This course does not have it all and does not try to be everything to everyone. And yet it is in this way one of the absolute best venues in the world. Of the characteristics that matter to the average golfer, Cruden Bay has all and more. The views are probably unparalleled and the design is positively captivating. Perhaps #1 and #18 are a bit too "normal", although they're good golf holes. But the stretch they are transitioning to and from is one of the most thrilling rides anywhere.

Everything starts with the site. It is linksland of the highest quality, monstrous dunes are towering over crumpled fairways and cliff-hanging green complexes. There is not one burn, but three, there is gorse, the sea and the beautiful beach. The scenery includes the ruins of Slains Castle and a small fishing village. It would be hard to build a bad golf course on that site, but Morris and the two Simpsons went to extremes with the natural contours. Some of the hole designs are downright crazy and undoubtedly could not be built today. How about two blind par 3s in a row? "As we get it" appears to have been the main thought behind the routing.

On his initial (or rather initiating) round the player will feel like a 19th century explorer, there are suprises and discoveries waiting around every corner of the twisted landforms. A lot of thinking must go into playing the holes and some of it will be wrong the first time around. Some shots will be excruciatingly difficult and some will only look that way. Hardly anything is straightforward on this course.

There are also encouraging signs of the conditioning of the course getting to the world class level it deserves. It wasn't ever bad, but some unfortunate decisions have been remedied, unspeakable proposals about reducing quirk have been scrapped and the greens are coming along nicely. Current improvement plans all appear to be reasonable, so the future looks bright for Cruden Bay. Although it already is just about the most fun one could ever hope to have on a golf course.