Category: Since 2000 (Page 6 of 7)

46. Maverston. 2nd Aug 2016.

August 8, 2016 / Moly McMillan

Good example of a new course worth playing, but will it be viable in an area with so many fine golf courses?

Round £25. Par 70. Value (out of 5) 3.5

Maverston Golf Course is owned and operated by the ANM Group, a member owned co-operative company with interests in mainly farming related businesses. It seems clear that the business goal of the Maverston estate was to build a golf course attractive enough to enable the sale of the co-located residential housing plots surrounding the course. The course itself opened in 2014, and several “executive” houses are now completed and occupied.

Maverston 2nd hole – a typical example of the course.

The course has matured quickly and provides an excellent challenge – especially if the wind blows as it is on open parkland. It is located very close to Elgin and although close to the coast, there are no sea views of great merit from the course. The web site also boasts of Cairngorms views, but I think that’s not a fair reflection of the mainly rolling farming countryside views on offer.

The course is an excellent piece of architecture, designed by former Scottish international Euan McIntosh and plays 6,000+ yards off white and yellow, both with par 70. It has had a good start to its existence, and has picked up several members who have moved from the nearby Kinloss Country course, mainly due to the latter course struggling and reducing the course from 18 to only 11 holes. This story, I suspect, may be the risk that Maverston faces, as the Moray coast is blessed with so many genuinely world class courses. Only time will tell.

Excellent par 3 7th at Maverston

The course has some excellent holes, with the outward 9 being significantly longer than the inward 9. The 3 holes from 6th to 8th were the highlight for me, with the lovely par 3 7th, sandwiched between 2 par 5s, which were the stroke index 1 and 3 respectively.

The course was in very good condition when I played and the greens were fast and true, albeit I thought the greens could have benefited from more undulation, but that’s probably overly critical. The fairways are quite generous, but the rough outside these wide targets is very penal. On the day I actually lost 6 balls, costing me 12 penalty shots, making up the whole story between my score and handicap! The rough was so deep I didn’t find any alternative balls either!

Tough drive at par 5 8th hole at Maverston.

With the exposure to the wind and the dry conditions I faced there was quite a “links” feel to this course, and the advice from the starter was to treat the greens and approaches as if they were links. If that was intended as part of the design it has been a good job.

I’d recommend playing Maverston, which also has a nice little clubhouse with cafe/bar seating overlooking the 10th. Overall good value, I hope it remains viable.

Excellent par 3 16th at Maverston.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

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

Distance (yellow) 6118 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 100

Moly’s Maverston scorecard – a 100 with 6 lost balls for 12 penalties

42. Murrayshall Lynedoch. 6th June 2016.

June 7, 2016 / Moly McMillan

The “junior” Murrayshall course provides a surprisingly outstanding challenge

Round £30 ( variable on-line). Par 68. Value (out of 5) – 4

The Murrayshall estate, first built in 1664, was established as a commercially successful Country House hotel in the early 1970s, following the sale of the estate by the Norrie-Millar family, of whom Francis Norrie-Millar was one of the key instrumentalists in building the General Accident insurance company in nearby Perth, only 3 miles to the west of Murrayshall.

Approach to the par 4 second - requiring a well placed tee shot, into a narrow green over a deep ditch.

Approach to the par 4 2nd – requiring a well placed tee shot, into a narrow green over a deep ditch.

The esteemed golf architect Hamilton J Strutt (grandson of James Braid’s foreman) designed the original Championship course in the 70s, and returned to design the Lynedoch course which opened in 2000. The latter course is named after Thomas Graham, aka Lord Lynedoch, who became second in command to the Duke of Wellinton’s Armies in the early 1800s.

Playing the Lynedoch actually reminds you of the Duke of Wellington when importalised in song for “marching them up to the top of the hill, and marching them down again!” There’s plenty of hills to march up and down on the Lynedoch course, which feels longer than its 5279 yards off the white tees. I wouldn’t recommend carrying a full bag!

The demanding SI 1, par 5 14th hole on The Lynedoch

The demanding SI 1, narrow par 5 14th hole on The Lynedoch

The Lynedoch Course really surprised me for both its quality and character, given that it is very much the junior course at Murrayshall. It is very difficult to give a single course type categorisation, and is a mix of woodland and parkland/medow, and has some wonderful highland views to the north. It also has a fair amount of bracken, ditch/water hazards and Disney sized bunkers on some holes.

Given its all round quality and design, it’s arguably better value than the longer Championship course. It has many memorable holes, starting on the first, a dog leg right par 4, which is much harder than the stroke index of 10 would suggest. The second, a shorter par 4, starts to lay out the need for accuracy needed here. Then the 3rd is the first of 6 delighful par 3s, with a hugh amount of variety.

The long par 3 15th tee on The Lynedoch, with deep ditch just visible on the left - cant impagine many 2s here!

The long par 3 15th tee on The Lynedoch, with deep ditch just visible on the left – can’t imagine many 2s here!

My favourite holes were the 14th, 15th and 16th, with stroke indexes 1, 5 and 3 repectively – I rather suspect these holes have defined many match play games here. The 15th is particularly interesting played as a long par 3 (212 yards) off white but as a short par 4 (294 yards) off yellow. It requires the most accurate tee shot, due to a right to left sloping fairway into a deep ravine/ditch – which I had to chip out of!

View from green at the par 3 15th (although par 4 from yellow tees)

The course was in excellent all round condition when I played and I had a very mercurial round of 88 (net 2 over), including 3 birdies for the second time in my life, but unfortunately 2 quadruple and 1 triple bogie! I think this scorecard rather sums up the Lynedoch course – lots of opportunity and hazard, but very true greens!

I highly recommend playing here.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland/Woodland

Par 68 (2 par 5s, 10 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

Distance (white) 5279 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 88

A mercurial 88, with 3 birdies and 2 quadruple bogies!

40. The Renaissance Club. 27th May 2016

May 31, 2016 / Moly McMillan

A new world class links course to rival its older neighbours

Round by Invitation. Par 71. Quality (out of 5) – 4.5

The Renaissance is a work of beauty - the 10th taken on a nicer day than when I played.

The Renaissance is a work of beauty – the 9th taken on a nicer day than when I played.

The Renaissance Club is one of a small but growing number of exclusive private member golf clubs in Scotland. It combines a world class golf course and facilities with an American style family friendly country club set up, with fine dining, although the latter type of country club is also now very common in South Africa and Australia.

The course sits just east of Muirfield, its famous neighbour, on the North Berwick coastline.

The tree enclosed 4th green – typical of some of the great links courses in Northern Scotland

The architect of The Renaissance, Tom Doak, is renowned for his use of natural contours and not “bulldozing” the land and he has laid the course around several copses of existing trees; therefore this is a course that looks much more like parts of the great links of Carnoustie, Dornoch or Nairn Dunbar, than the treeless Muirfield.

The large 8th Green at The Renaisannce

The result is a quite magnificent layout that in my opinion will stand the test of time. With widely different tee options, this can be played at 6121 yards off yellow, 6766 yards off white, and a monster 7293 yards off the professional championship blue tees. It also has 2 very cleverly mixed white/yellow layouts of around 6500 yards, each recommended for different westerly or easterly winds (see the scorecard below for details). All layouts have a par of 71.

The tee view from the stroke index par 4 8th.

The course was in excellent condition as expected and although spread out over a much greater area than, by comparison, Muirfield, the green to tee walks were still short some almost in the St Andrews way, I suspect by design.

The highlight of the course for me was the magnificent greens which had combinations of large and subtle borrows, almost all with very tricky surrounds. Combined with well positioned and deep bunkers, I suspect only the greatest of short game players would win a Scottish Open here. The Renaissance would be a fine competition venue, with many locations for grandstands which would afford viewing of more than one hole.

The majestic 10th tee view – I lost a ball into the left cliffs on the one occasion I failed to heed my playing partner’s advice!

I was hosted by the local professional Ross Dixon, whose wise on-course advice enabled me to play to within one shot of my new lower handicap of 19, which has reduced by 4 shots following a number of lessons by Ross himself, the best measure of golf teaching.

The downhill par 3 11th, with a view over the links land

The Renaissance layout provides changes of direction on almost every hole, and therefore the difficulty changes likewise. There are many great holes, but the run of 5 holes from the 7th through 11th were for me the architectural and aesthetic highlight; a long par 5 7th, the stroke index 1 8th hole, followed by 2 excellent par 3s (the infinity greened 9th, and the downhill 11th), which sandwich the cliff hugging shortish par 4 10th. All these holes can be viewed using the excellent interactive club website application here.

Ross Dixon, after striking another ball far down the middle at the par 4 14th.

It was a real privilege to play The Renaissance and I hope that the venue can be used for competitions so that the wider public can see at close hand what a wonderful course it is. Although it was a private club, it was very far from stuffy, in fact I couldn’t help noticing what a wonderfully relaxing and very family oriented atmosphere existed around the club. There is a lot that the older established clubs around Scotland could learn from The Renaissance.

Some Facts

Course Type: Links

Par 71 (4 par 5s, 9 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance (yellow) 6121 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 91

Stableford (7/8th allowance) 33

Moly’s scorecard at The Renaissance Club – Gross 91

14. Kinloss Country; 9th April 2015

June 3, 2015 / Moly McMillan

Young “American” style parkland course close to Findhorn Bay on the Moray Coast

Summary: £20 (18 holes); £12.50 (9 holes); £30 (day). Par 68. Score 90. Value (out of 5) – 2.5

Detail; Kinloss Country is a bit like the proverbial Curate’s Egg – “good in parts”. It is an unusual parkland find on this links laden Moray coastline.

The difficult par 3 third, with sweeping views to the North

It has a very unusual start of 3 par 3s, the first 2 of which are very straight forward; indeed if you don’t pick up a scorecard, you might be forgiven for thinking you were on a par 3 course.

But things get better with the 3rd played downhill with sweeping views, with challenges ahead on the 5th and 7th two of the more difficult holes.

12th hole – with lake in front.

The 12th hole, most likely characterised as the signature hole, has a manufactured lake in front of the green, so make sure you take enough club.

The course was in reasonable condition when I played with special note for the good condition of the fairways and bunkers. The course is quite open to the elements though with the 11th being aptly named “Windy Hills”.

15th – A bit of a Pig!

In fact, please take heed of the hole names! Although I must admit the 15th hole, a bit of a pig, should be renamed.

I played pretty steady throughout, and shot 90, despite having two 8’s on the back 9.

I was also caught out at the 17th, called “Carnoustie Twist” – needless to say I found the hidden green side bunkers!

17th “Carnoustie Twist”

Kinloss Country also has a nice little clubhouse with reasonably priced food and drink; the staff were also particularly friendly.

I wouldn’t go out of my way to play again, but it is a nice holiday venture and is close by the wonderful Findhorn bay, an ideal spot for a nice pub meal or picnic.

Findhorn Bay, close to Kinloss Country GC

Key Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Green Fees: 18 holes £20, 9 holes £12.50, Day £30 (All week)

Par 68 (2 par 5, 10 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

Distance(white) 5321 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 90

Moly’s Kinloss Country Scorecard – Gross 90

Category: Since 2000 (Page 6 of 7)

46. Maverston. 2nd Aug 2016.

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

42. Murrayshall Lynedoch. 6th June 2016.

Par 68 (2 par 5s, 10 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

40. The Renaissance Club. 27th May 2016

Par 71 (4 par 5s, 9 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

14. Kinloss Country; 9th April 2015

Par 68 (2 par 5, 10 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

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