Colin Montgomerie Foreword to 18 Greatest Scottish Golf Holes
Scotland has more golf courses per capita, and therefore more golf
holes per capita, than anywhere on earth. Invariably, the standard is
high, in some places unsurpassed, so to settle on its eighteen
greatest golf holes is no simple task. Admittedly, few matters can be
more pleasant to discuss than the merit or otherwise of a golf hole.
But few can be fought over more ferociously and in truth few can be
more subjective.
An exhaustive research process saw the authors of this book, Craig
Morrison and Andrew Ross, visit every Scottish course of note to come
up with eighteen glorious golf holes. From Durness to Southerness,
from Shiskine to St Andrews, no bunker was left un-raked. The result,
18 Greatest Scottish Golf Holes, is a book that presents a stunning
selection of holes, acknowledging the classics, paying respect to
those on the great new courses that have emerged in more recent times
and uncovering lesser-knowns that deserve to be mentioned in the same
breath as the Postage Stamp and Road Hole.
This book’s aim is a simple one: to give Scottish golf and its great
holes the treatment they deserve. And that aim has been achieved.
Interviews with the game’s luminaries as well as the people that know
the golf holes best – the Club Pros, the Head Greenkeepers, the life
members – make this book fascinating. And the photography, by John
Kernick – one of the world’s very best photographers – makes it
endlessly pleasing.
The story of the game is also revealed through the text, its journey
from east to west in Scotland and then on to the rest of the world, as
well as a plethora of other interesting and useful information about
the included golf courses and holes.
For my part it is great to see Scottish golf presented so sharply, to
see with fresh eyes the forgotten wonders of older clubs we sometimes
take for granted as well as to see the remarkable style of some of the
country’s newest golf courses.
Any of the eighteen holes featured here would live long in the memory
after tackling them. They manage to live long in the memory after
simply reading about them, which is for most of us to play them in our
mind.
Have a great round,
Colin Montgomerie