Played by NCG: Crail

Dan Murphy

An exceptionally short true Scottish links course

Where is Crail?

5 miles West of St Andrews, Fife.

What to expect

Stunning sea vistas, high winds and a short challenging end to your round.

My best bit

A first true links experience, the combination of brutal crosswinds and fast greens. This was a baptism of fire in the truest sense.

Watch out for

The beach. The 4th and 5th dogleg right over the edge of the Fife coastline, rewarding those who take a risk with major distance gains. Club up and watch your slice. The beach is out-of-bounds.

When I go back…

I’ll take enough balls to cover the interest accrued by the Scottish kelp.

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About the author

Dan Murphy

Dan is a lifelong golfer. He had the great fortune to grow up within 200 yards of the 5th fairway of his local 9-holer, Rawdon, in Leeds.

Dan attended his first Open Championship in 1988 at Royal Lytham. The first action he saw, peering through the crowds behind the 8th green, was Paul Broadhurst holing out from the fairway below for an eagle. Which seemed perfectly normal at the time.

Since then, he has attended a further 27 Opens. Tragically, he can recite a phenomenal number of arcane statistics about The Open – whether you ask him to or not.

Dan has a post-graduate diploma in print journalism and is an experienced writer and editor. He is also a director of NCG’s parent company.

Dan specialises in the golf courses of the British Isles and heads up NCG Top 100s course rankings. He is not unacquainted with links golf and is closing in on a lifetime tally of 700 courses played.

In a former life, Dan was NCG’s equipment editor. Currently in his bag are: Ping G440 Max driver, Ping G440 Thriver, Ping G440 4-wood, Ping iDi 3-iron, Ping Blueprint-S irons, Ping S259 wedges and a Ping Scottsdale Tec Ketsch Onset putter.

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