Category: 1946 – 1999 (Page 7 of 10)

55. Silverknowes. 20th Oct 2016.

October 21, 2016 / Moly McMillan

Golf of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish in Scotland

Round £22.70. Par 71. Value (out of 5) 3

Silverknowes is a small suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh on the south bank of the Firth of Forth with views across to Fife. The community evolved around the 1930s and the golf course opened in 1957 after an almost 30 year gestation.

The commending views of the Forth from the first at Silverknowes

The commanding views of the Forth from the first at Silverknowes

In trying to sum up my thoughts about Silverknowes golf course, I couldn’t help thinking about Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote about government being “of/by/for the people”. Arguably, no other country in the world would provide a low cost public golf course on such prime real estate as that on which Silverknowes is laid out.

The approach to the difficult 5th with the clubhouse in the background.

The course is managed as a pay-for-play facility by Edinburgh Leisure, a not for profit charity, which manages the leisure activities formerly run by Edinburgh Council, although there is also a separate private members Silverknowes Golf Club. Edinburgh Leisure operate 6 golf courses, with an annual 7-day membership to play all 6 costing around only £400 – excellent value.

The Arboretum backdrop to the 14th at Silverknowes

The par 71 parkland layout provides an easy walking course with several wide fairways, so you can open up with the driver, without carrying around a bucket of spare balls. However, you do need to keep a keen eye on your line as the lush and green rough make losing a ball possible when you least expect to.

The course has undergone several changes in the hole order over the years, but now has a relatively easy opening 4 holes, but toughens up from the 5th, with the stoke index 1 par 4 7th, being the first of a number of very difficult holes. Indeed, it’s actually worth playing Silverknowes to try out the Par 4 16th, which is one of the most difficult par 4s I have encountered, and that includes the 17th road hole at St Andrews. At over 460 yards, it’s dog leg apex is only about 170-180 yards from the tee, leaving an almost 300 yard second shot – not something many amateurs (or even professionals) have in their bag!

The “par 4” 16th at Silverknowes

The greens and fairways were in nice condition when I played, although annoyingly the bunkers had no rakes available, which caused myself and my partners on the day to have some interesting bunker lies. The tees and tee boxes were also in need of some added care.

There were however many magnificent views across to Fife and the several islands that festoon the Forth, and I would highly recommend playing in the Autumn as the colours of the many variety of trees on several holes make for quite an arboretum.

Unfortunately I found the trees a few too many times on my back 9, coming back in 52, having gone out in 41 – golf the great leveler! This course reflects so much of the ethos of golf in Scotland, and it is worth playing, just to understand that alone.

The urban backdrop a reflection of Golf in Scotland – The peoples game

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Par 71 (2 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance yards: 5942 (yellow)

Moly’s Gross Score: 93

Moly’s Silverknowes scorecard – 93 (41 out; 52 back!)

54. Culcrieff. 20th Sep 2016.

September 24, 2016 / Moly McMillan

Decent greens and fine scenery don’t warrant playing this overpriced course

Round £32. Par 66. Value (out of 5) 1

Culcrieff golf course is part of the well known Crieff Hydro hotel located in Perthshire. The parkland course, with fine views of the local Perthshire hills, was established in 1972 from a disused 9 holes, then extended to 18 in 2002, using a design by John Stark the local Crieff professional.

The greens at Culcrieff were the worst I’d ever experienced, as evidenced here at the 5th green, NOT one designated as GUR. Many others were much worse!

Being part of the Hydro, the course feels as if it’s managed as one of the very many holiday activities on offer, therefore there is no Golf Club oversight of the course. This apparent lack of specific golfing focus, has resulted in a course that is under invested and not worth the money to play. I rather suspect that holidaying golfers staying at the hydro are taken a bit for granted as a captive cash cow. When you look at the price of £32, there are very many council courses in Scotland in much better condition, and no more than £20. The best discount offer I could find was through www.teeofftimes.co.uk at £26, even that is over priced, in my opinion.

1st approach at Culcrieff with nice views

The greens were decent, granted, and apparently built to USGA specification, but the bunkers were the worse condition I’ve played, several were designated as GUR although they would have been better designated as Ground Under Neglect. The fairways also needed a cut when I played.

The 16th at Culcrieff had a tricky green to find.

Setting aside the condition, the course has some nicely designed holes that are challenging, not least because of the small greens. The dog leg left 2nd hole, although short at 295 yards needs a very accurate 2nd shot into a well protected green. The long dog leg right par 4 5th will test the longest hitters. The second to the par 4 12th will also require a longer shot that expected to hit the plateau green, and the downhill par 3 16th, aptly called “Deil’s delight,” is devilishly tricky to find the small green.

Nice finishing hole at Culcrieff, a 200+ yard par 3.

I played fairly decent scoring 32 stableford points with a gross 87. However, I shall not return to try again, and I would certainly not recommend playing here. In its current condition, it should be priced at about £15 – £20.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Par 66 (12 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

Distance yards: 4892 (white)

Moly’s Gross Score: 97

Moly’s Culcrieff scorecard – 87 for 32 stableford points

45. Elmwood. 7th July 2016.

July 9, 2016 / Moly McMillan

A great society golf course with wide fairways and well maintained facilities

Round £26. Par 68. Value (out of 5) 3

Elmwood golf course, more correctly named Scottish Rural College (SRUC) Elmwood, is owned and run by Scotland’s national rural college and the Elmwood Campus is based in Cupar, Fife. The golf course was opened in 1997 and Geo Certified in 2013 to reward its sustainability credentials. The College offers various golf management courses with the golf course providing the practical setting for several skill developments, such as greenkeeping.

The Par 3 4th at SRUC Elmwood golf course

Although there are some scenic views of Tarvit Hill and the Lomond Hills Elmwood has a rather bland feel, with many wide and feature light fairways. The course highlights are indeed the conditioning of fairways, greens and, in particular, bunkers. However, the bunkers had deep surrounds on all sides, meaning that on one occasion when near the “back” of the bunker, I was forced to play away from the hole – a bunker design flaw in my book.

The difficult to find 10th green at Elmwood

The wide fairways and absense of any water hazards makes this an ideal society day out, and it’s easy to check the course availablity using the club’s on-line booking system, which offers variable pricing discounts.

Elwood has excellent bunkers like here at the 12th

As to the course, there are some difficult and challenging holes. The par 4 3rd at 434 yards off yellow is a long 2 shotter and I thought the par 4 10th (worth the SI 5 at least) was the architectural highlight, where unless you were to the left of the fairway with your tee shot, any shot to an angled and well bunkered green was nigh impossible. The last 2 holes at around 430 yards each, are also card wreckers. With the 16th green being close to the nice clubhouse, I suspect several rounds end there!

The 17th tee at Elmwood, one of the more aesthetic holes

I had a rather inconsistent round with only 2 pars, but a welcome birdie 4 at the long par 5 13th, which I thought was not the hardest hole by any means as the SI 1 suggested.

I would recommend playing Elmwood for the golf, but if scenery is equally important to you its probably worth a miss.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

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

Distance (yellow) 5757 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 95

Moly’s scorecard – 95 – at SRUC Elmwood

43. Charleton. 7th June 2016.

June 7, 2016 / Moly McMillan

A rather bland open parkland course, but with magnificent greens – it’s a cunundrum!

Round £32. Par 71 (yellow). Value (out of 5) – 3

Charleton House on the East Neuk of Fife was built in 1759 and after passing through several hands is now owned by a Swedish family and it was Baron John Bonde (1918–2009) who established the golf course and small picturesque club house in 1994. The Estate house and terraced garden, with outstanding Firth of Forth views, is operated as an events location.

Short par 4 17th tee with Charleton house in the distance.

Firstly, I’d point out that unlike the club’s website boast, this is definately not in my opinion “Scotland’s Premier Parkland Course”, a rather embarrassing claim, given the competition. Given that the course was opened by ex-US president George Bush Snr, one can’t help conclude that the Bonde family have many good contacts!

The difficult short par 3 5th green.

Charleton is actually the most open of parkland courses, in fact it has some of the widest fairways you’re likley to find in Fife. Therefore it is a good course for Society outings, without the need for several balls in your bag.

The course is a bit of a conundrum, since although the tee shots are relatively mundane, when you get to the greens, many of them are rather magnificent; several are up to 50 yards from front to back, some guitar shaped narrowing to only 6 yards wide and there are several positions on the greens that you might have to pitch over the fringes to get to the flags. There are also some very severe sloping banks at the sides of the greens, which combined with deep bunkers, make the approach play some of the most challenging around.

The trecherous green at the par 4 14th.

There are some real highlights, but for me the most difficult were the par 3s, only 3 of them, but on each occasion I struck what I thought were excellent shots, only to discover my ball in devilish greenside bunkers. I also must mention the 14th green – it measures 50 yards front to back, and has several very damging bunkers – I took 4 to get out of one of them!

The guitar shaped 15th green – a par 4.

Therefore, the course without greens gets no more than 2/5 for value, whereas the greens are 5/5 alone, giving a rounded 3/5 value score. It was rounded down because the teeing grounds were in poor condition when I played.

The par 3 6th green at Charleton

I gaurantee if you play at Charleton, you’ll want to re-play many of your greenside chips and long putts. You can see from my card, of 99, I found the greens a challenge, having 3 putted 6 times!

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland/Woodland

Par 71 (2 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance (yellow) 5989 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 99

Moly’s scorecard at Charleton adding to 99, with two 9s.