Royal Aberdeen Golf Club

 

Founded in 1780 and holding the status of the 6^th oldest golf club in the world, Royal Aberdeen is a tough but fair challenge of links golf. After being handed its royal status by King Edward VII at the start of the 20^th century, it was then remodelled by James Braid in the mid-1920s to its current layout, at just under 7000 yards from the back tees as a par 71. 

Royal Aberdeen has hosted a multitude of prestigious professional and amateur tournaments including the Scottish Open, the British Senior Open and even the Walker Cup between USA and Great Britain + Ireland. Rory McIlroy holds the course record here on the Balgownie course with a 64 (-7), which is the course we played on the day.

I was lucky enough to represent Strathclyde University’s Golf Society here in a cup-final match against the University of Aberdeen. I remember watching the Scottish Open here back when I was younger, so I was extremely excited to play the course for the first time. Teeing off I was nervous but slowly eased into the round, it was a match-play format, so I had to keep my focus and think about one shot at a time. I was hardly on my phone this round so I didn’t take a lot of photos, but this then allowed me to enjoy the occasion of playing such a highly renowned course. 

I ended up winning my match on the 17^th hole with a 2&1 victory, however, we lost overall on the day 5-3 which was not ideal when we had a 3-hour drive back down the road to Glasgow. Despite the result, I still thoroughly enjoyed the challenge, both from my opponent and the course itself, and hope to play this course again one day, hopefully feeling a bit more relaxed. 

One of my favourite holes of the day was the 2^nd hole,  a monstrous 595-yard "dog-leg" par 5 that, unlike a traditional long par 5, requires a more accurate shot with an iron for the tee shot, as the narrow fairway surrounded by towering dunes make hitting a driver almost idiotic, leaving you with a 3 wood for your second shot (and sometimes 3^rd depending on the wind).