Category: 9 holes (Page 2 of 12)

149. Paul Lawrie Golf Centre. 6 Jul 22.

October 9, 2022 / Moly McMillan

Sublime attention to detail at Paul Lawrie’s brilliant golf centre

Round £15. Par 29. Course Rating / Slope Rating (white) 29.2/94. Value (out of 5) – 5

This nine hole course opened in 2005 as the Aspire Golf Centre, named after a boat operated by trawler fisherman John Duthie, the original owner. Open Champion Paul Lawrie bought the centre in 2012 and it has gone from strength to strength, providing one of the best all round facilities in Scotland, equipped with ‘top tracer’ driving range, bookable practice areas, a large golf shop and excellent restaurant.

**The tricky first hole at Paul Lawrie’s golf centre – avoid the right of the green!**

The course itself is a beauty, designed by Old Meldrum’s Graeme Webster and built to US PGA standards. It could easily be argued as the best nine hole course in Scotland. Although short, it has four tee options providing a variety of challenges, it has been good enough to host national 9 hole Par 3 competitions. It only has two par 4s, when played from the white tees, which I used to play my round.

**The 3rd green, the stroke index one hole at only 145 yards, which has a devilish bunker and water on the left side of the green, hidden from view from the tee.**

The green complexes are challenging, with well positioned bunkers and undulating surfaces they force you to be mindful of where to miss. There are some particularly clever and deceptive run off areas which are blind from the tee. The rough is very whispy and gives some shots a links land feel – none more so than at the first, where I thought I had played into the right side of the green, only to eventually find my ball in the rough; there was a bonus of finding 6 other balls!

**The aesthetically framed 4th hole, which plays as a par four from this tee.**

To score well you need to have a first class short game, perhaps that’s what attracted “Chippy” Lawrie to buy the course. When I played, I saw Paul heading off to the driving range with a large number of clubs, testimony to the effort required to maintain your game at the highest standard.

**The 5th, one of the two holes, which, from the white tees, plays as a par four.**

The course is great value for annual membership at just over £300 and is sometimes used as a second club by members of nearby world class Aberdeenshire links courses because the practice arrangements are so good. I met up during my game with Murcar Links member, Alex Singer, who typifies these local golfers who make full use of the Paul Lawrie Centre.

**Murcar Links member Alex Singer, chipping onto the 8th green.**

On a windy day, I was very happy with my score of 38 – although 9 over par, this included two triple bogies, at the first and 4th, both short par threes.

**The well maintained bookable practice area at the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre.**

Every aspect of the Centre is first class, a testimony to Paul Lawrie’s attention to detail. Right down to the Seniors’ rate of only £12, that I paid, and the many Kids coaching courses the centre runs throughout the year. Well done ‘Chippy’, you are a legend.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 29 (0 par 5s, 2 par 4s, 7 par 3s)

Distance (white): 1560 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 38

**Moly’s Paul Lawrie Centre scorecard – 38, including 5 pars and 2 triple bogies!**

147. Edzell West Water. 4 Jul 22.

October 5, 2022 / Moly McMillan

Good nine hole course to sit alongside its wonderful big brother

Round £15. Par 32. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 60.8/99. Value (out of 5) – 3

The main course at Edzell is a well established heathland course and my blog from 2016 is here. This nine hole course, called “Edzell West Water”, was designed by the prolific Scottish golf course architect, Graeme J Webster, of Team Niblick of Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. The course has excellent views of nearby Fettercairn and was opened in 2001, following the period of buoyant economic activity in the 1990s.

**Moly on the 9th fairway at the picturesque Edzell West Water**

The course is an ideal adjunct to its big brother, albeit it is accessed via a separate road to the main club, and like many people, I suspect, we were directed to the course from the main clubhouse. We got the impression, the staff were fed up re-directing people!

Nonetheless, the welcome from the starter at the small hut serving the West Water course could not have been friendlier.

**The tough 3rd hole at “West Water”, a par 3 of 157 yards.**

The course is short, but certainly not easy, with several challenging holes. The first has a two tier green that will likely need 3 putts if you don’t reach the right level. Having secured a decent par, I then had a disaster at the par 5 second, including two air shots, trying a miracle shot from the heather to the left of the fairway!

Comprising five par threes, this is a course where good iron or hybrid play is needed to score well. The par four 5th hole, SI 1, is also an excellent hole.

**Fran ponders the line on the 6th green, one of the shorter par 3s at Edzell West Water.**

The course, which has great ‘heathland’ turf, was in good condition, with green complexes worthy of ‘bigger’ courses, albeit the greens were a little mossy in places, giving some variability in pace. The greenside bunkering is very good.

**The entrance to the par four 5th green, the worthy SI 1 hole**.

The green fee of £15 was actually for the whole day, which is a real pity if you want to only play 9 holes. That deflates the ’round’ value a lot. There is a good offer of a return fee of only £10, which I think they would do well to charge it someone only wanted to play 9 holes.

**The 4th at Edzell West Water, one of only three par 4s.**

There is also collocated driving range, which does present an OOB hazard, especially at the par for 7th hole, ‘Wirren’, where you need to keep your tee shot well left off the tee. I didn’t!

The 7th and 8th run alongside the “west water”, hence the name of this course, which is worth playing, but only if you want to play more than 9 holes in my opinion or perhaps combine with the main track.

Facts:

Course Type: Heathland

Par 32 (1 par 5s, 3 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance (white): 2057 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 46

**Moly’s Edzell West Water card – high winds didn’t really explain this poor round of 8 over net**

138. Cupar. 18 May 22.

July 21, 2022 / Moly McMillan

Don’t get confused by historic rhetoric – you play the course, not the ‘club’.

Round £16. Par 33. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 31.9/114. Value (out of 5) – 3.5

Cupar is a quaint 9 hole course in the town of the same name, only 10 miles to the west of St Andrews.

The web site and a sign at the first hole declare you’re playing at “the oldest 9 hole golf club in the world”. Dig just a little under the surface and you realise this is just a trifle disingenuous.

**The delightful and fun sign on near the first at Cupar.**

Firstly, you play on a golf course, not on a golf club. So whilst Cupar Golf Club was founded in 1855, it was at a 6 hole course (note not 9) some distance from the current location, which is in the Hilltarvit area of Cupar.

**The green at the short 6th, which plays much longer that the yardage, perhaps 3 clubs longer. Try and look closely you’ll note the greens could have been better.**

After an interesting first 40 years of existence, during which the Cupar Golf Club located and played at Ladybank golf course, this current 9 hole layout which plays across the slope of Tarvit Hill was laid out in 1896, after a few years of a more “up and down” layout.

**Moly at the 255 yard par 4 third hole from the well prepared teeing ground**

Do some research and you uncover there are a number of 9 hole courses still in play from the early 1890s, with nearby Anstruther (click for my blog), being a good example.

Set aside the longevity, and you do have a delightful little fun course to play, along with its nice wooden clubhouse.

**The tricky surrounds of the green at the 7th, a par 4 of 344 yards.**

The course was in pretty good condition, although the greens were soft in places and many pitch marks had not been repaired, which was a shame.

**Fran at the 8th, with long reaching views and showing the sloping fairways that await you at Cupar.**

Although set on a hill, with great views over the town and surrounding countryside, many of the holes played across the slopes so it was a much easier walk that we had envisioned.

I played very well, in blustery conditions, for a 41, 7 over, which was about to handicap for the 9 holes. I drove to 4 feet at the last (see photo above) but missed my birdie putt.

It’s well worth playing Cupar, but don’t buy any of the “oldest” stuff, is my steer. But don’t take my word for it – check out the nice history overview on the web site here and make your own mind up.

Cupar GC allow bookings direct on their BRS system, where I got a decent discount and paid only £13 for 9 holes. Good value.

Lastly, don’t put Hill of Tarvit into your sat nav, as you’ll end up a few miles south at Kingarrock Hickory golf course, another place well worth a visit.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 33 (0 par 5s, 6 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance: 2376 (white)

Moly’s Gross score: 41

**Moly’s Cupar 9 hole scorecard – 41, net 34, 1 over par. A good day in blustery conditions.**

129. Strathclyde Park. 21 Mar 22.

April 20, 2022 / Moly McMillan

A challenging Council “9 holer”

Round £10. Par 71. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 69/124. Value (out of 5) – 4

South Lanarkshire Council state on their website they are “proud to operate six quality golf courses” – and so they should be if Strathclyde Park represents the offering, being one of the two 9 hole golf courses in the package which can all be played by subscribing to their season long Rover deal.

**Looking back from the 8th green at Strathclyde Park, towards the Hamilton Racecourse grandstand.**

Having been brought up on Caird Park “9 holer”, a Dundee Council course, I was expecting a similar set up from Strathclyde Park. How wrong I was – this is a serious and ‘meaty’ golf course. A little under 6000 equivalent yards (from the Yellow), this is a a big challenge, especially for those taking up the sport.

**The nice fairway on show at the 1st, a good starting hole at well over 350 yards, making you realise this is not ‘pitch ‘n putt’**, **with the natural edge bunkering dominating the approach.**

Set in Strathclyde Country Park, adjacent to junction 6 of the M74, with the backdrop of Hamilton racecourse on the finishing holes, I really enjoyed this great value course.

**The view from the 4th tee at Strathclyde, the SI 1 hole.**

Because there was one winter green still in play and still being on the winter rate (even though I was able to play in shorts on an unseasonably warm March day), I paid only £5.40 for 9 holes. The tees were in poor condition, but the fairways were very good as were the bunkers. The greens are varied in size, shape and contour with many very challenging (I three putted several times).

**There is plenty of wildlife on show at Strathclyde, with the adjacent nature reserve. Here, some residents sharing my journey to the 3rd green, a difficult par 3.**

I got to thinking, at only £10, for the high season rate for 18 holes, what is the value of a course as the price tends to zero? Or put another way, how do you really offset course quality and value?

Overall, this course is probably 2 out of 5 for ‘quality’ on a national basis, but at such a low price it is 4 for ‘value’, a score I would say provides an upper bound for the quality – even if free, because you still have to spend the time playing! It’s a great debate.

**The second par three, the uphill 7th, requiring your 180+ yardage club.** **Against the backdrop of the housing developed alongside the Racecourse.**

The course is well designed with a rounded mix of two par 3s, two par 5s and five par 4s – a classic combination. The fairways were wide, and very firm for the time of year.

I played better than I scored with several three putts in my gross 48.

We were staying in our caravan in Strathclyde Country park, which is a great location to set down to play all the courses on offer from South Lanarkshire Council.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 36 (2 par 5s, 5 par 4s, 2 par 3s)

Distance: 5891 (yellow)

Moly’s Gross score: 48

Category: 9 holes (Page 2 of 12)

149. Paul Lawrie Golf Centre. 6 Jul 22.

147. Edzell West Water. 4 Jul 22.

138. Cupar. 18 May 22.

129. Strathclyde Park. 21 Mar 22.

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