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NAIRN.TXT
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1993-02-26
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Nairn Golf Club
Nairn, Nairnshire, Scotland
JNSE Rendition by Brent Blackburn
Card of the Course
Out In
1 Sea 400 yards par 4 10 Cawdor 500 yards par 5
2 Achareidh 499 yards par 5 11 Gate 161 yards par 3
3 Nest 400 yards par 4 12 Table 445 yards par 4
4 Bunker 145 yards par 3 13 Crown 435 yards par 4
5 Nets 378 yards par 4 14 Kopjes 221 yards par 3
6 Ben Wyvis 183 yards par 3 15 Sutors 309 yards par 4
7 Long 507 yards par 5 16 Road 422 yards par 4
8 Delnies 330 yards par 4 17 Burn 361 yards par 4
9 Icehouse 359 yards par 4 18 Home 516 yards par 5
3201 Yards par 36 3370 Yards par 36
TOTAL
6571 Yards par 72
Sources: "Random House Int'l Encyclopedia of Golf"
Malcolm Campbell
"Classic Golf Links of England, Scotland,
Wales, and Ireland"
Donald Steel
"The World Atlas of Golf"
Pat Ward-Thomas
Herbert Warren Wind
Charles Price
Peter Thompson
Thanks to: many very talented JNSE designers, too numerous
to mention, whose fine works inspired this
project.
John Kunyik, whose palette editor revolutionized
course design with the JNSE designer.
"The links at Nairn on the Moray Firth is one of the most
underrated golf courses in world golf."
Malcolm Campbell
"Random House Int'l Encyclopedia of Golf"
"The course's appeal is strengthened by the nearness of the
Firth [of Moray], the ever-changing patterns of Black Isle
and the splender of the distant mountains that conjure thoughts
of Dornoch. The call of the Highlands is unmistakable but the
golfing joys of Nairn stand on their own..."
Donald Steel
"Classic Golf Links of England,
Scotland, Wales and Ireland"
* * * * *
I have a passion for links courses. Maybe it's partly because
I am a history buff, and that the Old Course at St. Andrews, Muirfield,
Prestwick, et. al. are simply laden with great golf history. Maybe it
is also because, in a very natural way, they are beautiful to look at.
It just so happens that, as far as scenery is concerned, the British
Isles have scores of Pebble Beaches. It also happens to be the case
that the Brits have managed to lay out some fantastic golf courses on
most of them.
Good links courses are pristine, unspoiled, rough, spectacular, trying,
but mostly memorable tests of golf. I hope I have captured those qualities
in my JNSE design of the links at Nairn.
I am new to JNSE design. I wanted to do a course, but most of the
"famous" ones have already been done, so for a time I had to content myself
with refining some of the OUTSTANDING courses I downloaded. I also wanted
to do a more obscure course, one that I could TRY to replicate from a few
pictures without everyone knowing I was "wrong" about the placement of
objects, contouring of greens, etc. Nairn is a Royal Dornoch-caliber course
that has , unlike Dornoch, remained a secret. In order to experience the
feeling of playing a true links, you should play Nairn in high winds (that
is, more than 15 mph) and with dry greens. This will aid in accurately
simulating the bump and run, but not every hole at Nairn (or any good links)
lends itself to this technique. Think about the shots that you want to play
on this course. You will score much better if you do so. My best on this
course is a 68, and that was in very benign conditions. On the other hand,
I was in the mid to high 70s in most windy rounds, and I even had an
(abysmal) 82 in a near-hurricane. I'm sure most of you "pros" will have
no problems.
* * * * *
Nairn is remote, close to Inverness in the Scottish highlands.
That remoteness, in part, makes it special. Like Royal Dornoch.
I also liked the name. Nairn. Unabashedly Scottish.
Nairn was designed in 1887 by Archie Simpson, and refined in 1889 by
Old Tom Morris and James Braid. In 1889 it became the first golf club in
Scotland to charge admission for a round of golf. It has hosted many
Scottish professional championships in the years since.
I have never played a round of golf at Nairn. Undoubtedly, my design
takes a few creative liberties when it comes to elevations, scenery, and
flora. I apologize for that. The logo is my own. I have never seen a
photograph of Nairn's shield. I don't even know if Nairn has one.
Perhaps in time I will achieve a perfect rendition of this fine course.
Until then, I hope you will enjoy playing my vision of Nairn, one of the
"best-kept secrets in golf."
* * * * *
A few notes about my design technique. As you will notice upon playing
or editing the course for the first time, I have changed the color palette
to better reflect the colors of the dryer, browner links terrain. I think
this coloring looks a thousand times better for links courses than the preset
terrain colors. If this doesn't suit your personal tastes, you can use any
one of the pallate editors to "green up" the terrain palette. The same goes
for the water colors. That bright blue was making me wonder if I'd EVER get
that "perfect look", so I toned it down to look more like "real" ocean water.
I don't know how many times I made revisions to this background so it would
look as much like the real thing as possible. Each time I thought I had it
just right, I disliked it even more when I played the holes. From the
photographs I have, I believe that the background as it now appears is
very accurate. If it isn't, it isn't because of lack of effort.
While I took much inspiration from the designs of many of you great JNSE
architects, the objects, as far as I know, are originals (if someone out
there wants to take credit, do so by all means). Gorse and heather, as I'm
sure many of you know, are very difficult shrubs to reproduce with the JNSE
designer. I think I have done pretty well. Unless you're playing from
right next to some of it, it doesn't look blocky. My advice for the best
aesthetic experience on this course, then, is to stay out of the gorse. All
kidding aside, I really put a lot of effort into this project, and I hope
you like what I've done. Comments and [constructive] criticisms are
always welcome.
In addition, if anyone out there has any addition information about
Nairn that might be of assistance to me in future updates of this course,
I would appreciate hearing from them.
Finally, if there is anyone out there who would be willing to
collaborate on a JNSE rendition of Royal St. George's, site of the 1993
British Open, I would also be interested in hearing from them.
(signed)
Brent Blackburn
5304 Morgan Place Court
Atlanta, Georgia 30324
(404) 636-9733
March 3, 1993