Dog Days. We made it. An incinerating heat wave everywhere but Santa Barbara. Tempers getting spicy in Cleveland as Vlad Jr and Jose Ramirez were both plunked and exited the game. I’m anticipating a pushing and shoving match this weekend somewhere in the MLB. At least two managers will get tossed. And you know what, GOOD! Get it out boys. I’m mad the NBA Playoffs are over too.

Masai Ujiri leaves the Raptors one day after draft and two days before Free Agency. That’s how it’s done. If you’re employer doesn’t approve a 3 month European summer, you quit. You just quit and go anyway. Big ups Masai.

The Rocket Classic is this week in Deeee-troit. An impossibly flat course with no defenses. One of the smallest purses on tour. Can someone grab their first PGA win? All eyes on Aldrich Potgieter. A wonderful name, massive distance, and a charming build on the Big Young Fella.

Cruden Bay. The place itself held an aura of mystery since the first time I heard of it –  wild dunes, preposterously creative routing, singularly distinct features – the only comparable I could imagine in my golf course index would be Carne in Ireland or Kualoa Valley of Jurassic Park fame in Oahu. The depth and breadth of Youtube content detailing the course validated that A. this place does in fact exist and B. it has to be played to be believed. So, when push came to shove and the Scotland itinerary rounded into shape in earnest, I took liberties of calling the fine folks in the pro-shop to book a time – we’d figure out the rest later.

June 4th, 2025 - the alarm goes off at 6AM and the boys are greeted by their joints, beaten down after consecutive 36 hole days in 30+ mph winds and more pints than the quotas demanded. Coffee and Aleve can only fix so much at this point. 2 hours to Aberdeen and 20 min beyond until the challenge would transform into a wild, walking spectacle of golf that promised to refuel our senses. We arrived with 20 minutes to prepare our bodies and spirits and take in a bit of hospitality before we set out on what was sure to be an unforgettable walk about enthralling Scottish history.

Fore please! HP and KMARK are now driving. 7-wood and driver both find the fairway and the walk has begun. Much like most links, the first two serve to connect you to the magic, requiring patience and respect lest you prefer a spot of bother, which HP most certainly found in some gorse left of the second green (and the 3rd, 8th, 9th, 15th…). Cruden’s true character begins at the universally drivable par 4 3rd hole, which feeds any well placed shot beyond 200 yards onto or nearby the green for a relatively simple look at birdie. It was this tee shot where HP silently acknowledged his failure in not hiring the services of a caddie, as his aggressive play up the left ostensibly found a fishing village. There are moments in every anticipated round of golf that you sleep upon and anticipate with a religious fervor. This tee shot was one of those and it was an opportunity missed and a moment to be swallowed. This would not be the last opportunity missed on the day, though the remainder of this piece will not focus on the performance but rather the splendor.

All-World gets tossed around, but when folks say it about the par 3 4th hole, they truly mean it. Just ask Harry Bannerman, European Ryder Cupper of the 70’s and Cruden Bay clubhouse fixture. “Gentlemen, my name’s Harry Bannerman and I played in the 1971 Ryder Cup for Team Europe. Took a half a point off Arnie!” This was our unprompted and incredibly welcomed introduction to Mr. Bannerman over lunch after the round. I could linger on Bannerman for much longer, but much like his wife dragging him away 15 min into conversation with strangers, we must move on. The 4th is Bannerman’s favorite hole at Cruden and it’s easy to see why. Aforementioned fishing village upon the left and a dunescape surrounding the elevated green that had to be carved by the Big Man himself. It’s a far better hole from the forward tees according to Bannerman – we couldn’t agree more. 

Taking a turn back into the wind and you’re met with a stout par 4.5 and yet another signature hole in the par 5 6th - a true 3 shotter, with risk/reward in its DNA. It’s at this point in the program where I realize that even my inspired words will not adequately serve justice; henceforth I’ll call upon former Cruden caddie, Ru Macdonald’s, brilliant hole-by-hole guide to fill your cup. A march up into the dunes through another tricky and brilliant par 4 and par 3.5 that belongs to the land more than most holes on the planet and next thing you know you’re cresting Cruden’s glory by catching your breath and observing senses you’re in the midst of defining. You’ve reached the vertical summit, Cruden’s 9th, and yet the round will most certainly climax near the beach somewhere between holes 13-16. You’ll find a devious winding burn, impossibly protected blind shots and a sunken bathtub of a green that deserves laureates as a generational spot for a short-game match and enlightenment itself. You’ll whip your way back around the massive, defining dunes through back-to-back par 3’s, just as we did, and find yourself on 17 tee, exposed to the beginning of the journey you started a few hours ago, fighting the longing sense that this simply cannot be the last time you find a loop here ever again. 

Next time certainly isn’t guaranteed, but spirit-willing it will be. And when it arrives I think I’ll find myself grateful for the opportunity to take a second hack at once in a lifetime. I think I’ll also find myself a caddie.