Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: Golfnow (Page 2 of 2)

167. Uphall. 15 Oct 22.

July 19, 2023 /

Quirky opening fairway at club with “progressive” ambitions.

Value for Money (out of 5) – 4

As a friendly Starter briefed me, I was pre-occupied by two groups of golfers only 40 yards in front of the first tee – one group on the 16th tee the other on the 2nd green. As a wayward driver, I was trying to remember if I had paid my annual golf insurance. His summarised message had been, “take great care!”.

The good conditioning of Uphall seen from the 1st tee. It’s a hazardous area, with both teeing ground and greens in immediate view – take great care.

Uphall’s first and second holes share a fairway with a green at either end, which I reasoned may have been okay at the turn of the 19th century, when balls didn’t travel so far and times were less litigious. I kept musing on this somewhat dangerous layout, my feelings later reinforced when I met a long standing member who told me “someone’s going to get seriously hurt one day”.

The par 3 third hole – Uphall’s best hole in my opinion, where one has to avoid the Brox Burn.

The golf course (in the village of the same name) sits either side of the A899 with holes 1 to 3, and 15 to 18 on the north side, and holes 4 through 14 on the south. It is near Junction 3 of the M8, and therefore very accessible from any direction.

Autumn colour on display into the trickily placed 5th green, a short par 4.

This Central Scotland location, coupled with the interesting course layout makes for a good society venue, albeit at the time of writing the club are yet to rebuild the clubhouse which was sadly burnt down during the Covid Pandemic.

The mature Uphall parkland on view here as Fran drives at the tough par four 8th hole.

Much of the course lies amongst mature parkland, once part of the Houstoun House Estate. The estate ‘castle’, dating back to 1598, is now a MacDonald Hotel, and sits behind the 4th, 5th and 6th holes.

At just 5366 yards from the yellow tees, with a slope rating of 113, I should have been challenging 80, whereas I didn’t break 100 in the wet and windy autumnal conditions. My score wasn’t helped by losing 3 balls in the leaves. It was very picturesque though with the trees in good colour.

The par three 16th, “burn”, where good club selection is needed at this 95 yard hole (yellow).

With four par threes and only one par five, the courses variety was aided by a good variety of par fours, from the drivable downhill second hole of 293 yards, to the stroke index 1, 14th at over 400 yards.

Moly’s short approach into the par five 11th at Uphall.

The course was in decent condition, with good turf, and is likely a delight on a dry Summer day. I paid only £18 through golfnow.com, a sizable discount on the £30 list price. Overall, I give this 4 out of 5 for value, and worth checking out. Just take great care on the first tee shot.

The short dog leg right par four 17th hole at only 240 yards is a good birdie chance, but be mindful not to run out of fairway like Moly did.

It’s worth noting the Club’s commitment to junior golfers, with its website declaring “a strong focus on the development of our Junior players”, well done.

Facts:

Round List Price £25. Actual Paid £18 using Golfnow.com

Course/Slope Rating (yellow) 65.9/113.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 69  (1 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 5366 yards

Moly’s scorecard – high winds didn’t help, but it was a poor day.

166. Torrance Park. 14 Oct 22.

March 20, 2023 /

Electrifying, but not in a way you would want.

Moly’s Score – 89

Round £25. Par 71. Course/Slope Rating (yellow) 68.9/124. Value (out of 5) – 2.5

Torrance Park golf course started off as an ambitious project. Owned by David Murray, the Scottish businessman and former owner of Glasgow Rangers FC, it was designed by Dave Thomas (The Belfry, Spey Valley) as an impressive PGA style 18 holes course and opened as recently as 2008. It had plans also for a driving range. Sited close to the M8 motorway and adjacent to the town of Holytown, an area with rapid housing development, it was ideally located.

Torrance Park, adjacent to a major power distribution hub, might have the most pylons in Scotland.

However, jump forward 15 years, and the course was rather forlorn when I played, during which I also found out that from 2023, the course was to be 9 holes only. The land to the west of Legbrannock Road, was to be a housing development, leaving 9 holes currently the nearest around the modern clubhouse.

The greens, the 1st shown here, are well designed and well maintained, and the best feature of this otherwise uninspiring course.

When I played I met up with a local member, who was angry that he and many other members had paid their annual membership fees, before shortly thereafter being advised by email of the course reduction plans, but without an option to cancel their membership.

The par four 4th at Torrance Park, worthy of being the stroke index 1. A water feature ready to capture any right handed slice from the tee.

This parkland course feels rather odd. Fairways are wide, with disproportionally huge bunkers – it’s as if an innocuous municipal course had a few bunkers that would be at home in Valderrama! The greens are nonetheless pretty good, but again they feel better than the surrounding landscape and course conditioning.

The par four 17th (likely the new 8th), with views north towards the Campsie Hills. With another pylon to view!

When I played the course was very wet, although the greens had held up well. The new clubhouse had very friendly staff, and the building seems to be used as a ‘local’ for the adjacent housing estate. The food was good.

The par four 18th (which I would think is the 9th now) is a decent finishing hole – stroke index 4, with large front bunker, typical of the design here. I would recommend considering a shot to the front right of the green to leave a straight forward chip.

As for value, I struggle to think more than 2.5/5 is justified, using £25 as the stated amount. It’s convenient to the M8 if you want a quick knock about, but not worth going out of your way for, in my opinion.

Facts (pre 2022):

Course Type: Parkland

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

Distance (yellow): 5916 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 89

Moly’s Torrance Park scorecard – great finish meant decent score

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

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