reached the green with your drive.

: the home hole at Cullen really serves to bring you back to the clubhouse. In this way it’s a bit of an ‘easy’ finisher in the manner of a St. Andrews or North Berwick. It’s a 330 yard par 4 with generous landing areas and a fairly benign green complex. If you need a birdie it provides a good opportunity, as Soly was able to do in our six-club challenge match.

George said “quirky,” so who am I to say otherwise?

According to George, Cullen is not only one of 84 “true” links courses in the world, and also the shortest.

WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE PLAYING THIS COURSE?

Cull your bag (really, you don’t need 14 clubs), clear your mind, and maybe enjoy a bowl of Cullen skink.

A fun place to sit and have a couple beers after playing. They have a nice little bar with a very friendly, inviting staff. Although we did not, you can eat there. Also, there’s a billiards table in the clubhouse in case you need any more competition.

Tee times: Cullen is open to the public and reservations can be made through the club’s 

.
Greens fees: a single round runs at 25 pounds, with 

.
Accommodations: We did not stay in Cullen, instead drove about 30 minutes down the road to Elgin where we stayed at the 

. Because of our late arrival and very early departure the next morning we didn’t get the full experience but the rooms were great and the beds comfortable. For those wishing to stay in Cullen, the 

 looked very nice. It sits up above the links with wonderful views of the course, town and water.

Finally, I want to give a quick shoutout to the 

 restaurant in Elgin. Not only were they open late when we needed it, but the food was delicious, the beer cold, and the setting unforgettable–the restaurant is inside an old church! A legit, big old church. It was extraordinary.

Episode 8: Cullen

Our crew is learning quickly that you have to pace yourself on these trips! The morning we got up drive up to Cruden Bay I was beaten down – the jet lag had finally gotten me. An overnight flight on a shitty 757 yielded no sleep. Then Kilspindie & Musselburgh straight into a late night at Duck’s. Then North Berwick and a drive up to St Andrews for a 2:40am wake-up call. Then 36 at Crail and Elie. I get grumpy and run-down when I don’t sleep. It was under those pretenses that I played Cruden Bay (and Metropolitan during Season 1 in Oz.)

And there were other factors that didn’t work in Cruden Bay’s favor – the two-hour drive, the gloomy weather, the transition to dramatic scale and elevation changes after playing the flat-ish courses of the first half of the trip, the overly-lush greens that I didn’t feel matched the rest of the course condition (we were told they were being extra-cautious on the eve of a big event.) In hindsight, however, all of that is irrelevant because the flourishes and truly memorable features are what stick with you. As seen in the video, nearly the entire stretch from the third hole through the sixteenth qualifies as a flourish. Cruden Bay is a grower. In hindsight, the weather was a great change of pace and provided a mystique for the course.

Last thought before the notes: any discussion of Cruden is about the experience and the feelings derived from playing amongst such dramatic features. At NLU we frequently field criticism for focusing too much on architecture, but I’ll preempt any negativity by pointing out that the layout at Cruden is less about architecture and more about nature and geology. Archie Simpson and OG Tom Morris (and Tom Simpson and Herbert Fowler later on) let the land do the work and largely stayed out of the way, blind shots be damned. I underrated Cruden Bay in my initial estimation.

 last year – be sure to check that out for a more detailed review.

Just as we did at Elie we glossed over the first two holes in the video but I found them relatively interesting, with some wild movement in/around the fairways (as seen below.)

The fun really gets going on the 3rd, with the prospect of an albatross lurking over the hill to the blind green that features a unique ramp landing area just in front. The 4th is featured plenty in the episode and is the only par 3 on the front side. Pull your pants up and tighten your glove on the 5th, as seen in the video below (an aside: CB has a great website with well-produced flyovers of every hole.)

The 6th (pictured below) was one of the standouts of the whole trip. If there is a knock on Scotland it is that many of the courses have a weak collection of par 5’s on offer. Not the case at Cruden Bay (despite only having two.) The burn that DJ familiarized himself with in the video dictates the entire hole, and combined with the cliff-like right side of the green, makes for a thoughtful approach.

The 7th and 8th are all-world, as the video shows clearly. The views from 9 tee are worth the hike, but you definitely earn them. The 10th was just alright for me, dawg. I quite enjoyed the 11th and 13th, both of which didn’t stand out quite as much for the others in the group. The 12th hole is also a fun, short par 4. There were two things that stuck with me (beyond the golf) from this portion of the course: 1) the most curvaceous burn we encountered in Scotland – just a sexy body of water; and 2) the tee boxes on 13 and 14 are among the most peaceful places I’ve ever been. Set right next to the beach, framed by tall grass, waves crashing below and exceptional holes awaiting you. Sensory overload. The flyover for 13 gives a good sense of just how good.

From there you play up to the blind coffin 14th (where some of my conditioning complaints crystallized – I wanted to use the slopes more but the softness didn’t allow for a big hop).

The blind 15th was a treat (I’m with Soly, I like blind holes since it makes you commit and trust and embrace being uncomfortable) and the 16th was stout (in a similar vein as the 4th). The last two holes ran out of gas a bit but it wasn’t even noticeable since we were still trying to comprehend the stretch we’d played just prior.

WEIRD COURSE TRIVIA: The course was built 

 in 1899. Both were owned by The Great North of Scotland Railway Co. as a means of attracting visitors. However, the destination proved too remote and struggled to attract the crowds envisioned. The hotel was used as a hospital during WWII and demolished in the years thereafter.

WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE PLAYING THIS COURSE?: Rest up. It’s not the easiest walk. Also eat breakfast so you’re not drinking the whiskey on an empty stomach.