CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – “Panmure?” you question, tentatively.
“Yes, Panmure!” I assert, knowingly.
Panmure Golf Club, established in 1845, is recognized as the 21st oldest golf club in the world. Located in the small town of Barry, it is only 1.5 miles away from renowned British Open site Carnoustie and 10 miles from the city of Dundee. A private club that purposely keeps a low profile, Panmure combines the elements of links and heathland in a most playable and memorable layout. As well it should! For it offers both the artistry of Old Tom Morris’s 18-hole initial design in 1899, when the club moved to its present location, and then the renovations of five-time Open champ James Braid in 1937.
The Challenge of Links Golf
A century later, most of these original holes remain in play as they wend through dunes, pine trees, and the native purple heather, spiky gorse, and profuse fescue. Like Carnoustie, St. Andrews, Troon, Ailsa, Western Gailes and many other classic Scottish courses, the front nine lead away from the clubhouse and the final nine return home. The tight, rolling fairways; ubiquitous, “proper” Scottish bunkers; undulating, quick greens; and natural, obtrusive sandhills require strategy and skill to navigate and negotiate. The layout itself is particularly appealing to the eye and presents many photo ops along the way.
FYI, the greens roll true, if you can read them! And practice chipping with your 7-9 irons because the green complexes insist upon the running touch not the higher loft. Higher lofts and lots of luck will be needed to outfox the bunkers with their imposing lips. Bring your range finders because the yardage is up to you. The course offers no ponds but those pesky Scottish burns seem to appear out of nowhere very frequently. Fresh water bubblers will quench your thirst throughout the journey. The four sets of tees—6,551/6360/6113/5684 yards—offer an enjoyable challenge for all handicap levels, with a par 70 for gentlemen and a par 74 for women.
Book Your Golf Day Online
What is most important for these handicap levels is that this well-manicured venue will happily host guests from across the pond — at the reasonable rate of around $200. Panmure was recently nominated for the Best £150 to 250 Green Fee Course at the Scottish Golf tourism awards, and “Golf Digest” ranks it #32 in Scotland from the 550 options. As long as you can maintain a proper pace among the members and play within four hours, you are welcome to contact the club through the website and set up a round.
How you handle the logistics is up to you. You can walk with your bag, take an electric or a pull trolley, reserve a buggy, and/or ask for caddies (who will come from Carnoustie). Should your clubs get mishandled as Aer Lingus did to me or you didn’t bring clubs, don’t fret. The pro shop has premium rentals, and I received a pristine set of TaylorMade woods and Mizuno irons. All this essential information will be processed online ahead of time and will ensure an easy transition upon arrival. Last minute changes can be made through an email or a phone call to the pro shop.
The Head Pro Sets the Scene
And the Panmure experience begins with a trip to the pro shop. PGA Head Pro Andrew Crerar will give you a warm and sincere reception, will introduce you to the special characteristics of the course, and will explain the protocols of the clubhouse—to which you will have almost total access, including bars, restaurant, lockers and showers. He will make sure that you have everything you need for your round, and then he will point you toward the new driving/chipping/bunker/putting practice area where the range balls await.
As a souvenir, he will give you a metal Panmure Golf Club bag tag, which includes the scallop shell as its emblem, a tribute to the Coat of Arms of the Earl of Dalhousie, family name Maule, from whom the founding members bought the land. “Haste ye back” is inscribed on the reverse side. Pro Crerar will also give you a chit to the clubhouse bar for an after-round drink of “Kummel,” a distinctive liqueur sure to revive your spirits. Finally, the pro will make sure that a picture of your foursome is taken on the first tee with the shell emblem in the foreground, and four 8X10 photographs will be awaiting you in the clubhouse when you enter for your “Kummel.”
Our afternoon at Panmure was pure delight as the four of us (two in a buggy, one with an electric trolley, and the other with a push-pull trolley) played in less than four hours, took a number of necessary shots with our cells as well as a number of unnecessary shots with our irons, and didn’t hold up any members. I returned to the Pro Shop to thank Andrew Crerar for making our trip to Barry so enjoyable.
When I asked Andrew Crerar to describe his vision as Head Pro, he said, “Our staff in the pro shop and in the clubhouse want Panmure Golf Club to be recognized globally as a premier Championship Club, a leader in providing the finest quality experience by ensuring that our facilities and services surpass the expectations of every member and every guest. We want to leave a lasting and memorable impression.”
A Clubhouse for the Ages
The memorable first impression became more lasting when we entered the clubhouse. It is one of the finest old golf structures in Scotland and modeled after the Royal Calcutta Golf Club because of the close and profitable jute (a fiber spun into strong threads) trading relationship between Dundee and Calcutta in the 19th century. Inside is one of the finest testaments to Scottish golf, a cornucopia of incomparable documentation and photography that chronicles Panmure Golf Club from yesteryear to yesterday.
Each hole, as is a custom in British golf, has been endowed with a name that is recorded on the scorecard. The first is Maule, the fifteenth is Dalhousie, and the eighteenth is Calcutta to remind the players of the club’s lineage. Other self-explanatory holes include Pines, Punchbowl, Dunes, Lucknowe, Sands, Buddon Burn, and Homeward.
One of the oldest memorabilia in the clubhouse that shows the dedication of Panmure Golf Club to the development of golf in the UK is a copy of the Royal and Ancient’s proclamation of the 24 clubs that contributed to the purchase of the British Amateur trophy, first played in 1885 at Royal Liverpool. (The British Open began in 1860 at Prestwick.) A number of club trophies are on display, including the unique long-nosed silver club dating from 1845. Many photographs from the early days to the present adorn the walls, giving a sense of Panmure’s success as a private club and as an evolving institution. Guided tours of the clubhouse are available with advance notice.
The Ben Hogan Connection
A section of the clubhouse remembers Ben Hogan’s one and only trip to Scotland in 1953 when he won The Open (after winning The Masters and The US Open earlier), his ninth and final major championship, at nearby Carnoustie. The Scots dubbed Hogan the “Wee Ice Mon” for his unflinching play both in the third round when he came from behind to tie Roberto De Vicenzo for the lead and in the final round when his 68 dismantled the field to beat four others by four shots.
Panmure takes some of the credit for the victory and commemorates his legacy because Hogan spent the prior two weeks at Panmure to acclimate himself to the terrain of links golf and to acquaint himself with the smaller 1.62 inch British golf ball. He played every day with his caddy, Cecil Timms, and incessantly honed his short game by refining his chipping and sand shot techniques to match the Scottish demands.
In addition, the difficult, downhill, uphill, dogleg left sixth hole, a 414-yard par 4, stroke index 1, is appropriately named Hogan not only because he spent so much time practicing around that difficult green complex but also because he suggested the addition of the cleverly-placed hidden pot bunker to the front right of the green, which you will want to admire but from afar, if possible. To this day, it is reverently referred to by the members as “Hogan’s Bunker.”
After-Round Refreshment
Once you get past the beguiling distractions of the first of the club’s treasures, you are ready for your Kummel and other refreshments in one of the three lounges, each with a specific dress code and each with more archives, records, and trophies. The 19th Hole is a casual bar and the first one you find. The Hogan Lounge is smart casual, and the formal dining area, the Dalhousie Room, requires jacket and tie for gentlemen and evening wear for women. Food may be ordered from the daily Hogan menu. The Kummel, the bar and dining service, and the atmosphere amply complement the club’s vision.
No question and now you know, too, Panmure should be on your must-play Scottish links list. Few clubs are as rich in history and tradition; few clubs are as affluent in hospitality and charm. The bag tag succinctly expresses the pro’s hopes for those who visit his domain and appreciate it as much as we did: “Haste ye back!”
On the web: PanmureGolfClub.co.uk
