Photograph of 13th green, Royal Tarlair

"Clivet" is the name of this fantastic par three which has spelt disaster for thousands whose tee shots have blown off course and landed in the Bay of Cullen! It must rank as one of the most dramatic short holes in Scotland.

There used be a tree on Royal Tarlair.  It's gone now!  It wasn't that it any way affected a line to hole or required to be skilfully cicumnavigated or anything (if I remember right it was only a Hawthorn!) - but it did break the "flatness" of the topography across the course.

Not - I hasten to add - that this is a "flat" encounter, either metaphorically or physically"  It's a lovely experience playing golf on the lush grass of the clifftop location just half a mile up the road from MacDuff.  There's absolutely oceans of room for most drives, you can miss greens greens but still have a great lie for the attempt to recify any miscue - and then there are the hoels (notably this one, the 13th - "Clivet") which simply take the breath away.

You come down towards the sea then round the dogleg to the twelfth green.....and then you see the 13th tee.  It's not in a dangerous position; it isn't teetering on the edge of the cliff above the Bay of Cullen or anything, but I swear you can hear the teeth of your Titleist or Nike or Callawya or whatever golf ball you're using chattering as you get set to propel it out into the blue yonder - and often on its final journey to the sandy bay a hundred and fifty feet below!

Magic golf!  If you haven't seen it yet - make sure you do.  It's unforgettable.  Remember the name - "Clivet".

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