Castle Stuart - #89/Top 100 World
2009 - Gil Hanse
Imagine a links course on a perfect links setting, but designed for the average player. That’s Castle Stuart and it’s amazing.
Gil and founder Mark Parsinen sought to build a links course for the masses. Beautiful and traditional, yet also playable. They did an amazing job!
The fairways are wide, allowing for plenty of room to swing free. When you miss, you can often find your ball and advance it. While there is enough gorse to cause trouble, it’s definitely more playable than most links courses.
The routing is a figure 8 ala Whistling Straits, so the water isn’t always on one side. This does mean some big uphill hikes to move levels, but it’s definitely worth it. The views and variety are great.
The par 3’s are majestic, but the short par 4’s steal the show. 3 and 14 are 2 fun and challenging going short par 4’s, with classic strategy built in. Angles matter and birdie and double are both common.
Overall, Castle Stuart is a majestic walk and an incredible true links course. Its ranking has been hurt over recent years, most likely due to its relatively open fairways. But imo it’s a welcome player friendly design.
Amazing place and will only get better with Cabot’s investment and a 2nd course coming soon!
@footballtweet He noticed a POUND missing from his MASSIVE wages? And then calls the club about it…? That tells me more about him than it does Man Utd.
@elnurbrown1@arielhelwani Pretty sure Diaz knew, 1 of his presses, he was like yeah who gives a fuck i'll fight anyone. Couldn't give a fuck about khamzat he prob knew this was gonna play out