Round £50. Par 69. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 67.2/119. Value (out of 5) – 5
Forfar is an incredible golf course. Although I’m a native Dundonian and played football in nearby Forfar many times, I had never actually played the golf course – I had no idea what I’d been missing all those years. Whenever I’ve mentioned Forfar to my non-Scots friends, I always get “Forfar four, East Fife five!”. It should be famous for its golf course.
The 4th, ‘Cat Law, a tough par four, with Forfar’s terrain on show.
Having read many reviews of Forfar golf course, I was struck by the number of writers commenting on the unusual terrain – “it’s an ‘inland links'” said many.
The majestically bunkered 17th hole – this is typical of the views playing Forfar.
The geology is very marked. It has hummocks and undulations with so much similarity to a links. Look at the fairways, and it could be Scotscraig, near St Andrews. Look at the numerous Scots Pine, with the hilly surrounds, and it could be Boat of Garten in the Highlands. The wonderful heather and bunkered green surrounds, would make their way easily onto Lanark, Edzell or any number of the great heathland courses.
The blind tee shot at the par four 2nd hole.
I’ve played over 200 golf courses throughout the world, from the Monteray Peninsular, through the championship layouts of South Africa and Australia. Ryder Cup parkland courses and Open Championship links. Asian tour venues. Forfar is both like none of them and yet like all of them, simultaneously.
The green complex at the fifth, a challenging long par 3.
On land influenced by the remnant boulders of the last ice age, Forfar sits only 15 miles north of Carnoustie and 15 miles south of Glen Clova in the Angus Glens. The golf course has a lengthy history, claiming to be “the 4th oldest 18 hole course in the world and is the very first Club to have an 18 hole course from inception and inauguration”. This latter comment is carefully contructed, since there are many earlier 18 hole courses, for example the Lundin/Leven Links (blog here) 18 holes dates to 1868, 3 years before the creation of Forfar.
The approach to the seventh, the par four, ‘Quarry’, SI 2 hole. Play long and right, if you can hit the green in 2.
The course was designed by Old Tom Morris, at a time when no major earth moving was done in course construction. So all that you walk on is natural. The green surrounds are at times genius, which makes sense since James Braid carried out a redesign in 1926, but the majority of the holes remained the same. Overall, its a beautiful golfing challenge.
The tricky 18th green to find from a blind approach shot. I was lucky to choose the right club, to get my 3rd birdie of the day. Very unusual for me!
Despite having a few weaker holes, notably the par three ninth, there are many that are memorable. When we played on a calm, July day, the course was in great condition. The fairways were dry and fast running, the turf was firm, the greens slick, the bunkers consistently first class and the teeing grounds all excellent.
The wonderful 12th hole, the SI 1 hole on the course. A par four of 422 yards (yellow).
Value for money is undoubtedly 5 star, at the £50 mid-week rate; we paid only £20 through a Golfnow ‘hot deal’ for a Saturday twilight time. In fact, unbeatable golfing value.
The 10th, a mid length par 4, where storms had left their mark with a loss of trees.
If I had to select only 10 courses that collectively represented the range of golf in Scotland, Forfar might just be be my number one pick, it is that unique. As to its overall ranking, it regularly appears in the “Top 100” Scotland courses, typically around 70th place. This doesn’t do it justice for me, I think it’s easy to justify a top 50 placing.
I can’t recommend Forfar high enough.
Facts:
Course Type:“Inland Links?”
Par 67 (1 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance (yellow): 5754 yards
Moly’s Gross score: 84
Moly’s Forfar scorecard – a commendable 84. 3 birdies and 3 triple bogies!
Golfing grandeur nestled out of sight – just like Augusta National – with azaleas and other mysteries thrown in.
Round £175. Par 68. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 67.4/113. Value (out of 5) – 2.5
As I played Royal Burgess, close by a busy traffic junction in Edinburgh, I had a nagging thought; this venue has parallels to Bobby Jones’ Augusta National, an oasis of golfing perfection just off a nondescript highway.
The humble Burgess entrance, belying the wonderful parkland beyond, had me musing of Augusta.
This is not a ‘Golf Club’ though, but the more grander ‘Golfing Society’, a term dating back to 1735, some 150 years before the creation of the current golf course at Barnton.
The difficult par 4, fourth hole, one of the best at Royal Burgess.
A ‘Burgess’ is a term used differently in different countries. In Scotland in 1735, the year of the Societies origin making it the oldest golf club in the world, ‘burgesses’ were city freemen with exclusive trading rights and members of trade guilds. In a sense, they were the Scottish Bourgeoisie. The men would also, probably without exception, have been Freemasons, as Scotland was the birthplace of post middle-age freemasonry. There is a very interesting article “How freemasons invented golf” in the www.scottishgolfhistory.org website which also covers how the Burgess Society was involved.
Ian Ponton plays from a typically well manicured bunker, here at the 2nd, a short par 4.
There is also a lovely Burgess history here on the clubs website, and covered in fine detail on the walls of the impressive 1897 “Arts and Crafts” clubhouse, which is well worth visiting when you play.
Moly’s tee shot at the 121 yard par three 8th hole, with a typically aesthetic surround.
The society originally played over 6 holes at Bruntsfield Links near Edinburgh Castle, then at Musselburgh from 1874 along with some rival societies (you may be able to guess them?). The Burgess finally came to its current location in 1895 on land that had been the private course of a wealthy businessman, Robert Clark. It was an ideal location in its day, with the current starters hut, adjacent the first tee, formerly being the ticket office for the Barnton railway station of the Caledonian line.
Bob Tait, demonstrating a full extension through the ball, at the 437 yard par four 6th hole. Royal Burgess is a good course to use in any debate for advocating different stroke indexes for each tee box.
Since 1895, no lesser than Old Tom Morris, Willie Park Jnr (main designer), James Braid and Philip MacKenzie Ross have developed the course – that’s quite an architectural pedigree.
The course sits in a beautifully manicured arboretum with a wide variety of trees and plants, including azaleas and rhododendron. Although not a long course and constrained by the tight parkland surrounding, the ‘yellow’ course feels longer than its 5700 yards, comprising several long par 4s and no yellow par 5s. There are many large and deceptive greens making three putts a constant hazard. An anomaly in yardages means that the 210 yard par three 18th, is stroke index 18, due to the championship tee designating it a par four. I imagine most matchplay games reaching the 18th, strongly favour a lower handicapper.
Jamie Snedon playing from the greenside bunker at the 15th, a tough par four.
The course was in great condition when I played, hosted by the affable Ian Ponton, owner of the Oz Bar in Candlemaker Row in Edinburgh, along with his great friends Bob Tait and Jamie Snedon. Jamie played by far the best golf on a very windy day, but thankfully we hadn’t made a wager as we started off in a bit of Scottish drizzle.
The 10th, a testing dog leg par four and a very characteristic Burgess hole
The wind didn’t hamper our enjoyment and one could really appreciate the course design, where many large fairway and greenside bunkers were of the highest order, with perfect sand. Many bunkers have been added over the years, some recently. The course sets up better for a fader of the ball (such as Jamie), with all bar one (the 14th) of the many dog leg holes being left to right.
The par threes were well bunkered albeit, other than the 18th, they were short to mid length iron shots for most players.
The approach at the 11th, the signature hole at The Burgess
I struggled to a score of 95, which can’t all be attributed to the wind and my recently developed fade was turned into a monstrous slice on several occasions. It’s important to avoid the bunkers to score well at Burgess, something I failed to do.
I can’t imagine anyone not liking Royal Burgess, a place of genuine history in the developing of the game. It’s beautiful condition, makes it a four for value at its current price.
The clubhouse is the backdrop to the 18th, with a plaque commemorating Henry Cotton’s visit to Royal Burgess, where I conveniently located my tee shot!
The “Royal” patronage was bestowed on the club in 1929, due to a friendship between Robert Boothby, a Burgess member, and the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII (he who abdicated). Boothby was knighted the same year the club became Royal Burgess.
Finally, lets return to my Augusta National ‘gut feeling’ comparison. In looking for a comparable Augusta picture to the Royal Burgess entrance photograph, I stumbled upon a quite remarkable thing. Directly opposite the unobtrusive entranceway to The Masters venue, is the headquarters of the Ancient Scottish Rite Freemasonry organisation. Dig only a little deeper and you find that none other than Augusta hero Brother Arnold Palmer was a Grand Great 33 degree Freemason of the Scottish Rite.
Augusta National entrance with inset of the building opposite – the HQ of Scottish Rite Freemasonry
Plenty of mystery and history to ponder in playing this recommended, but overly priced, course.
Facts:
Course Type:Parkland
Par 70 (0 par 5s, 14 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance (yellow): 5704 yards
Moly’s Gross score: 95
Moly’s Royal Burgess scorecard – 95 – dominated by up to 40 mph wind.
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!
Modernity and Tradition collide full on at this South Ayrshire Council course, which exposes the real challenges facing Scottish Golfeverywhere – if you become a local councilor, beware the “golf brief”
Round £dynamic – typically £37. Par 71. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 70.1/123. Value (out of 5) – 4
Scotland has a tradition of great municipal courses, some of the world’s best. However, green fees and subscriptions often don’t cover costs, taxpayers paying the deficit, making municipal golf a political hot potato.
The 18th green at Darley with the impressive clubhouse serving the 3 Troon Links Municipal courses.
‘Golf South Ayrshire’ operates 8 municipal courses; Troon Links (Lochgreen, Fullarton, Darley), Belleisle Park Ayr (Belleisle, Seafield), Ayr Dalmilling, North Carrick Maybole, and South Carrick Girvan. In 2021 the Council’s new golfing strategy, to address a £300,000 annual deficit in the golf budget, resulted in annual 7 day membership to play all 8 courses rising by almost 50% to just over£500. This received extensive press coverage including “South Ayrshire golfers hit out at council’s ‘enforced changes’ to sport”, (Daily Record).
An overplayed and under cared for Troon Darley course.
In stark contrast, I recently visited Monteray in California, where a green fee at any one of the three headline ‘public’ Pebble Beach courses (Pebble Beach Links, Spyglass Hill and Spanish Bay Links) would have cost nearly $700. So, the price to play all eight Golf South Ayrshire courses as often as you want in a year, is about the same as a single green fee at a Pebble Beach course.
Why can’t you play with your practice swing? – Moly at the 11th, a par four over 400 yards. The fairways were pretty rough.
It’s little wonder, that golf holidaying Americans think golf is still cheap in Scotland, even when paying £300+ for a round at Royal Troon. The clubhouses of municipal Troon (Darley) Links and Open venue Royal Troon are less than a mile, but yet a world, apart.
There are two tiers of access to golf in Scotland. First, courses for the masses, like Troon Darley Links, which is incredibly affordable. Second, courses in the (say) top100 Scottish golf courses for the lucky local residents and/or those often professionally or family connected to existing members. These second category courses, have visitor green fees ranging from £140 to £300+ per round , equivalent to as much as about 25% to 50% of the lucky members’ annual subscriptions. Members of these affluent courses never relinquish membership readily and only wealthy visitors can afford green fees (Kingsbarns rate for 2023 will be £374, or more than £20 per hole).
The four par 3s at Darley, clockwise from top left; 4th, 9th, 12th and 16th. The highlight at Darley.
The truth is, the vast majority of the Scottish golfing public playing “The People’s Game” will never play an Open venue.
Admittedly, the concept of “Scottish Resident” rates have emerged at the very expensive courses, but these are still sometimes up to £200. Scottish Golf have also introduced lotteries for members of all Scottish clubs to play at the great courses, typically at about £300-£400 per 4-ball, but these are limited and only available in the winter season.
Add into the mix the growing use of Golf discounted green fee apps, such as Golfnow, and you have an interesting time for golf pricing. Interestingly, the top clubs never appear on Golfnow, in fact you can probably gauge the wealth of a club by how many tee time are available on these apps.
Fran teeing off at the par five 6th hole, at 535 yards from the red tee.
Strategically, looking at the bigger economic picture in Scotland, which still has well over 600 courses, it has more courses per person, per GDP, than any other country with more than 200 courses. In effect, the economy is not big enough to sustain the cheaper “courses for the masses”. This is one of the reasons behind the number of course closures since 2000.
I played Darley, one of the 3 Troon Links courses, on an unseasonably warm March day. I paid only £16.99 (via Golfnow), against the typical £37 for the summer rate, albeit the Troon Links website does advocate ‘dynamic pricing’, responding, in part, to users using the competing commercial green fee apps.
The course was basically ‘beaten up’, by the volume of winter play. I met a number of people who are based in Glasgow, whose courses are waterlogged in winter, and who make the short trip down the coast.
The burn in front of the 14th, a fairly long par four, which was a card wrecker for Moly, carding an 8.
The greens had held up, but the tees, fairways and bunkers were unkempt. There were very few rakes in the bunkers (the pandemic was ending and no longer an excuse). On advising one of the three people who were chatting in the green fee kiosk of the rakes situation, I got the comment “we thought all the locals would have all had a rake by now!”
Maybe the Ayrshire golfers complaining to the Daily Record, had contextualised their criticism on fees, with the ‘condition of the courses’. And there lies another conundrum – it takes effort and money to produce a course in great playing condition, and increasing fees restricts the volume of demand, making it good for the members. I’m not saying all this is easy to balance.
The tee shot at the 5th at Darley, the stroke index 1 par four a 411 yards, displaying the links land.
The Troon Links clubhouse has been a major investment for the Darley, Lochgreen and Fullarton courses.
As to the Darley course itself, between the pretty benign opening two holes and the closing two holes, the holes 3 through 16, represent a decent links layout, on firm turf, several good bunkers, with gorse lined fairways, and some tricky greens. Its a good test of golf, albeit the signage to navigate between holes would be a good investment. The four par 3s are the highlight for me, with the 9th standing up well to many more expensive club par threes; its the really stand out hole at Darley.
The 158 yard par three 9th hole, the absolutely stand out hole at Darley. Brilliant green complex.
I had a mixed round, with birdies at the 4th and 10th, but then 2 triples and 1 quadruple bogie at the 14th. So my gross 91, equated to 32 points off 15. Not bad for me.
It must be said that South Ayrshire Council probably leads the way in the provision of Municipal golf in Scotland. I would advocate more investment on the courses please, even if the price needs to rise a little. A good value course, which could have been really great value with a little more attention.
Incidentally, I decided not to play the main Pebble Beach courses, instead I had a good walk around ‘The Links at Spanish Bay’, and nearly had to pay excess baggage for the about 150 golf balls (All grade A) I found in less than an hour!
Course Type:Links
Par 71 (3 par 5s, 11 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance: 5984 (yellow)
Moly’s Gross score: 91
Moly’s Troon Darley scorecard. 91, but a very mixed bag with a couple of birdies and 4 blobs.
