Standing on the first tee is always a good feeling. There’s a tingle of anticipation at the prospect of 18 holes which is hard to describe but easy to recognise. Sometimes that feeling is made even more special by the circumstances in which you find yourself. There are some first tees that push a button in a golfer’s mind. Where excitement about the possibilities of the round ahead is heightened by the location and you just can’t wait to get started. That’s certainly how we feel at College Links Golf. Here we’ve come up with a list of our five favourite opening shots – we’d love to know what you think. Click here to get in touch and tell us what you think.
Kings Course, Gleneagles
The first tee at the Kings Course is all about grandeur. The teeing area itself is massive – about the size of a tennis court – and maintained to emerald perfection. It faces out towards a fairway that feels about an acre wide and sweeps gracefully up to a plateau green. This open expanse, framed by heather, trees and distant mountains, is the perfect invitation to step off on a golfing adventure through majestic Highland scenery.
Machrihanish
Perhaps the most famous opening shot in Scotland, and certainly one of the best. Perched high above a beach on this quiet corner of Scotland’s rugged Atlantic coast, the opener at Machrihanish is no gentle introduction but a bold challenge. The first is a mid-length par four, dog-legging from right to left, and the golfer must decide how big a bight of shore to carry with the opening shot. On a calm day, when the tide is out, watching a shot soar over the golden beach is beautiful to behold. In a storm, when white-capped waves crash against the shore beneath you, it feels like a call to battle. Either way it’s a heart-pumping experience.
Click here to see a YouTube video of the 1st at Machrihanish
Royal Aberdeen
The opening tee at Royal Aberdeen, wedged hard against the clubhouse wall, perfectly showcases the fun ahead. The elevated tee looks down on a winding ribbon of fairway, spilling downhill between sand hills to a green perched above a beach. Pot bunkers, fronted by railway sleepers, dot either side of the landing areas while the North Sea ripples in the distance. There can be no first impression other than, “this is going to be great!“.
Click here to see a YouTube video of the 1st at Royal Aberdeen
The Golf House Club, Elie
The other entries on this list are centred around the enticing view on offer. At Elie, about 30 minutes south of St Andrews, it’s the complete opposite. A steep hill rises about 60 yards in front of the 1st tee, affording no view of the fairway whatsoever. Fortunately help is at hand. A periscope, salvaged from a submarine in 1966, stands in the starter’s hut and offers a perfect view of proceedings high above. It’s unorthodox, and breaks every rule of course design, but it’s also utterly, completely, charming.
Prestwick Golf Club
A golfer teeing up at Prestwick for the first time is entirely justified to wonder just what on earth is going on. The first is a short par four – only 345 yards from the absolute tips – but, at about 200 yards, the fairway starts to to taper in and just keeps on tapering until, by the time you reach 280, it is barely 10 yards wide. Cross bunkers lie beyond this pinched landing area, meaning anything more than a mid-iron off the tee is inviting trouble. Then there’s the railway. The Ayr to Glasgow main line guards the right-hand side of the hole’s entire length, never more than three or four yards from the cut grass. If the train is moving slowly enough, you can watch the passengers watching you. This spectacularly quirky opening shot paints quite a picture of the fun to come at one of Scotland’s ancient masterpieces.
