A TIP OF THE CAP

It has never held an Open Championship. It’s long on blind shots, heroic approaches, mind-boggling greens, and even a stone wall that runs directly through the golf course. But since its inception in 1832 (golf had been played on that same linksland since the 17th century) the West Links at North Berwick has anchored its community, recorded golf history, inspired golfers and golf course designers, helped grow the game, and preserved the natural environment of its location hard against the Firth of Forth while encouraging environmental stewardship around the globe. Sometimes overlooked by tourists who flock to nearby St. Andrews, North Berwick is a spot for the golf purists, dreamers, and adventurers. That’s why we’ve chosen the links that abuts this charming village for this year’s Tip of the Cap.

WHAT WE LOVE

There’s so much to appreciate at North Berwick’s West Links, including unique elements rarely found anywhere else. For instance, the incredible Children’s Course, located next to the 15th and 16th holes, that inspired Mike Keiser to create the Junior Bandonista program, which was later adopted at Sand Valley. And, of course, the remarkable and unforgettable rumpled fairways on the West Links, and how the course works out from the town—along the sea, before returning back to where it started. Perfection, indeed!

WHERE FUN IS KEY

“If North Berwick is one thing, it is always fun,” says Tim Gallant, an American who fell in love with North Berwick’s course and now calls the Scottish town home. “It starts off as fun, and at places it might be quirky and sometimes even unfair, but it never loses that sense of enjoyment. It is really unique in that way.”

Indeed, North Berwick was so influential to Michael Keiser that he felt compelled to share it with architect Jim Craig, the longtime Coore and Crenshaw associate who befriended Michael while working on Sand Valley and who was then tapped to design the Commons at Sand Valley, as well as the second course at Rodeo Dunes.

“I had heard about North Berwick for so long,” Craig says. “But when Michael and I were getting more and more serious about building a couple of golf courses, he insisted that I make a trip to Scotland and Ireland to see these courses that had held up for centuries and still delight golfers today. Well, I saw a lot of them, but the one that really got me—I guess it’s not surprising—was North Berwick.”

What captured Craig’s attention was how much fun the golf course was to play, but in a natural setting. And, of course, there are the iconic holes, like the 15th, the fabled Redan, which is a holy grail for golf architects. The influence of North Berwick on Craig’s design at the Commons is obvious. From the very start, where the fairway rolls and heaves toward an elevated green complex, to the penultimate hole at the Commons, a Redan playing across and along the shores of Luna Lake, hints of Craig’s admiration for the West Links abound.

“It just makes you want to go back and play it again and again,” Craig says of the West Links. “I can’t think of a higher compliment for any course than that.”