The 1st - The Burn, 370 yards
A wide open fairway free of rough and bunkers awaits the tee shot, but a tiny stream -- the Swilcan Burn -- guards the front of a wide but shallow green.
The drive is to left of centre away from the out of bounds to
the right and the threat of the burn at 260 yds to a long drive.
The second is a medium to long iron, playing long to avoid the
burn which is hard against the front of the green. The green is
generally flat but slopes in from the back left to front. There
is 40 yds available between the burn and the rough beyond the
green.
At the beginning of the last century the drive would have been somewhat more demanding since the North Sea had eroded most of the fairway. The sea was kept at bay and the land reclaimed by back-filling behind a barrier of rock ballasted fishing boat hulks.
Big John says....
Off the tee aim for the new Madras Rugby Clubhouse. 9 times out of ten you must take an extra club for your second shot to clear the burn, it's a deceptively long shot. In the Dunhill Tournament in 1993 though John Daly did drive the green (downwind)!