Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: Heathland (Page 3 of 7)

165. Lanark. 13 Oct 22.

March 8, 2023 /

Gleneagles – “The Lanark of the North”?

Round £65. Par 70. Course/Slope Rating (yellow) 70.1/124. Value (out of 5) – 5

Moly’s score – 96

In immaculate condition, I still found a rabbit hole at Lanark and one which didn’t afford a free drop. Lanark’s website claimed a brilliant story; “In 1920 the LSM Railway Company decided, only on the casting vote of its chairman, to build its hotel at Gleneagles rather than Lanark.”

The beautifully stunning Lanark golf course evident from the first tee, a 350 yard par four.

Disappointingly, I couldn’t find corroboration for Lanark’s story; for example, the excellent 1951 club’s centenary history makes no mention of the ‘Gleneagles’ decision. Jamie Darling, of Lanark GC, was very helpful in my enquiries, but he too found evidence elusive.

The challenging 4th, here the view from 200 yards, at this 430 yard par four stroke index 1 hole.

The more I researched, the more convinced I am The Gleneagles resort vision existed long before 1920; in fact as early as 1910 by Perthshire born Donald Matheson, the Chief Engineer with Caledonian Railways.    The Kings course opened in 1919, with the final hotel site decided around 1920. Matheson later became the GM of Caledonian Railways, then Dep GM in Scotland for LMS, and seems likely the driving force.

The sixth requires two “Sunday best” shots to get close to the green at this uphill par four.

Lanark, unlike Gleneagles, is one of the UK’s best kept golfing secrets – a quite beautiful moorland course, nestled 600 feet up in the Clyde Valley of South Lanarkshire, only 25 miles from Glasgow’s city centre. The town is an ancient burgh and historically important, evidenced by the golf course being one of the oldest “inland” courses in the world. A full 18 holes was designed by Old Tom Morris in 1897, although some holes are traced back to 1851.

The delightful 125 yard seventh – played downhill to a web of bunkers. The 8th is seen beyond and is the only hole playing the same direction as its predecessor.

This tough course was in majestic condition when I played in good playing conditions yet still struggled to break 100 – I had one of those rounds where you play better than you score. The turf is very firm and certainly played like a links. With beautifully crafted greens and surrounds, I suspect anyone playing to handicap will have made several single putts.

The exquisite condition of the course, seen here at the uphill par three 10th at 147 yards, adorned in Autumn sunshine.

The course is well laid out with constant changes in direction (except the 7th and 8th), so wind is always a strong consideration, especially as the course sits high up in exposed countryside. My only (very slight) criticism is that the approach to the second can be confusing; I hit into the 14th green, to be met by some members telling me “loads of visitors do that!”; later in my round I was advising other visitors the same!

Approach to the 11th, with OOB getting closer at the greenside.

The fairways are pretty generous, but miss these and the rough is at times very brutal. With discounts available through golfnow.com, I paid only £32, which was outstanding value.

I would really love to be able to confirm that Gleneagles is “The Lanark of the North”.  It would be nice if anyone could point me to evidence of the chairman’s decision to validate the club’s great story. For the record, Henry Allan, was Caledonian Railway chairman between 1918-23, are would be the “Chairman” in Lanark’s claim.

It’s worth going out of your way to play Lanark, a wonderful moorland course, arguably one of Scotland’s very best.

Facts:

Course Type: Heathland

Par 70  (1 par 5s, 14 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 6107 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 96

Moly’s Lanark Scorecard – 96

163. Carnwath. 25 Aug 2022.

February 7, 2023 /

Set on Gallow Hill, this course has both outstanding and infamous views.

Round £35. Par 70. Course/Slope Rating (blue) 67.7/120. Value (out of 5) – 4.5

Moly’s score – 88

Reaching the sixth tee at Carnwath, I thought about Alexander McGregor’s book “The Law Killers“, the dark history of murder in the area of Dundee where I was brought up. Some of the book’s killers look out upon Carnwath golf course, from neighbouring ‘Carstairs’, the State Mental Hospital. I wondered if any ‘patients’, had been golfers and, if so, whether seeing a course through their barred windows improved or worsened their existence.

The par four 6th tee at Carnwath, with The State Hospital ‘Carstairs’ on the right. Fittingly SI 1.

Carstairs was completed in 1939, more than 30 years after the golf course opened in 1907, designed as a 9 hole layout by Willie Auchterlonie of St Andrews. This South Lanarkshire heathland course is great fun with outstanding views all around. It’s easily accessible being about about 30 miles from both Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The tough par 3 uphill opening hole, ‘Roundell’ will need a hybrid or wood for most golfers. The brown coloured ‘Roundell’ can be seen, behind the green, and was a look out point in medieval times

The course, now much changed from the initial layout, became 18 holes in 1963. It was in beautiful condition when I played in fine weather. The tees and fairways were excellent, the bunkers well raked and the greens true and fast, but not too sloping.

The par four 5th hole, “Railway”, the first of a number of strong dog leg holes at Carnwath.

The layout is unusual, with three of its four par 3s, being in the first four holes. With only two par 5s, the course’s variety is added to with dog legs, blind shots and some treacherous and well bunkered plateau greens.

The par four stroke index 3, 8th hole, the approach played steeply uphill, with only the longest hitters reaching in regulation I suspect.

The course sits astride the busy A70, which is quite hazardous to cross over. It is also a tough undulating walk, and plays all of its length, of 5632 yards from the blue (middle) tees, which would normally be coloured yellow.

The quality greens make for an enjoyable visitor experience, here shown at the tricky par four 15th hole. One of many plateau type greens.

At only £35 for a round it represents excellent value. With wide fairways, it’s no surprise this is a popular society venue, especially given the outstanding borders views and abundant wildlife. I found the staff in the shop and bar very welcoming.

Moly at the dog leg right 9th hole, “Winterlaw”, at 359 yards. Sadly, Moly’s sliced shot resulted in his only blob of the day.

Returning to The Law Killers; the stories of the headless human corpse found in my Dad’s allotment on The Dundee Law, or the murder of three women in my street, is not appropriate here. But the irony of the golf course and State Hospital being built on Gallow Hill can’t go unstated, since in bygone days, patients in Carstairs would have looked upon a Gallow of rather different construction.

Carnwath’s 6th green with The State Hospital looking on.

Facts:

Course Type: Heathland

Par 70  (2 par 5s, 12 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (blue): 5632 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 88

Moly’s Carnwath scorecard – 88, a solid round

160. Ladybank. 21 Aug 22.

January 15, 2023 /

One of Scotland’s highest rated heathland courses.

Round £120. Par 71. Course Rating / Slope Rating (white) 73.6/133. Value (out of 5) – 3.5

Moly’s score – 97

Fife has some of the world’s greatest links golf courses, but at Ladybank, only 15 miles west of St Andrews, you will find a heathland golf course rated in Scotland’s top 50. Used as a final qualifying venue for The Open, when hosted in St Andrews, Ladybank is a great test of your game.

The green at the first at Ladybank, a good par 4 of 373 yards, lets you know what you are in for.

The course is in an area called the Howe of Fife, a low-lying strip of land that follows the course of the River Eden towards St Andrews. This flat piece of land was mostly marshland and peat bog before 1800, and the village was originally named Lady’bog’ by the monks of Lindores Abbey from Newburgh.

The par four 5th, so characteristic of Ladybank.

For some unrecorded reason the railway station, built in the 1840s, was called Ladybank, after which time the village adopted this name. So the golf course can trace its name to a railway station.

The 10th at Ladybank, a par 3 of 172 yards, with the beautiful heathland terrain on show.

Unlike the station, which is one of the most unchanged in Scotland, the golf course has undergone an evolution. In 1879, 6 holes were laid out by Old Tom Morris, who being 58 was past his golfing peak but golf course design was becoming much called for. The course became 18 holes only in 1962, designed by Laurie Auchterlonie (son of Open Champion Willie Auchterlonie), but you wouldn’t be able to choose which was the most recent 9, because the course flows so well.

Kilsyth member Ian Carstairs driving at the 14th, a very strong par 4 over 400 yards.

It’s a classic low-lying heathland setting. Flat terrain, fast running sandy turf, set amongst pine and silver birch trees, with great natural drainage. The club’s emblem is a red squirrel, the heathland setting providing an ideal habitat.

April Carstairs hits her second shot at the par 5 13th hole.

I can understand why some people find such heathland settings a little repetitive , with most holes being tree lined, obscuring any surrounding landscape. In Ladybank’s case, this is more than overcome by spectacular greenside design, a number of subtle dog leg left and right holes, genuine par 5s and a strong set of par 3s. This is the type of course better players will have to choose which side of the fairways to avoid being short sighted into the green. It deserves the high slope rating of 133 from the white tees.

The 3rd, with its brilliant green, a difficult par 4. Leaving it a bit short was a good result.

Fran and I played in the Mixed Pairs event, one of several open competitions held at Ladybank each year. Open events are a great Scottish tradition, which started in the mid 1800s, at the embryonic time of golf’s domestic growth. We paid only £60 per pair, incredible value. The full rate for a round of £120 is, I believe, starting to price out most Scottish peripatetic golfers, hence the growing popularity of open competitions. We were paired with Kilsyth members, couple Ian and April Carstairs, and we had a great time playing in their company.

The 9th, so characteristic of Ladybank.

We played well collectively, with a better ball 68 (3 under), finishing 27th of 70 pairs. The course was suffering from the recent dry spell with fairways burnt and incredibly fast running. The greens were firm and very fast. Despite the abundent trees, they were well managed and balls could easily be found. If I was to play again I would take more notice to the distances to the flags, as there was quite a lot of dead ground, which coupled to the length of greens could make 2 or 3 clubs extra needed to what a shot might look like.

Worth playing Ladybank, a great open venue.

Facts:

Course Type: Heathland

Par 71  (3 par 5s, 11 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (white): 6616 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 97

Moly’s individually kept scorecard of 97, which contributed to Fran and his net 3 under for the Mixed Pairs Open at Ladybank.

157. Balfron Shian. 18 Aug 22.

January 6, 2023 /

Quintessentially Scottish

Round £25. Par 72. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68.5/124. Value (out of 5) – 5

Moly’s Score – 92

Balfron is a substantial village of over 2000 people in West Stirlingshire, only 16 miles north of Glasgow. Surrounded by the Campsie Hills and the Trossachs, I can’t sum up the golf course better than the clubs own promotional video;

“Scenic, secluded, special“.

Typical August day in Scotland? Moly putts out on the 12th one of the easier par four holes at Balfron’s Shian course.

The first Balfron golf course was established in 1905, but returned to agricultural use in 1939 to support the war effort. In 1991 a group of villagers founded the Balfron Golfing Society and a 9 hole course was finally established in 1994, no doubt after a great deal of hard work. The course was extended to 18 holes in 2001. The Balfron Society named the course “Shian”, which in Gaelic means peaceful.

Moly gets ready to tackle the par five 15th, his only birdie of the day.

The herculean efforts of the society has resulted in a really fine golf course, which feels more mature than it is. With outstanding views, lush moorland and the “honesty box” wooden clubhouse this is quintessential Highland Scottish golf.

The quaint clubhouse where Fran and Moly enjoyed an ‘honesty’ cuppa and chocolate bar.

When Fran and I played on a cloudy day in mid August, there was only one other two ball game on the course. It was certainly ‘secluded’ and we, in turn, felt ‘special’, playing that beautiful game of ‘millionaires’ golf that occasionally comes your way.

Fran tees at the 9th, amidst the scenic ‘blooming heather’ West Stirlingshire surroundings.

It’s certainly worth going out of your way to play The Shian course. At only £25, it is excellent value, since the course in no way feels a “self help’ set up. The greenkeeper Kevin Wilkie and his small team are doing a great job, with teeing grounds and greens both first class. There is excellent use of the natural surroundings and good use of the burn that runs through the 15th and 17th holes, these two holes being the stand out architecture, reminiscent of the great architectures of Braid or Alastair McKenzie.

The burn running towards the 15th green, the par 5 of 513 yards.

The course designer has done well to seamlessly join the original nine and the newer holes. Plus, the greens are worthy of note, being both undulating and at times bemusing. Thankfully, it’s also an open driving course, with almost no fairway bunkers, therefore the slope rating of 124 reinforces the trickiness of the remaining features.

A typical aesthetically pleasing hole at Balfron Golf Society’s Shian course. The approach to the par four 8th hole.

All in all, this is great fun golf. To top it off, do plan to have an ‘honesty” tea and snack in the delightful clubhouse. This is the sort of course that visiting tourists playing the established courses should take time to discover.

The long par 4, 17th hole, a challenging hole. Don’t you just hate when you reach a long par 4 in two to then 3 putt for a bogie.

With only around 300 or so members paying under £400, its critical for visitor income to ensure courses like The Shian survive.

On the day, I played solidly for a 92 and 32 stableford points.

Facts:

Course Type: Heathland

Par 72  (3 par 5s, 12 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 5859 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 92

Moly’s 92, a decent round on this delightful course
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