Panmure Golf Club: Adorned in Scottish History, Tradition, Hospitality & Charm
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland –
“Panmure?” you question, tentatively.
“Yes, Panmure!” I assert, knowingly.
Panmure Golf Club, established in 1845, is recognized as the 21st oldest golf club in the world. Located in the small town of Barry, it is only 1.5 miles away from renowned British Open site Carnoustie and 10 miles from the city of Dundee. A private club that purposely keeps a low profile, Panmure combines the elements of links and heathland in a most playable and memorable layout. As well it should! For it offers both the artistry of Old Tom Morris’s 18-hole initial design in 1899, when the club moved to its present location, and then the renovations of five-time Open champ James Braid in 1937.
A century later, most of these original holes remain in play as they wend through dunes, pine trees, and the native purple heather, spiky gorse, and profuse fescue. Like Carnoustie, St. Andrews, Troon, Ailsa, Western Gailes and many other classic Scottish courses, the front nine lead away from the clubhouse and the final nine return home. The tight, rolling fairways; ubiquitous, “proper” Scottish bunkers; undulating, quick greens; and natural, obtrusive sandhills require strategy and skill to navigate and negotiate. The layout itself is particularly appealing to the eye and presents many photo ops along the way.
FYI, the greens roll true, if you can read them! And practice chipping with your 7-9 irons because the green complexes insist upon the running touch not the higher loft. Higher lofts and lots of luck will be needed to outfox the bunkers with their imposing lips. Bring your range finders because the yardage is up to you. The course offers no ponds but those pesky Scottish burns seem to appear out of nowhere very frequently. Fresh water bubblers will quench your thirst throughout the journey. The four sets of tees—6,551/6360/6113/5684 yards—offer an enjoyable challenge for all handicap levels, with a par 70 for gentlemen and a par 74 for women.
Reserve Your Day on the Website
What is most important for these handicap levels is that this well-manicured venue will happily host guests from across the pond — at the reasonable rate of around $200. Panmure was recently nominated for the Best £150 to 250 Green Fee Course at the Scottish Golf tourism awards, and “Golf Digest” ranks it #32 in Scotland from the 550 options. As long as you can maintain a proper pace among the members and play within four hours, you are welcome to contact the club through the website and set up a round.
How you handle the logistics is up to you. You can walk with your bag, take an electric or a pull trolley, reserve a buggy, and/or ask for caddies (who will come from Carnoustie). Should your clubs get mishandled as Aer Lingus did to me or you didn’t bring clubs, don’t fret. The pro shop has premium rentals, and I received a pristine set of TaylorMade woods and Mizuno irons. All this essential information will be processed online ahead of time and will ensure an easy transition upon arrival. Last minute changes can be made through an email or a phone call to the pro shop.
Head Pro Andrew Crerar Sets the Scene
And the Panmure experience begins with a trip to the pro shop. PGA Head Pro Andrew Crerar will give you a warm and sincere reception, will introduce you to the special characteristics of the course, and will explain the protocols of the clubhouse—to which you will have almost total access, including bars, restaurant, lockers and showers. He will make sure that you have everything you need for your round, and then he will point you toward the new driving/chipping/bunker/putting practice area where the range balls await.
And the Panmure experience begins with a trip to the pro shop. PGA Head Pro Andrew Crerar will give you a warm and sincere reception, will introduce you to the special characteristics of the course, and will explain the protocols of the clubhouse—to which you will have almost total access, including bars, restaurant, lockers and showers. He will make sure that you have everything you need for your round, and then he will point you toward the new driving/chipping/bunker/putting practice area where the range balls await.
Our afternoon at Panmure was pure delight as the four of us (two in a buggy, one with an electric trolley, and the other with a push-pull trolley) played in less than four hours, took a number of necessary shots with our cells as well as a number of unnecessary shots with our irons, and didn’t hold up any members. I returned to the Pro Shop to thank Andrew Crerar for making our trip to Barry so enjoyable.
When I asked Andrew Crerar to describe his vision as Head Pro, he said, “Our staff in the pro shop and in the clubhouse want Panmure Golf Club to be recognized globally as a premier Championship Club, a leader in providing the finest quality experience by ensuring that our facilities and services surpass the expectations of every member and every guest. We want to leave a lasting and memorable impression.”
A Clubhouse for the Ages
The memorable first impression became more lasting when we entered the clubhouse. It is one of the finest old golf structures in Scotland and modeled after the Royal Calcutta Golf Club because of the close and profitable jute (a fiber spun into strong threads) trading relationship between Dundee and Calcutta in the 19th century. Inside is one of the finest testaments to Scottish golf, a cornucopia of incomparable documentation and photography that chronicles Panmure Golf Club from yesteryear to yesterday.
Each hole, as is a custom in British golf, has been endowed with a name that is recorded on the scorecard. The first is Maule, the fifteenth is Dalhousie, and the eighteenth is Calcutta to remind the players of the club’s lineage. Other self-explanatory holes include Pines, Punchbowl, Dunes, Lucknowe, Sands, Buddon Burn, and Homeward.
One of the oldest memorabilia in the clubhouse that shows the dedication of Panmure Golf Club to the development of golf in the UK is a copy of the Royal and Ancient’s proclamation of the 24 clubs that contributed to the purchase of the British Amateur trophy, first played in 1885 at Royal Liverpool. (The British Open began in 1860 at Prestwick.) A number of club trophies are on display, including the unique long-nosed silver club dating from 1845. Many photographs from the early days to the present adorn the walls, giving a sense of Panmure’s success as a private club and as an evolving institution. Guided tours of the clubhouse are available with advance notice.
The Open Legacy of the “Wee Ice Mon”
A section of the clubhouse remembers Ben Hogan’s one and only trip to Scotland in 1953 when he won The Open (after winning The Masters and The US Open earlier), his ninth and final major championship, at nearby Carnoustie. The Scots dubbed Hogan the “Wee Ice Mon” for his unflinching play both in the third round when he came from behind to tie Roberto De Vicenzo for the lead and in the final round when his 68 dismantled the field to beat four others by four shots.
Panmure takes some of the credit for the victory and commemorates his legacy because Hogan spent the prior two weeks at Panmure to acclimate himself to the terrain of links golf and to acquaint himself with the smaller 1.62 inch British golf ball. He played every day with his caddy, Cecil Timms, and incessantly honed his short game by refining his chipping and sand shot techniques to match the Scottish demands.
In addition, the difficult, downhill, uphill, dogleg left sixth hole, a 414-yard par 4, stroke index 1, is appropriately named Hogan not only because he spent so much time practicing around that difficult green complex but also because he suggested the addition of the cleverly-placed hidden pot bunker to the front right of the green, which you will want to admire but from afar, if possible. To this day, it is reverently referred to by the members as “Hogan’s Bunker.”
Professional and Amateur Championships
As you would expect from one of Scotland’s oldest and most competitive courses, Panmure has been the site of many championships and qualifying events: Scottish Professional and Scottish Amateur Strokeplay championships, the British Amateur, British Senior Amateur, Open Championship regional and final qualifying, British Senior Open final qualifying, Ladies British Open qualifying, and very recently the R&A Girls and Boys Amateur.
In addition to Ben Hogan, other well-known golf professionals have enjoyed Panmure. Over the many years, the likes of Harry Vardon, Ted Ray, James Braid, Tommy Armour, Henry Cotton, Roberto de Vicenzo, Sandy Lyle and Padraig Harrington are just some of the past Open Champions to have competed in earnest on these links. Others like Gary Player, Nick Faldo, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnston have visited and simply played for fun.
Refreshment and Restoration
Once you get past the beguiling distractions of the first of the club’s treasures, you are ready for your Kummel and other refreshments in one of the three lounges, each with a specific dress code and each with more archives, records, and trophies. The 19th Hole is a casual bar and the first one you find. The Hogan Lounge is smart casual, and the formal dining area, the Dalhousie Room, requires jacket and tie for gentlemen and evening wear for women. Food may be ordered from the daily Hogan menu. The Kummel, the bar and dining service, and the atmosphere amply complement the club’s vision.
No question and now you know, too, Panmure should be on your must-play Scottish links list. Few clubs are as rich in history and tradition; few clubs are as affluent in hospitality and charm. The bag tag succinctly expresses the pro’s hopes for those who visit his domain and appreciate it as much as we did: “Haste ye back!”
Additional Notes
For more information and for booking a tee time, visit Panmure Golf Club’s website at www.panmuregolfclub.co.uk.
Email Head Pro Andrew Crerar for specific details at professional@panmuregolfclub.co.uk.
Call the pro shop at +44(0)1241852460 for immediate assistance view merchandise at www.panmureproshop.com.
Panmure Golf Club is 35 minutes from St. Andrews and 90 minutes from Edinburgh Airport (EDI).
We used Golf City Taxis, located in downtown St. Andrews, for our transportation needs as we didn’t want to drive on the wrong side of the road. Very reliable and experienced in transporting foursomes with golf bags and luggage, Golf City Taxis will pick you up at any airport or train station or hotel in Scotland. Golf City Taxis picked us up at EDI, took us to St. Andrews for a weekend stay, to and from Panmure GC, and then back to EDI. We highly recommend this company.
Visit Golf City Taxis’ website at www.golfcitytaxis.com or email at golfcitytransport@gmail.com for specific details. The phone number is +44(0)1334477788.
As a caddie, greenkeeper, and Ouimet Scholar from Marshfield Country Club on Boston’s South Shore, Leigh developed his love for the game at an early age. The BA from Amherst College and MA from Dartmouth prepared him for his 36-year career in education, most of it teaching Advanced Placement English and coaching varsity golf. In 1986, a sabbatical from teaching students to writing stories for “Golf World” magazine prepared him for his second career in golf journalism. Leigh is a low-handicap golfer who has won the Golf Writers Association of America’s championship seven times. He is currently a member of Southers Marsh Golf Club in Plymouth, MA, and PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, FL.
