XX: Panmure
There are a handful of world-class layouts which cannot easily be dumped into a bucket of golf course architypes- Parkland, Links, Heathland, Moorland and Clifftop, their routings traversing a number of golfing ecosystems throughout. When a hybrid site is utilized effectively it can produce some of the finest walks and most engaging rounds in golf, however when done poorly a dog’s breakfast of incoherent holes can ensue.
Beginning in the pines, a cup of coffee in some heathland, winding through a run of proper linksland and closing out in a plot of former farmland, wrestling over Panmure’s boxed-in definition is a fruitless affair and one which ultimately lands you in the same place – no matter what you call it, Panmure offers some of the most interesting golf in Scotland.
Heathland? Links? Parkland? Quality!
Panmure Golf Club has an interesting past, its history beginning with its golf being played at nearby Monifieth before a group of members decided to have their own private course built only two miles west of the famed links at Carnoustie. Like many Scottish links, its location was determined by its proximity to a train stop, a stop which was cancelled just prior to construction of the course meaning the planned clubhouse was also shifted much closer to Barry Train Station, a move which gave rise to the opening and closing three hole stretches across the flatter, parkland ground.
Panmure's homage to Royal Calcutta
There’s a deep seeded classiness about Panmure from the moment you arrive, it just feels like a proper members club. Much of this has to do with the uniquely stunning clubhouse – a homage to the Royal Calcutta Golf Club in India. None the wiser, Angus seemed a strange place for an imitation of Indian architecture, however the nearby city of Dundee was a centre of jute trading with merchants in Calcutta, many of whom were members at Panmure. In my opinion, the gorgeous clubhouse now stands as one of the finest in the country.
The treacherous approach into 6 'Hogan's Hole'
After a solid, yet unspectacular meander through the pines of the first four holes, the petite punchbowl green of the short one-shotter at five oozes quality and is the first glimpse of the impending jaunt through Panmure’s linksland. Aptly dubbed ‘Hogan’s Hole’ after his two weeks spent practicing at Panmure prior to the 1953 Open Championship which he went on to win, the sixth is without a doubt Panmure’s most famous chapter. A brilliant par 4 with a tee shot over heather to a blind fairway, leaving one of the most exacting and white-knuckled approach shots in golf – uphill and surrounded by gorse, heather, out of bounds and the infamous short right bunker which Hogan advised and was no sooner built. After a straight out in front beginning, the sixth is a well-timed slap in the face and there is no faking it.
The textures of Panmure are second to none
The golf from the fifth tee to the fourteenth green is pound for pound some of the best we played on the trip. It should come as no surprise that this run occupies the finest land on the property and winding and diving through the curves, ridges, dunes and elevation changes of proper linksland birthed a variety in this stretch which could be matched by few. The textures of Panmure’s land are at the forefront and truly magnificent - heather, pines, dunes and fescue intertwine to produce a landscape which screams firm fast and handsome golf.
What a green complex at nine!
The fast running approach into the 7th and the blind tee ball to the angled fairway at eight ask fairly firm questions, however I took a particular affinity to the short par 3 ninth hole, a wonderfully sloping green with a small catching bowl at the front right awaiting a short iron, and the 10th, a heaving dogleg right swoops around the out of bounds fence.
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The type of hole which forces you to plan your return, visually the 12th is a cluster of chaos- a thin slice of heavily undulating fairway smothered by fescue and bunkers paves the way to an elevated green with a burn cutting across the front. Like the sixth, twelve demands nothing but accuracy. The great thing about the guts of Panmure is it never gives you a chance to breathe and fresh off the overwhelming 12th, thirteen delivers an all-world green complex – sunken, sloping front to back and encompassed by hairy hillocks and asking so many questions of a golfer’s second shot. The features of Panmure are consistently varied with many holes allowing the land to do the talking and a handful of green complexes being pushed front and centre – an excellence example of restraint and balance.
The cluster of chaos short of the 12th green
The closing few holes perhaps leave a little to be desired returning to the clubhouse via the farmland, however the damage has already been done and Panmure’s awestriking quality has been stamped hard. As a golf club and a course, Panmure does so much right – an old world charm exudes a compellingly unique layout of firm and fast golf.
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Like many, outside of Hogan’s two week residency in 1953, I knew very little about Panmure and in many ways its inclusion on our trip was a matter of proximity to Carnoustie and convenience for our itinerary. Places like Panmure are what makes Scotland so brilliant and force me to take a step back and mourn the courses we have driven past on our journey. The quality of Scottish golf is not constrained to the Open rota courses, nor those topping the world rankings, and sometimes a place like Panmure has holes every bit as compelling. Far from a trip fiiller, Panmure presents an immense amount of quality golf throughout and it is surely one of the more unique canvases in the country – golfers passing through the gates of Carnoustie have no excuse great enough to bypass the gorgeously textured links/heathland/parkland of Panmure.
Few greens can challenge the 13th at Panmure