Tough South Lanarkshire Council course in perennial danger of closing
Value – 4/5
Hollandbush Golf Club near Lesmahagow was founded in 1955 as a 9 hole course, later extended to 18 in 1963. Web searching “Hollandbush GC future” though will return articles about council funding woes; it’s highly likely this blog becomes redundant in future after the course closes. This will be a great shame, as Hollandbush represents a great example of a Scottish municipal course.
The free course planner, a surprising addition at this municipal course, worth playing
South Lanarkshire council operates 6 courses, in addition to Hollandbush, the other 18 holes layouts are Biggar, Langlands and Torrance House, plus two nine hole courses of Larkhall and Strathclyde Country Park.
The 17th at Hollandbush, a drivable par four, but with well positioned protective ditches
Hollandbush also has an independent golf club, providing members with competition and social benefits. This is a common feature of municipal courses in Scotland. This ‘club’ costs £115 annually.
The well maintained ditches shown here at the difficult par 4 12th hole.
Golf pricing is interesting. Annual golf membership for one of South Lanarkshire’s 18 hole municipals is £475, but for just £32 more you can play all 6 courses for £508. If you can make sense of that price differential, good luck! A green fee in peak season is £25, but the winter senior rate I paid was only £9, incredible value.
The 14th at Hollandbush, with one of the relatively few bunkers at this course.
The course is well designed; with constant changes of direction, the undulating fairways, regularly interspersed with well maintained ditches, provide a tough challenge. The slope rating of 129 from the yellow tees testifies to that, albeit it was a fairly generous course from the tee.
The greens were good at this municipal course, here seen at the 10th hole, a long par 3, one of the best holes on the course.
The course was well presented, especially given the wet conditions. I saw no-one else playing and the car park had only one other car, possibly owned by the clubhouse attendant. I think the council could reasonably consider “honesty” box payment to reduce its costs.
The second was one of several card wreckers at this well designed golf course.
I played pretty well, scoring 88, but with 4 blobs. I actually beat the course ‘1 up’, something which is a good measure of your game,
As to the name ‘Hollandbush’ it remains a mystery for me despite my efforts to find it’s origin.
It’s worth playing Hollandbush, a course I hope continues operating.
Little did I know as a member of Landsowne Golf Club in Bath in the early 2000s, how influential the Lansdowne name was for one of Scotland’s finest golf properties – Blairgowrie.
First tee at the 1970s designed Lansdowne Course. A difficult and long par 4. Designers Peter Allis and Dave Thomas didn’t provide an “easy James Braid opener”.
All three courses at Blairgowrie Golf Club have at one time been called ‘Lansdowne’ after the Dowager Marchioness of Lansdowne who initially leased land to the Club.
Fran playing into the par 3, 5th, green which was in great condition for a Winter’s day.
The current Wee Course, is where the original 9 hole “Lansdowne” course was. This was extended to 18 holes in 1927, but lasted only 3 years, when in 1930 another 9 holes were built and the new “Landowne” course opened, with the remodeled original 9 hole course becoming the Wee Course. In the 1970s, another 18 hole course was built, which became the current “Lansdowne”, with the1930s course renamed “Rosemount”, which is considered the “main” course.
The 10th, with well placed bunkering, a strong feature on this strong Lansdowne layout.
The history of how the three courses evolved in detail is brilliantly assessed by James Boon on Golf Club Atlas here. The initial designer was founding member, Major (Ret’d) Peter Chalmers, who had fought in Crimea in 1854 and was later wounded in action; he sought advice from both Old Tom Morris and Tom Dunn of the Dunn dynasty. A combination of Alister Mackenzie and James Braid did the late 1920s work, with Peter Allis and Dave Thomas creating the latest course. What is the collective noun I wonder for golf course designers? – ‘A bunker of architects?”
The 13th, where one can see the importance of missing on the right side of the green.
Like all the Blairgowrie courses, the course was in excellent condition, especially for a December day. In particular, the greens were fully in play and running true, meaning I holed most of my putts less than 6 feet. The greens themselves are less undulating than the Rosemount course, the latter being more influenced of course by Alister MacKenzie. The greenside bunkering is of professional layout standard, so best to ensure you stay out of them.
The pine avenue at the 17th on Lansdowne is characteristic of this fine property.
The course is tighter from the tee than its sister Rosemount layout, so consider a hybrid where distance allows. The tree lined fairways are well maintained so anything finding the trees means that balls are usually not lost.
Moly trying to get up and down on the last, a hole that will play more difficult that it’s SI 9 would suggest.
The excellent winter conditions meant the price of £25 is incredible value compared to the high season £140, perhaps it’s Scotland’s best winter discount?
Which brings me to a key question – just who was The Dowager Marchioness of Lansdowne?
Round List Price £140.Actual Paid £25 (Winter rate).
Moly’s Score – 81 for 39 points (off 15)
Course/Slope Rating (winter) 69.0/125
Course Type:Heathland
Par 69 (15 par 4s, 3 par 3s)
Distance (blue): c 5500 yards
Moly’s Lansdowne Scorecard- mats and forward tees, but still it’s an 81
I was ‘green with envy’ on this country estate course but no longer confused by the two Taymouths.
Value 3.5/5.
Kenmore, in highland Perthshire, is a village on the eastern end of Loch Tay, which is where the main part of the River Tay begins, Scotland’s longest river and the UK’s largest measured by discharge. People like myself from Dundee, where The ‘Silvery’ Tay reaches the sea, claim any small victory!
9th at Mains of Taymouth, a hole shortened to make way for new holiday lodges; technically a long par 3 rather than the par 4 of 263 yards shown on the card.
Now to my confusion. Kenmore is home to two golf courses, both on separate Country Estate developments and only separated by 30 yards of river. Taymouth Castle Estate golf course, on the south bank, was founded in 1925, designed by James Braid, and grew a championship level kudos; however, the castle and course is currently “closed for a £300m development” following its purchase in 2018 by American real estate company, Discovery Land Company.
Fran on the par four 2nd, reportedly the Designer Robert Menzies’ favourite hole.
Meanwhile, north of the river, Kenmore Golf Course was founded, designed and constructed in 1992 by civil engineer Robert Menzies, on diversified farming land that had been in his family for many decades. With Taymouth Castle closed, Robert renamed his estate and course, “Mains of Taymouth”. The whole estate was sold for £13.5m in 2022 to Pure Leisure Group, the owner of the well known Westmoreland Golf Resort in Barbados, home to many British celebrities.
Moly at the 5th, a well designed par three. The bunkers could have been better raked.
So ‘Mains of Taymouth’ and ‘Taymouth Castle’ are separate country estates, both with golf courses with similar branding. I anticipate a lawsuit at some point over the use of Taymouth, a name which seems to have begun when the Clan Campbell rebuilt the former Balloch Castle, their ancestral seat.
The irony is that Kenmore isn’t technically the location of a mouth of a river, defined as “where a river flows into a larger body of water, such as another river or the sea”. Thankfully, any geographically minded golfer that mistakenly turn up at the real Mouth of the Tay, has better golf course options to choose from.
Wide fairways are characteristic at “Kenmore”, shown here at the par five 4th hole, a picture also highlighting the good course conditioning.
My envy in the title is of Robert Menzies, who has done an admirable job on his “home made” nine hole golf course. How many of us have had that dream over the years. He has created a lovely course, which was well maintained and playable on this early winter day.
The course has wide fairways, and is protected by small greens that are well bunkered. Set alongside the river the land is flat and easy walking, so would suit the occasional golfer, but also useful for golf course “baggers” who can easily “bag” 3 or 4 nine hole courses on a summer day (including nearby Killin, Aberfeldy and Strathtay). I bagged three (omitting Killin) on the day, despite the limited light.
The beautiful Perthshire landscape on show here at the par 3 seventh hole, with “ha-ha”.
We paid only £12 for a winter day rate, but at £18 for a round it represents decent value in the Summer.
Sadly, although the 3rd is called “Loch View”, there are no river or loch views from the course. Making my big deal about “Taymouth” seem somewhat arbitrary – never mind.
Round List Price £18.Actual Paid £12 (Winter rate).
Round £80. Par 69. Course/Slope Rating (yellow) 70.6/127. Value (out of 5) – 5
Moly’s Score – 98
Southerness, pronounced ‘Sutherness’, is a beautifully deceptive and top quality golf course. But, had it not been for an unsuccessful search for coal, it may not exist.
The par four 14th, the original 1st hole, with the abundant ‘blooming’ heather.
Southern Scotland’s bloody history of struggle amongst noblemen jockeying between the warring Scots and English, meant choosing the right marriage or alliance determined life or death and, invariably, who came to own the land.
In Tudor fallout, James Douglas, Earl of Morton, was executed under the rule of James VI, by means of a Maiden (a pre-cursor to the Guillotine) in 1581, and his land in the Southerness area resorted to the Maxwell clan.
The second, a 400+ yard par 4, and stroke index 3. A characteristic hole at Southerness.
The land was then sold to Richard Oswald, a successful Scottish merchant and friend of US Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, in the 1700s, with an intent to mine for coal. This instigated the building of the small village of Southerness and one of the world’s first lighthouses. No coal was ever found and the land lay largely undisturbed.
The beautiful approach view to the par four 3rd. The tree says it all about the prevailing wind.
One of Richard Oswald’s name sake descendants, on returning from fighting in the second world war, mercifully decided to build a golf course, which opened in 1947. Presumably as an antidote to the horrors of his war.
This history puts our golfing and life woes in context. As you play Southerness, on its serene and beautiful landscape, perhaps feel blessed that most of our lives have not shed or witnessed the blood compared with those who went before us.
The 12th green has been shored up over the years by the club. Another tough par four.
Set on the north bank of the Solway Firth, with outstanding views towards the Lake District, Oswald had the foresight to engage one of the great architects of his generation, Philip MacKenzie Ross. Often referred to just as ‘MacKenzie Ross’, a name seemingly destined to be a course designer, Southerness is his masterpiece.
The sixth hole, at 367 yards, here showing the exceptional conditioning of the course.
The golf course is a little off the beaten track, and without other world class courses in the immediate area, the pricing reflects that needed detour. I paid only £50 for a late August twilight and, starting at 3pm, had the course virtually to myself. The sun was out, it was warm, but the breeze was up – it was heavenly links golf weather. With the heather starting to bloom along with the Scottish light of late summer, it was aesthetically stunning.
The 4th, one of the five par 3s, has brilliant bunkering. Here showing views towards the “marilyn” Criffel.
In immaculate condition, the course was scheduled to host a Scottish Seniors matchplay championship the following week, and is clearly a worthy championship venue. Albeit it’s a deceptive course on the eye.
From the tee it looks very generous. However, unlike many great Scottish links, which have rough solely of fescue and bent grasses, Southerness is surrounded by heather; find this and you’re doing well to get double bogie. The heather wraps round the club head, meaning your next shot is often still from the heather.
The approach to the par four 8th, displaying one of the features of MacKenzie Ross’s design – the use of deceptive bunkers about 50 yards short of the green.
Having racked up six triple bogies, by missing fairways, my advice would be to consider a penalty drop from the heather if it results in a decent lie, especially if two club lengths reaches the fairway. Had I taken 6 penalty drops my score would have been lower.
The course starts with three very difficult holes, although this is not MacKenzie Ross’s original layout. In 1974, the building of the current clubhouse, changed the order of the holes. The original 6th hole became the new opening hole, and all others follow the same designed order of play. The club’s website has an excellent history of the course here.
The stroke index 1 hole – the 9th, a par four of 404 yards – again showing the immaculate course condition. One of my triple bogie holes.
The club’s website also says ” a course for all abilities”. Whilst I normally loathe such ‘sound bites’, I think they have a point, since there are no long carries, little water other than the odd ditch, and pot bunkers that are penal but not impossible. The construction of the greens and surrounds, coupled with pin positions, could make this course almost unplayable in certain wind conditions. With centrally placed pins and benign conditions, high handicappers could score well – not always the case in new design – as long as you miss the heather! It’s a wonderfully crafted course.
The approach to the 13th was the original finishing hole at Southerness, fittingly with the club’s emblematic lighthouse in the background. With the small village of Southerness on show, looking towards the Lake District over the Solway Firth.
Southerness is well worth a detour for any visiting golfer, it’s the best isolated course in Scotland for me. Despite my poor 98, I still had as much enjoyment as I’ve ever had on a golf course.
If you found the history pre-amble interesting, I would recommend The Lymond Chronicles, by Dorothy Dunnett, one of Scotland’s greatest writers, which tells the warring stories in 16th century Scotland, including many Douglas’ and Maxwell’s.
