Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: When Course Established (Page 10 of 45)

142. Kingsknowe. 23 May 22.

August 5, 2022 /

Brilliantly priced golf course with divergence of views

Round £35. Par 69. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68/113. Value (out of 5) – 4.5

When I played Kingsknowe, pronounced Kings-NOW, on a magnificent May day, with clear skies and beautiful views, I was struck by how much the surroundings of the golf course must have changed over the last 100 years, since its foundation in 1908. It has literally ‘lived’ amongst the great social changes of the 20th Century.

Great downhill par three first of 167 yards, a tough par to start, with longstanding views towards the Queensferry Crossing, the Tillicoultry Mountains and Ochil Hills

Sitting on the western side of Edinburgh, Kingsknowe is only 4 miles from Edinburgh Castle, obviously well within the city boundary. However, go back over 100 years, and the course would have been surrounded by countryside. At the time, the nearby Union Canal, was one of the main traffic routes near the course.

The long third hole, 470 yards, into the prevailing wind, with Arthurs Seat in the background.

Initially laid out by the 1902 ‘Champion golfer of the year’ Alec Herd, the first major impact the club suffered was the loss, during WWI, of 27 of its members, commemorated by a plaque in the clubhouse and recorded on the Imperial War Museum website here. During the second world war, by which time James Braid had been commissioned to implement some architectural changes, some of his changes were turned to farming use to support the war effort.

The justifiably chosen stroke index 1, par four, 5th hole, at well over 400 yards.

The course opens with a tricky par three, very untypical of a Braid Course, which normally has a straight forward short par four to get things going. The course character is further reinforced with the dog leg right 2nd, then a long par five into the prevailing wind. Playing to handicap through the first three is a challenge.

The 10th green, with the dominating views of Wester Hailes housing estate. Many of the holes could be named “Wester Hailes”

With several more undulating and dog legs, I was very surprised by the Slope Rating of only 113 (yellow), but I guessed this may be due to its relatively short length and the fact that there are no – yes zero – fairway bunkers. This bunker situation makes me question the validity of Braid’s involvement in the design, as he placed so much emphasis on this element of architecture. If anyone knows of his exact involvement, that would be interesting.

The actual “Wester Hailes” hole, 12th par 4, surprisingly not the one with most views of the estate.

Another great social change, is highlighted at the 12th, “Wester Hailes”, a mid length par 4. Named after the revolutionary housing development immediately to the north of the course, the social housing is actually visible on a great number of the holes. The large and formidable wrought iron boundary fence, tells only a fraction of the story.

Following slum closures elsewhere in Edinburgh, in the 60s, Wester Hailes, a development of over 4000 homes was to be one of the most ambitious housing projects in Europe. It transpired within 20 years into a haven of crime in which parts of the development were referred to as “Vietnam”. The Edinburgh News writes about “How a field of Dreams turned into a Concrete Jungle“. The building of the housing required the culverting of the Union Canal.

Whilst the ‘polis’ were dealing with major crime one side of the golf course, just over the fairways sits Merchiston Castle, the last all male boarding school in Scotland. Such a contrasting start to life, so close to each other. I wonder what percentage of the membership is from Wester Hailes?

17th, “Plateau”, a short par 4, where like many I suspect I grossly under-clubbed with my second shot. Take 3 more clubs.

Back to the golf – tree lined, but not interfering too much, Kingsknowe, with its fine clubhouse, serves as a excellent society day. It’s is very well priced for visitors, I got a rate of only £22 through Golfnow, but the full summer fee of £35 still represents excellent value.

The course was in excellent condition, especially the teeing grounds. The greenside bunkers were great, highlighting the lack of fairway bunkers hadn’t diminished the green keeping skills.

The magnificent clubhouse as a backdrop to the welcoming 18th green.

In a very high wind, up to 30 mph, I shot 87, four over net. This included almost driving the short par 4 finishing hole, but ending in a small copse left of the green. I won’t describe the rest of my play in recording a 7, but still came back in 40 shots.

Well worth playing at this well manicured and highly enjoyable course, where the hole names are also worth taking note with their clues – “Wee Drap”!

Course Type: Parkland

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

Distance: 5728 (yellow)

Moly’s Gross score: 87

Moly’s Kingsknowe scorecard, 87. Good back nine of 40, including a tripple bogie on 18th!

141. Thornton. 21 May 22.

August 5, 2022 /

Well presented course proves greenkeeping importance in competitive market

Round £30. Par 70. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68.4/119. Value (out of 5) – 4.0

Golf operates in an increasingly competitive market. When clubs come to trim budgets, the last to go should be good greenkeeping staff. Thornton has invested wisely.

The appealing opening tee shot at Thornton, typical of the first 6 holes.

Thornton is a fairly unmemorable village in Fife set between Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy. Nestled not far off the high street is a surprisingly well conditioned parkland course, well worth a visit.

Established in 1921, and seemingly ‘designed’ by the forming committee, this course of about 6000 yards presents a course of three distinct phases.

Holes 1 through 6, are of an “up and down’ nature and although fairly repeatable, and I could imagine some visitors bemoaning this part of the course, it had sufficient variations in length and subtlety to deserve your attention. Interestingly, a couple of members ‘jumped in’ in front of us at the seventh tee, which is close to the clubhouse.

The tough par three 3rd hole at about 200 yards, with a tree in the front of the green.

A number of more changes of direction ensue between 7 through 13. But the most interesting holes are from 14 through 17, dominated by the Lochty Burn.

Fran putts at the 10th, the only double green on the course. Great putting surface.

We played on a very nice May day and the course was in fabulous condition. In fact, it was the best condition of a course at its price point I had played in a while. You expect courses at £50+ to guarantee good playing conditions, but at £30 or under, you never quite know what to expect. Clearly you’re not going to get Open Qualifying conditions.

Moly sets up for his second at the par five 13th hole. The quality of the fairway in clear evidence.

The greenkeepers at Thornton had done a magnificent job. Tees, fairways, bunkers, greens – all were first class. Rough was very appropriately managed as well. Although we didn’t try the clubhouse (we played late on a Sunday, it was closed), it looked an impressive set up.

The 14th “Burn”, a hard par 3. SI 3 tells the story, especially with the hard right to left wind!

The club pro, Jamie McLearly, who was a former touring pro, was really friendly explaining the course before our round – this is also important as it’s not always usual to get such a warm and genuine welcome. Clubs are also a business and visitor income is a crucial part of the business model. You could do worse than copying Thornton’s all round professionalism,

As mentioned, the best part of the course starts from the 14th, a very difficult hole. However, I don’t really need to be too explanatory, as there is an excellent set of hole videos on the website here.

The lovely “risk reward” short par four 16th hole.

I played well, scoring 84, net 1 under par, despite taking an 8 on the par five 6th. My highlight was parring three of the four par 3s; of most note was my par on the long par three 3rd hole, with a tree in front of the green. However, I “couldn’t hole a putt for toffee”. Never mind.

I really enjoyed Thornton, not because I played well, but because it was in such great condition. In a competitive market, this is what will keep it in business.

Course Type: Parkland

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

Distance: 5859 (yellow)

Moly’s Gross score: 84

Moly’s Thornton scorecard – 84

140. Canmore. 20 May 22.

August 4, 2022 /

‘Municipal’ feel course, with an Amen Corner worth playing

Round £25. Par 67. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 65.9/124. Value (out of 5) – 3.0

When you look at the economics of Scotland and its number of golf courses, it’s little wonder that courses have closed regularly over the year. Put simply, there is not the GDP to sustain the highest number of courses per capita in the world (for countries with more than 200 courses).

The par four 5th at Canmore, a typical looking hole at this Dunfermline course.

Canmore, is one of those courses that over time is at threat, in my opinion. Sited in the Headwell area on the north of Dunfermline, there are about a dozen courses within a 10 mile radius, a number of which are much better, such as Pitreavie. Although competitively priced with a headline rate of £25 for a peak season round and with Golfnow rates available, I paid only £16, other than a few holes it was a rather forgetful experience.

The green at the difficult par four 10th hole.

Founded, apparently, on its present site in 1902, Canmore is a parkland course at just over 5000 yards long. It actually doesn’t feel that old a course, and without any history on its web site, it’s difficult to find any background context, including its designer.

There is however, a very difficult set of holes around the turn, which are worth testing your game against.

The 9th, a dog leg par four of 371 yards, has a ditch in play for the long drivers and worthy of being stroke index 4.

The 10th, played into the prevailing wind is a more difficult hole (in my opinion), with out of bounds all the way down the left of a sweeping horseshoe shaped hole – keep right at all costs.

The 11th, the signature hole, must be a banker for home matchplay games, with the yardage of the second shot, played over a marker post to a sunken hazard surrounded green, being critical to judge. A bogie is a good score at this SI 2 hole, I really couldn’t work out why it wasn’t SI 1.

The 11th the signature hole, a par 4, at Canmore.

Finally, the 12th, is a really challenging long par 3 (nearly 200 yards), played uphill to semi blind green.

The course was in okay condition when I played, albeit all areas could have been mown, a mark of understaffing on greenkeeping.

The long par three 12th hole, the end of the treacherous stretch of holes

This is not a course that will attract many holidaying tourists, and I wouldn’t be recommending going out of your way to play here. At just over £500 for an annual membership, its probably a decent course if you like your local golf and tend not to travel around.

On the day, I shot 90, for 28 points, and did well to overcome two 7s at the par fours 5th and 6th holes. Plus, I didn’t blob any of the tough stretch which I was very pleased with indeed.

The difficult par three 4th hole, with clubhouse in view.

Other than its Amen corner (9-12), this feels like a standard ‘municipal’ course. I was made very welcome by the staff in the pro shop.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 69 (0 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance: 5214 (yellow)

Moly’s Gross score: 90

Moly’s scorecard at Canmore – a 90 for 28 points.

139. Balbirnie Park. 19 May 22.

August 2, 2022 /

One of the top parkland courses in Fife

Round £50. Par 71. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 69.3/126. Value (out of 5) – 4.0

Most people who live on the East Coast of Scotland, will know of Markinch as a railway station on the main Aberdeen to Edinburgh line. Like me, they may have passed through here hundreds of times, but never stopped.

Markinch actually had its own town sited golf course in the first half of the 20th century, but it closed just after the second world war due to disrepair; however, I understand that the “golf club” retained some sort of existence playing at other nearby courses.

The challenging par four 3rd hole. A dog leg right, of only 327 yards (yellow), yet the SI 6 comes from the hazardous green complex. Par is a very good score here.

During the 1960s the Glenrothes Development Corporation purchased Balbirnie Estate, located between Glenrothes and Markinch, which had been owned by the Balfour family for almost 300 years. They commissioned a golf course, which Markinch GC leases.

The former Balbirnie estate house is now also a 4-star hotel, which is close to, but separately managed from, the golf club.

A characteristic layout, here at the 13th at Balbirnie Park, a shortish dog-leg (left) yet one of the tougher holes, this time dominated by the tee shot.

The current 18 hole course opened in 1984, and is set in a substantial wooded area, in two loops of nine holes, at well over 6000 yards, this undulating course is a tough walk. It is a balanced layout, with trees almost always in play, other than some of the par 3s, with the front nine being slightly shorter mainly due to having only one par 5.

Fran driving at the uphill mid to long iron par three, the best of the short holes at Balbirnie Park.

It has been well designed by Fraser Middleton, a relatively unknown architect, who surprisingly has only 2 other courses I could find on his CV – West Lothian and Hounslow in West London, what an interesting threesome of courses?

The raised green at the par four 9th hole, a strong end to the front nine at Balbirnie Park. You come in from the right here, the left part of the picture is to the first green

The abiding architectural characteristic I picked up on, was that at least half of the holes had either dog legs or blind tee or approach shots – some all three. This necessitates a good appreciation of your yardages and access to a hole planner is useful. It was especially pleasurable, therefore, to play with the same ball, not a common occurrence. This contributed to my decent score of 91, net 75, for 4 over my handicap of 16. A very good score for me on a windy, but warm, day.

The tight tee shot at the long par four 12th hole, the SI 1 hole.

The course was in superb condition, the only note of criticism I could give was the fringes of the bunkering was a little tired. The teeing grounds were delicious.

The par three eleventh green, typical of the rather open par threes, the weakest part of the layout – as can be seen, make sure you play long here.

In a land of Links, Balbirnie Park golf course may arguably be the best parkland course in Fife; albeit the ‘best parkland’ list might also include The Dukes (at St Andrews), Aberdour and Dunfermline (Pitreavie), all great courses.

The rather austere clubhouse at the fine finishing hole at Balbirnie Park. Beware the blind second shot, as the burn in front of the green is reachable for even mid handicaps players. I luckily reached the tree, leaving a simple chip for a birdie chance (missed!)

Nevertheless, this is easily in the top 50 parkland courses in Scotland, and represents good value at £50, but using the great offers on Golfnow I managed to pay just £22, an almost 60% discount, so really 5 star value if you get one of those last minute rates.

Moly’s approach at the 16th, a difficult par four and SI 3.

I suspect the pricing is depressed a little due to the distance Glenrothes is from both the St Andrews area, and Edinburgh. This benefits greatly those going to play here.

Course Type: Parkland

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

Distance: 5957 (yellow)

Moly’s Gross score: 91

Moly’s scorecard at Balbirnie Park – a 91 at one of the top parkland courses in Fife.
« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2025 Scotland Golf Bible

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑