{"id":790,"date":"2016-09-18T13:54:04","date_gmt":"2016-09-18T13:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/?p=790"},"modified":"2016-09-18T13:54:04","modified_gmt":"2016-09-18T13:54:04","slug":"52-cullen-13th-sep-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/?p=790","title":{"rendered":"52. Cullen. 13th Sep 2016."},"content":{"rendered":"

Treat yourself at this unique Moray coastal gem<\/strong><\/p>\n

Round \u00a321. \u00a0Par 63. \u00a0Value (out of 5) 4\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cullen is only about\u00a04500 yards long, with 10 par 3s, so it’s hardly the toughest golfing challenge you’ll ever\u00a0face, but it’s difficult to articulate\u00a0the absolute delight which awaits any\u00a0first time visitor. \u00a0 Ask any golfer that’s played here for their “top 10” courses, and they are almost guaranteed to have Cullen on the list. \u00a0It’s unique, quirky, unconventional and, most importantly, great fun.<\/p>\n

\"4th

4th green, with views towards Cullen<\/p><\/div>\n

Cullen, which sits mid-way between Aberdeen and Inverness on the Moray coast, also has a great pedigree; 9 holes were designed by Old Tom Morris in 1870, then extended in 1905 to 18 holes by Charlie Neaves, the professional at nearby Lossiemouth. \u00a0Thirteen\u00a0holes\u00a0fit snugly into a cavernous bay with sandy beach, plus 5\u00a0holes play on higher cliff ground with magnificent views of the bay. \u00a0 In addition to this, in itself, magnificent location, there is added the spectacular Boar Crag, a huge 80 foot high rock which dominates the bay, and forms a challenging hazard\u00a0as part of a run of 4 par 3s from the 11th. \u00a0It truly is a remarkable location.<\/p>\n

\"The

The signature 7th hole tee shot<\/p><\/div>\n

Without meaning to be too controversial, Cullen does in my opinion warrant\u00a0adding to the\u00a0debate about what constitutes a links course. \u00a0Although most of the course hugs the coast line, the cliff top land, with 5 greens, is undoubtedly arable. \u00a0In addition, the turf on the 13 beach side\u00a0holes, is also much softer than, say, the turf on which the Angus links courses are played. \u00a0So although this is undoubtedly classified as a seaside links course, few of the shots “feel” like they are links shots. \u00a0This doesn’t diminish Cullen at all, but in a “what is a links course” \u00a0debate, it’s worth discussing Cullen.<\/p>\n

\"Fran,

Fran, my playing partner, at the 9th green at Cullen<\/p><\/div>\n

There are many highlights of the course. \u00a0Both the 2nd and 4th are blind shot par 3s, requiring good distance understanding. \u00a0Then soon after comes the fantastic long par 3 7th, at over 200 yards, with a drop of around 50 feet, which is one of those holes where your ball seems to stay airborne indefinitely; \u00a0it also has wonderful views of the course.<\/p>\n

\"The

The 11th green at Cullen with the indomitable Boar Crag<\/p><\/div>\n

Later in your round awaits Boar Crag, and in particular the par 3 12th and 13th holes, where the rock formation dominates shots. \u00a0I suspect several played treat themselves to the odd “provisional” ball off these tees – especially on the 13th, where you need to hit directly over the marker post, and not be fooled into hitting to the 16th green by mistake.<\/p>\n

\"The

The difficult 12th tee shot at Cullen<\/p><\/div>\n

The course was in excellent condition when I played, with the greens being very well paced and true. \u00a0I played to my handicap and scored 79, although I irritatingly lost a ball on the 10th with one of those shots that you just don’t think is going to be lost.<\/p>\n

Cullen also has a nice club house where you can dine on the other local delicacy, Cullen “Skink”, which is a hearty fish & potato chowder, before going out for another 18 holes – its one of those very few courses you want to be more than 18 holes!<\/p>\n

Some Fact<\/strong>s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Course<\/strong><\/em> Type<\/em>:\u00a0(mainly) Links<\/strong><\/p>\n

Par 63<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(1 par 5, 7 par 4s, 10 par 3s)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Distance Yards<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a04404 (yellow)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moly\u2019s Gross Score<\/strong>: 79<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Moly's

Moly’s Cullen scorecard – a 79<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Treat yourself at this unique Moray coastal gem Round \u00a321. \u00a0Par 63. \u00a0Value (out of 5) 4\u00a0 Cullen is only about\u00a04500 yards long, with 10 par 3s, so it’s hardly the toughest golfing challenge you’ll ever\u00a0face, but it’s difficult to articulate\u00a0the absolute delight which awaits any\u00a0first time visitor. \u00a0 Ask any golfer that’s played here […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,46,36,89,19,29,32,9,15,10,30,71,38,2,18,56,20,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-18-holes","category-1851-1900","category-4-star-overall-value","category-4-star","category-charlie-neaves","category-course-architech","category-course-owned-by","category-course-quality","category-course-type","category-holes","category-links","category-local-authority","category-old-tom-morris","category-overall-value","category-price-range","category-region","category-the-highlands","category-when-course-established","category-20-39","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=790"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":796,"href":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790\/revisions\/796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.scotlandgolfbible.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}