Category: 1851 – 1900 (Page 5 of 13)

116. Kirkcudbright. 28 Oct 2020.

January 10, 2022 / Moly McMillan

‘Kuh coo bree’ – worth a visit to this course and the local art galleries

Round £32. Par 69. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68/117. Value (out of 5) – 3.5

The town of Kirkcudbright, mysteriously pronounced ‘Kuh-coo-bree’, sits on the east of the River Dee estuary in Dumfries and Galloway. It’s a remarkable place; festooned with art galleries and nice coffee shops – one could imagine it being twinned with Glastonbury, the epi-centre of Druids in Somerset, England.

The course, set above the town, gives excellent views of The Galloway Hills providing a very picturesque backdrop – here Moly tees at the 3rd, one of the more straight forward holes – a short par 4.

The town was home of The ‘Kircudbright’ artist movement in the late 1800s, and several of the galleries tell that story. The golf course was in fact founded in 1893, at the very height of the art movement in the town. I wondered how many of the artists, some of international significance, ever played the golf course – after all, the first hole, (Charles) ‘Oppenheimer’ is named after one of the towns best know artists?

**A birdie opportunity at the fairly short downhill par five 8th, stroke index 15, hole at Kirkcudbright.**

The course was originally 9 holes and only extended to 18 holes in the 1970s, unfortunately neither original or extension architect are listed in the website. After a fairly benign opening par 4 , the second is played uphill across the current 15th hole. After a short par four 3rd, the first of the several difficult holes is the 4th – although a relatively short dog leg right, judging the distance off the tee is crucial to avoid a lost ball. On the day, I saw an old man in the woods searching for golf balls – it was as if I saw the “ghost of golf future” for me.

**The signature ninth hole, a challenging par 3 likely requiring a mid to long iron for most players.**

The extension of the course, includes a nice run of holes, from 9 through 12, by far the most nuanced part of the course. The 12th, in particular would fit into a much higher standard layout.

The course was in pretty good condition when I played with Fran, but there were a few winter greens in early use, even although they seemed completely playable, and firm.

**The beautiful par five 12th hole, the best on the course, in Moly’s opinion. The stroke index of 2 fully justified.**

I shot 91, and played pretty well on the back 9, where I had 18 stableford points. This was helped by the wide fairway in the main.

Another wonderful quirk is that the clubhouse is used by an award winning Thai restaurant – I loved this and it just seemed so befitting this ‘cool’ place. The artists would undoubtedly been customers of the restaurant, even if they were not golfers!

Lastly, I have to mention the few local members in the clubhouse were really friendly and helpful explaining the layout of the course.

Course Type: Parkland

Par bb (2 par 5s, 11 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance: 5412

Moly’s Gross score: 91

**A struggle to 91 at Kirkcudbright golf course**

114. Wigtownshire County. 25 Oct 2020.

December 29, 2021 / Moly McMillan

Great value and wide open links course is a means to experience, or more accurately feel like, history

Round £45. Par 70. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68.3/124. Value (out of 5) – 4

Wigtownshire County golf course, set beside Luce Bay on the west coast of Dumfries and Galloway, will, I suspect, sharply divide opinion. This is links golf at its most basic, which I really like.

**The 8th – a typically basic hole at this course.**

It’s an open course, with many wide fairways, so several of the holes aren’t readily framed to the eye. It’s also made up of 14 par fours, with only 1 par five and 3 par 3s; to some this likely lacks the desired variety of holes.

**Moly drives at “St Helena”, the dog leg right par 4 fourth hole, which hugs Luce Bay, at Wigtownshire County.** **Plenty of room to the left.**

On the other hand, many golfers who prefer the natural feel of what courses were historically like, might love Wigtownshire County; however, to that extent, the course is also a bit of a façade. It was a 9 hole course (current holes 1 to 4 and 14 through18) when designed in 1894 by Charlie Hunter, who also designed Machrihanish and Royal Troon, so he has has great pedigree. It was only extended to 18 holes as recently as 1987, by designer Gordon Cunningham, whose work is really brilliant in that you really feel like you’re playing a joined-up 18 holes , unchanged for 100 years.

**The 3rd at Wigtownshire, a decent par 4, one of the original 9 holes. This is a typical hole here.**

Given the open aspect of the design and its coastal location, weather is going to dominate your experience here. I played in very high winds, with gusts up to 40mph, didn’t break 100, and racked up 4 triple bogies or worse. I suspect the wide fairways and relatively open approaches as well, would see very low scoring in benign conditions. Weather notwithstanding, the would be a great society day out. Good greens, no impossible challenges, 2 nice coastal holes and generally good course conditions.

**The par four 10th, one of the very few undulating holes at Wigtownshire County.** **This was one of the new holes laid down in 1997.**

If you’re a lover of links golf and like the historic feel of a basic layout, it’s worth going out of your way to play here, especially as the price represents excellent value and great natural drainage guarantees all year round golf.

Facts:

Course Type: Links

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

Distance: 5829

Moly’s Gross score: 102

**Moly’s Wigtownshire County Scorecard – a 102 in very high winds**

109. Lamlash. 20 Sep 2020.

October 19, 2021 / Moly McMillan

Reserve your ‘A’ game for Lamlash – the toughest Arran challenge

Round £27. Par 61. Slope (yellow) 106. Value (out of 5) – 5

If you only play one course in Arran, Shiskine would be it. However, for difficulty, Lamlash, “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”, takes the prize. Played as a par 61 of just under 4000 yards, or as a par 64 of 4500 yards, it represents a real challenge, both physically (it’s a tough walk) and demanding accuracy off the tee. There can’t be many players of the course for the first time who don’t need at least one “3 off the tee”. I anticipate the World Handicap System (WHS) slope ratings will be adjusted upwards in time from the initial 106 (yellow) or 109 (white), once historical data is built up.

**The beautiful par 4 first hole at Lamlash, playing longer than its stated length.**

With three of the holes (7, 8 and 10) playing as long par 3s off the yellow tees, rather than short par 4s from the white, I actually think the slope rating should be higher off the yellow tee boxes compared with white.

**The 3rd hole at Lamlash, the stroke index 1 “goatfell” par 4. Moly learnt too late to play conservatively off the tee (play short and right with a 5 iron off the tee).**

Blessed with a quite magnificent late summer day, the course was in excellent condition when I played with Fran on our Arran golfing trip. Paying only £20 through Golfnow this was incredible value, especially as the rack rate of £27 would also merit 5 star value. Disappointingly, we were met with a gruff starter who complained that “Golfnow shouldn’t have allowed the booking”. This reinforced a theme that emerged over our Arran trip with several locals behaving resentfully towards the holiday golfer – even although the holiday visitor income no doubt enables the local fees to be reduced. As an example, the current membership (2021) of Lamlash is only £380, with a first year membership reduced to only £225. These fees are so much lower than English club golf fees, this being a relevant comment as we were told that the village of Lamlash had a nickname of “Little Yorkshire”, such was the number of retired people from the North of England.

**The par four 9th at Lamlash, with views towards Ayrshire past Holy Island in the foreground.**

The course abounds with sea and hill views – with Troon and Prestwick visible on clear days – Holy Island also dominates the skyline.

Don’t let the views offset the concentration needed in playing Lamlash, a course that feels a combination of Highland, Parkland and Heathland layouts. It has some really great holes. The starting 3 holes should be played conservatively, with level bogies being more than ok for anything other than the single figure player. The third, a par 4, justifiably the stroke index one hole, with great views, has a demanding drive, which should tend to the right of the fairway, with the second shot best played long and left.

**The tough 208 yard par three 7th hole (yellow), which plays as a 283 yard par 4 from white. A key theme at Lamlash.**

The long par 3s played off the yellow tees are, collectively, a real test. There are four over 200 yards long, plus the 10th, an uphill par 3 at 198 yards, which needs to be played as a par 4 by most golfers. There is a strong argument that the stroke indexes should be different for the white and the yellow tee boxes here.

**The 18th at Lamlash, a finishing hole that befits this tough golf course.**

On a benign playing day, I scored 88, or 11 over my handicap. I can’t imagine many players beating their handicap playing Lamlash for the first time. It has plenty of guile and, along with Shiskine, is one of the two must play courses while on Arran. But – this is not “occasional holiday golf”, for that play another course on this beautiful golfing island.

Highly recommended.

Facts:

Course Type: Highland / Heathland / Parkland

Par 61 (0 par 5, 7 par 4s, 11 par 3s)

Distance: 3945

Moly’s Gross score: 88

**Moly’s Lamlash scorecard – 88 for 26 points. It actually could have been much worse!**

108. Corrie. 19 Sep 2020

October 19, 2021 / Moly McMillan

Dishonest golfers spoil it for the majority at this spectacular setting

Round £20 (no 9 hole price). Par 62. Slope (yellow) 90. Value (out of 5) – 2

In assessing value for money at Corrie, a beautiful little 9 hole golf course in the Sannex Glen on the east of the island of Arran, you have a real conundrum. How do you assess the value for a 9 hole course, when they don’t have a rate for playing only 9 holes? It was £20 for the day, no matter how much you play. When asking some local members about the lack of a 9 hole rate, they advised me that in the past they had had several instances where people had paid for 9 holes but gone round twice. As often the case, the behaviour of the few, spoils it for the many.

**The view from the second tee at Corrie, looking up Sannex Glen**

Had there been a 9 hole rate of (say) £15, I would have said it was 4 out of 5 for value, but with no 9 hole rate it’s only 2 out of 5 in my book. There is a principle here.

Having got that off my chest, I’ll get on to the next criticism – Corrie must be the most hazardous course I’ve played, due to fairways crossing each other. The 7th, a stroke Index 93 (see card below?) downhill par 4 crosses over the 3rd fairway at about driving length! I just hope the club use some of those over-priced fees for golf insurance, because someone will inevitably get hit by a golf ball. Perhaps the SI 93 isn’t a typo, but the number of accidents that have occurred so far.

**“Smearing Horse”, the stroke index one 6th hole at Corrie**

After the straight forward par 3 opening hole, the course vies up to the left into Glen Sannex and you witness for the first time the spectacular punch bowl in which the golf course is situated. Play on a fine day, like Fran and I did, and there are some heavenly view all around.

**The par 4 7th hole, which crossed the 3rd fairway. Be careful!**

The course was in really good condition when we played, but I can imagine that the slopes could be treacherous when the course is wet. I’m sure the rain floods over the course off the hills. Therefore, if you’re visiting Arran, perhaps keep an eye our for nice weather before playing Corrie.

It’s also worth visiting the cafe which is located in the small club house – it had good ratings on Facebook and is worth the visit with its nice range of cakes.

**The views towards the sea from the 5th green at Corrie**

The course was founded in 1892, so it’s a well established layout, and I get the impressions that it’s not been changed much over the years. The web site doesn’t have any history, but does have a nice layout explaining the holes, each labeled with the hole name. The sixth hole, an uphill par 4, well deserves the Stroke Index 1 rating, and is called “Smearing Horse” – I would love to hear from anyone who knows the origin of that name.

**Hitting “up the Glen” from the tee at the short par 4 3rd at Corrie**

At only 3220 yards for the 18 holes (sic) off the yellow, with Slope Index 90, this should allow people to get a low round in. I was only 2 over gross, with no birdies, and can’t remember playing better. But with only 4 or so bunkers that I counted, this is a flattering score really.

No golf trip to Arran should miss Corrie, but I recommend planning to go around twice to get your money’s worth.

Facts:

Course Type: Highland

Par 31 (0 par 5s, 4 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance: 1610

Moly’s Gross score: 33

Category: 1851 – 1900 (Page 5 of 13)

116. Kirkcudbright. 28 Oct 2020.

114. Wigtownshire County. 25 Oct 2020.

109. Lamlash. 20 Sep 2020.

108. Corrie. 19 Sep 2020

Recent Posts

Useful Links