Author: Moly McMillan (Page 33 of 45)

Moly McMillan lives in Somerset. He is a business management consultant helping businesses scale and also devotes time to playing all of Scotland's golf courses, assessing their value for money.

51. Ballindalloch Castle. 11th Sep 2016.

September 16, 2016 / Moly McMillan

Creatively ambitious Highland Estate course with single malt 19th hole

Round £15(9)/£25(18). Par 36(72). Value (out of 5) 4.

Ballindalloch Castle golf course is 14 miles north east of Grantown on Spey and sits alongside the River Avon not far from it’s confluence with the River Spey. The Castle has been the home of the Macpherson-Grant family since it was finished in 1546; the golf course is a little younger, having been designed by 2 of the more prestigious designers around, Donald Steel and Tom MacKenzie, in 2002-3. They obviously work well together, having also designed the well regarded Carnegie layout at Skibo Castle – maybe they just like castles?

Approach to the 1st (Par 5) or 10th (Par 4) – a difficult green to reach in regulation.

The resulting golf course, with views of hills and birch woods, is a rather marvelous and pleasantly surprising layout at 6417 yards from the white tees. Although a “9 hole” course, there are 18 tees, with many of the tee combinations significantly altering the front and back 9s – I would strongly recommend playing 18 holes to appreciate the architectural cleverness of this Steel and MacKenzie design.

The magnificent 4th / 13th at Ballindalloch Castle – here showing the 2nd shot view.

The effect of the different tees, is exemplified straight away with the 1st playing as a par 5 at 488 yards, but the 10th as a par 4 at 405 yards – however, the westerly prevailing wind make both holes very difficult. The tees at the 5th/14th are 100 yards apart, with the 14th playing as a near 90 degree dog leg right. Arguably most stark is the par 3 7th/16th, where I suspect most players need at least a rescue club on the 7th, but only a wedge on 16th; the holes are 70 yards different in length.

The 7th/16th green (here showing the 16th tee view)

As I played around this very ambitious project for a highland estate, I was struck with how fitting the course adds to the colourful history of the castle, which is the original home of the Black Watch, the oldest of the Highland regiments, and also the place where Captain W.E. Johns wrote many of his Biggles stories.

View from behind the 7th/16th green at Ballindalloch

View from behind the 8th/17th green at Ballindalloch

The course was in excellent condition when I played, which I suspect might be helped by the relatively small number of members and players the course attracts. I guess it’s because not many people want to travel too far “just for 9 holes”. I think they are making a big mistake – this must be one of the best 9 hole courses in Scotland, and it is very competitively priced against its Strathspey and Baddenoch neighbours.

The 12th tee at Ballindalloch

On the day, I played pretty poorly, scoring 103 for 23 points, although I was only 1 over for the 4 par 3s.

Finally, there is plenty to keep non golfing family members busy on the estate, which has also recently opened a whisky distillery right next door to the golf course, again reinforcing this highland estate’s ambition.

I highly recommend playing at Ballindalloch Castle.

Some Facts

Course Type: Highland

Par 72 (4 par 5s, 10 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance Yards 6170 (yellow)

Moly’s Gross Score: 103

Moly’s Ballindalloch scorecard – 103, for 23 points!

50. Broomieknowe. 7th Sep 2016.

September 9, 2016 / Moly McMillan

“A nice course”

Round £25. Par 70(white)/69(yellow). Value (out of 5) 3

Broomieknowe golf course sits in the former village of Broomieknowe now part of the town of Bonnyrigg about 8 miles south east of Edinburgh. The origin of the name Broomieknowe escaped my searching.

The snuggly placed green at the 4th at Broomieknowe

The course was designed by North Berwick’s professional Ben Sayers in 1906 and extended in 1933 by James Braid, but had to be significantly altered in the late 1980s to accommodate the A7 Edinburgh to Scottish Borders road with 5 new holes being built. When playing you really recognise the diffent maturity levels of the course.

The current par 70 layout is 6172 yards in length, but visitors are obliged to play off the 5745 yard par 69 yellow tees.

The par 3 5th at Broomieknowe, with the only nice views from the course.

This is very much a typical parkland course and has “nice” greens, “nice” fairways, “nice” bunkers; in fact everthing was “nice”. However, nothing was really memorable, except the 4-ball playing ahead of me, that despite having no-one ahead of them only let me play through after about 8 holes when 2 of them had lost balls. I had planned to have a drink afterwards, but all the bar noise was from “The Members'” bar, that exclusive part of many golf clubs where members sit and discuss “Why golf clubs are dying?” – perhaps getting rid of the “Members'” area would be a good first step?

At least the members at Broomieknowe have a sense of humour: the “deathly” 7th sponsored by the local funeral director!

The card of the course was a little unvaried with only three par 3s, with the rest par 4s, although the long 8th played as a par 5 from the white tees. The course was pretty private with significant views only at the par 3 5th hole. There were several short par 4s that offered good birdie opportunities, but the highlight of the course for me were the several long par 4s, in particular the 7th, 8th and 12th. Indeed the 7th was a dog leg left with the apex at about nearly 250 yards, and is effectly a par 5 for medium or short hitters.

As I said the course was in “nice” condition, and the greens were true but a little slow and several of the new greens were very flat.

The 16th at Broomieknowe, a typical hole on this “nice” course.

The golfing Gods took some revenge on me; playing off my new handicap of 16 having recently won a Monifieth medal, I crashed to a 97, only 28 over par – I succummed to a 9 at the 8th.

Never mind, I had a “nice” time and I would play again at Broomieknowe as it was pretty “nice” value.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Par 66 (15 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance Yards 5745 (yellow)

Moly’s Gross Score: 97

Moly’s first scorecard off new handicap of 16; 28 over par!

49. Montrose Broomfield. 2nd Sep 2016.

September 3, 2016 / Moly McMillan

This flat and featureless links is a poor Montrose companion

Round £25. Par 66. Value (out of 5) 2

Golf was first recorded on the Montrose Links in 1562 which makes it the fifth oldest links in the world; only at St Andrews has golf been played continuously longer on the same land.

First at Montrose Broomfield – a typical hole on this flat course.

Montrose is therefore heaped in golfing history, but whilst the Medal course can lay claim to historical greatness, one should not get over enthused by its smaller neighbour – the Broomfield course. It was originally a 9 hole course laid out in 1907, and then extended to 18 by the renowned architect Harry Colt, during a time when he was significantly altering the Medal course, one of his earlier golfing works.

The 9th green on The Broomfield close to the Montrose town.

The Broomfield is a short and pretty flat links course, which will vary in difficultly wholly dependent on the wind. At only 4822 yards from the common white/red tees, this is a course that is within reach of most golfers, and there are several birdie opportunities, evidenced by my score of 79, the first time for several years I have broken 80, including birdies at the par 4 1st and 15th holes. I was playing off my new handicap of 17:)

The secret of good scoring was keeping the ball on the fairway, and avoiding the relatively few, but deep, bunkers, plus avoiding the small burn that came into play on the 3rd, 4th and 13th fairways and in front of the 5th and 12th greens.

The 11th on The Broomfield, one of the few more defined holes.

When I played the greens were in good condition, but the tees were in need of more care – the fairways were typically dried out allowing significant roll, meaning approach shots had to be judged carefully.

Par 3 17th at The Broomfield in Montrose

The highlights for me were the holes played towards the town, namely the 9th and 15th, which give a real sense of the historical closeness between the people and golf. There were also a couple of holes, the 8th and 11th, which being more enclosed by surrounding shrubs, making them more memorable.

In summary, Broomfield is a good course to learn the game, or for a warm up before playing the Medal, but not worth going out of your way to play on its own.

Some Facts

Course Type: Links

Par 66 (12 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

Distance Yards 4822 (white)

Moly’s Gross Score: 79

Moly’s rare Broomfield scorecard – a 79!

48. Kingussie. 5th Aug 2016.

August 14, 2016 / Moly McMillan

Challenging highland course with great views

Round £30. Par 67. Value (out of 5) 3.5

Kingussie golf course sits above the village of Kingussie in the Badenoch area of the Cairngorms National Park and is easily accessed using the A9 Perth-Inverness road. The River Gynack, a tributary of the Spey, runs through the course and along with the wonderful highland surrounds and heather in view (and in play!) make Kinussie a classic Highland golf challenge.

The par 5 4th with a plateau green – think through your course management here

The club was founded in 1891 and like most highland courses has gone through periods of economic downturn, but the current 18 hole layout is very well established and can be traced back to the early part of last century, including significant input from the great Harry Vardon.

There is a good mix of holes at Kingussie. The long 225 yard par 3 first is very difficult start, followed immediately by the SI 1 431 yard par 4 2nd, which has a ditch and thick rough down the left. After the only par 5 at the 4th, played to a high plateau green, things quieten down a little with good opportunities to score at short par 4s and par 3s.

A real birdie opportunity at the par 3 7th

The opening par 3 actually sets the tone for a rather unorthodox layout, which twice has back-to-back par 3s, the short 7th and 8th, and later the 15th and 16th. The 16th is actually a great par 3, at almost 200 yards, with the river sitting close to the right of the green.

The 18th is a very difficult driving hole, with the river tight on the driving line on the left, but if you manouver that you are left with inly a short iron – a great risk-reward finish.

The 11th green, with classic Highland surrounds

The course was in beautiful condition when I played. The fairways and greens were excellent, but like most highland courses there were only limited bunkers around – but, hey, who’s going to complain about that.

I paid £18 using the teeofftimes.co.uk web site rather than the standard £30. I think these on-line system are providing a dillema for clubs’ pricing policy; is it better to have a standard fee of £18 without discount (like Huntly GC) or the model used at Kingussie? On-line booking gives opportunities, but only if that pricing policy isn’t putting off the normal highland tourist?

Fran at the 14th tee, the tough SI2 hole at Kingussie

On the day I scored 95, as usual including a disaster which this time occured at the 17th, when my snap hook went further left than it went forward forward – then an 8 with the second ball! That, coupled with another 3 off the tee at the last, kept me to 29 stableford points.

This really is a gem of a golf course within a spectacular highland environment and I would highly recommend playing, especially making use of the discounts on offer through the on-line booking system.

The 17th at Kingussie – Moly scored a 10 – with classic vistas

Some Facts

Course Type: Highland

Par 67 (1 par 5s, 11 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

Distance Yards 5501 (white) 5315 (yellow)

Moly’s Gross Score: 95

Moly’s Kingussie Scorecard, including a 10 at 17!

Author: Moly McMillan (Page 33 of 45)

51. Ballindalloch Castle. 11th Sep 2016.

Par 72 (4 par 5s, 10 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

50. Broomieknowe. 7th Sep 2016.

Par 66 (15 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

49. Montrose Broomfield. 2nd Sep 2016.

Par 66 (12 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

48. Kingussie. 5th Aug 2016.

Par 67 (1 par 5s, 11 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

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