Category: Unknown (Page 9 of 17)

91. Musselburgh Links, Old. 23 Oct 2018.

July 21, 2019 / Moly McMillan

The oldest golf course in the world. A Must Play 9 holes.

Round £15.30. Par 34. Value (out of 5) – 5

Called either Musselburgh “Links” or Musselburgh “Old”, this course is the only one of the three ‘Musselburgh’ courses actually in Musselburgh, the East Lothian town 5 miles east of Edinburgh. If you are in any way interested in the history of golf, you have to play here because, quite simply, it is the oldest golf course in the world, recognised as such by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Moly and Fran at Musselburgh Links, The oldest golf course in the world.

People mainly associate the origins of the game with St Andrews, but there is a much richer history in Musselburgh Links. The record books for the course talk of Mary, Queen of Scots, King James VI and Oliver Cromwell; albeit if you check their dates of birth they certainly never played a 3 ball.

Move forward a couple of hundred years, the record book speaks of an early Open Championship venue, between 1874 and 1889, won by the likes of Mungo Park, Willie Fernie and Willie Park Jr.

The tough 6th green at Musselburgh Links

The Old Course at Musselburgh also must have another record. It has been the home of more golf clubs and societies than any other course; not any old clubs either and includes The Royal Musselburgh, The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Royal Burgess Golfing Society and the Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society, all either formed or were based at Musselburgh. Plus a further 60 clubs or societies of note.

The club sits on Common Good land, and the land’s use was extended in 1816 by building a race track around it, which is still in use today.

Which left me wondering whether a links course could be sited inside a racecourse? The answer is undoubtedly yes – this feels very much a links, with firm turf, deep revetted bunkering, whispy rough and wind! It was actually gusting over 40 mph when I played and unsurprisingly Fran and I were the only players! In the wind, my score of 45 against the par of 34 was about the best I’d played for a while.

The course is basically a clockwise loop of holes, with a out and back layout. It starts with a great par 3, then three par 4s of increasing length with the 4th hole, the stroke index 1, called Mrs Foreman’s, after the name of the pub behind the green. Then you turn for home, with the 8th on the way back being a long par 3, the most noteworthy.

This course is very well maintained and greens, fairways and bunkers being in really good condition.

The wind shows at the 9th at Musselburgh, with the racetrack grandstand in the background

Its also worth noting the world’s first golfing competition for women took place on New Year’s Day in 1811, competed for by the town’s fishwives. I wonder if the date was set by The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers?

At just £15, this is unrivalled value to grab a piece of genuine golfing history.

Some Facts

Course Type: Links

Par 34 (1 par 5, 5 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance: 2954 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 45

89. Saline. 10 Oct 2018.

January 21, 2019 / Moly McMillan

‘Salin’ feels like an intrinsic part of Scotland where community and golf are as one entity

Round £15. Par 34. Value (out of 5) – 3

Courses like Saline, pronounced ‘Salin’ by the locals, somehow define Scotland, not just Scottish golf.

The Cleish Hills provide the backdrop to the par 3 8th hole.

Saline is a village in Fife, not far from Dunfermline. Its elevation on the western slopes of the Cleish Hills, mean that any visitor will get spectacular views of the Forth Valley estuary and river. However, for the great views, you have to work hard to walk to the top of the course, but it’s well worth it.

The magnificent Forth backdrop from the 6th tee at Saline

The club was founded in 1912, but as the club’s own website admits there is virtually no history documented about the course and club development, which is clearly a shame.

The village on the other hand, with a declining population, now around 1000, down from the almost 2000 in its heyday, has an interesting history as a weaving centre. It still has several listed weavers cottages, as a legacy to its former glory.

The 1st at Saline, which gets the heart pumping from the first minute.

The 9 hole course, was in fair condition when I played, along with my wife Fran. The fairways were lush and wide enough to allow for an errant drive or two, but the greens were a little bumpy, which could have been down to the amount of recent rain.

There were some decent holes as well. The steeply uphill par 4 5th at 368 yards is a really tough 2 shots, where I suspect most will require driver and fairway wood to reach. The par 3 8th is a great short hole, against the backdrop of the Cleish Hills; it required much less club due to the drop and it’s better playing long due to the front bunkers.

The tricky par 3, third hole at Saline, at over 160 yards

The golf club bar, acts as a community hub and social club, and from looking at the notice boards it was clear that the bar is an important part of the community. The welcome was extremely warm from the barman/host, and this alone would “hasten ye back”.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Par 34 (0 par 5s, 7 par 4s, 2 par 3s)

Distance (white) 2700 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 46

81. St Andrews Old Course. 30 Jul 2018

August 15, 2018 / Moly McMillan

The Home of Golf – thanks especially to The Champion Golfer of 1995, Mr John Daly! WOW!

Round £180. Par 72. Value (out of 5) – 5

A few weeks before playing at The Old Course, I received a surprise call from Richard Rooney of D C Thomson, the Scottish Media conglomerate; “Congratulations, Moly, you’ve won our St Andrews Memory competition run by The Courier newspaper. The prize includes joining the D C Thomson 4 ball in the Rolex sponsored “Patrons Day” on the Monday following the Senior Open”. WOW!

The Auld Toon of St Andrews provides the backdrop to Moly playing at the 16th from just in front of the “Principals Nose” bunker.

I’d actually forgotten I had entered a competition some weeks earlier, but no matter, there I was standing on the Championship 1st tee at 8am on Monday 30th July 2018, only about 40 yards from where Miguel Angel Jimenez was crowned the Senior Open Champion a little over 12 hours previous. WOW!

The Courier report of the Competition which won Moly his Old Course round. Thanks John!

Assisted by local caddie, John, from Kingsbarns, and along with Keve Hodgson, fellow winner, and our 2 D C Thomson hosts, conveniently both called Richard, we played The Old Course in beautiful links conditions (a fair westerly breeze), using the Sunday pin positions. WOW!

I shot a stroke-play 87, including 8 pars, with the same ball. WOW!

Including par 4s at the 1st and 18th, from the championship tees, the 18th where I played a 150 yard 6 iron into the breeze to only 15 feet, with Caddy John announcing as my ball launched “its all over it!” and received a round of applause from the 30 or so spectators milling around. Putter in hand, the walk to the green was “golfing heaven”. WOW!

A typically huge and undulating double green – the 2nd and 16th (Keve putting up the green)

If you are reading this blog, you probably don’t need me to tell you much, if anything, about The Old Course, as it’s embedded in the very essence of golf. So many great players have made so many comments, I’ll just quote my favourite:

“This is the origin of the game. This is golf in its purest form and it’s still played that way on a course seemingly untouched by time. Every time I play here, it reminds me this is still a game.” – Arnold Palmer.

6th tee – a typically bind tee shot, where a Caddy becomes invaluable

I’ll therefore use this blog to discuss the concept of value, the prime measure I make of Scottish golf courses, which takes on an added mystery when applied to the Old Course at St Andrews. It’s by no means the most difficult course in the world, or anywhere near the most expensive; albeit at £180 its not cheap. However, it’s arguably the most accessible great sporting location in the world – anyone is free to walk its hallowed turf on Sundays when the course is closed to play. By all accounts, turn up on Christmas day and play for free (without the flags though!).

Lining up a putt for bogie at 17, with the iconic backdrop. Oh for the day to go on and on….

In deciding how to assess its value, I came up with this conundrum. Ask any golfer the world over this question: “Regardless of price, you can play golf once only in your lifetime at either The Old Course or Course X (name any course) – which would you choose to play?”. Other than perhaps Augusta, The Old Course would likely come out top every time. Therefore, for me, this defines the top price one should pay for a round of golf anywhere. Any course costing more than £180 can’t be worth it, by definition, if you would actually rather play the Old Course anyway instead, regardless of price.

Of course, its only my opinion!

The beautiful par 4 7th hole, short at only 359 yards (white), but a true SI 4 hole.

So, play it once in your lifetime. Hire a caddy if you can afford to. Walk the hallowed turf and pray that you hit some nice shots. Hope for a nice day, but also hope that the wind gets up sufficiently to understand its defence. Hope for some “Sunday pins” to wrestle with a pro’s dilemma. Hope you (maybe) find one or two of the almost mythical bunkers that dot the course. Hope…..for so many things!

Four very happy golfers – for the record the DC Thompson Richards won the match play game 2 up,

I only found one bunker, Hill, on the par 3 11th …..thank goodness:) I made a miraculous bogie, which was somehow symmetrical, as it was John Daly’s miraculous bunker shot from “Road” bunker, that won me the round of golf! WOW!

Facts:

Course Type: Links

Par 72 (yellow: 2 par 5s, 14 par 4s, 2 par 3s)

Distance: 6387 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 87

Moly’s Hope; a well played round of 87 at The Old Course, St Andrews.

80. Torphins. 25 June 2018.

August 5, 2018 / Moly McMillan

Incredible value at this gem of a 9 hole course

Round £10. Par 32. Value (out of 5) – 5

Torphins Golf Club is situated in Royal Deeside, in the village of the same name, 23 miles west of Aberdeen and 7 miles north-west of Banchory. This 9 hole golf course was founded in 1891 and the club established in 1896. I couldn’t find any record of the course designer or the course’s history, which is a real pity, as this really is a “Hidden Gem”, that oft-used but, so often, disappointingly flattering term.

My drive at the 9th at Torphins heading to the left of the fairway (but in play)

Torphins is an undulating parkland course with far reaching views of the countryside and it is worth going out of your way to play. It actually has 10 greens, with the 3rd and 12th holes sharing the same teeing ground and fairway, but the 2 greens are separated by a copse of trees.

The lovely 3rd and 12th fairway from the common teeing ground at Torphins.

It is a great little golf course, with plenty of variation, and some really tricky holes. There are 4 blind tee shots, one being the par 4 6th (SI 1), a tough dog leg left hole, which I should have taken driver from the tee, as the apex to the dog leg is further than in looks as it is quite uphill.

The greens were pretty small but in really excellent condition as were the fairways and tees.

Fran chipping at the short par 3 5th at Torphins. A bit of respite before the challenging 6th hole

Value: whether as a member or as a visitor, Torphins represents incredible golfing value. The 9 hole quoted rate was only £10, but my wife Fran and I payed only £7.50 each through the club website. A Monday to Friday annual membership, allowing 9 holes per day, is only £90, with Junior memberships starting at £20. This is 5 star value golf.

The 2nd, a short par 4, at Torphins – my birdie hole on the day.

An interesting fact – Macbeth was killed on 15 August 1057 only 3 miles from Torpins. “What’s done cannot be undone”, sayeth Macbeth – that’s how I felt on the 7th after my 10, having lost 2 balls! I still shot 17 point for the 9 holes.

Really enjoyable, highly recommended.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 32 (white; 5 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance: 2338 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 44

Torphins scorecard – 44 for 17 points (with a 7 and 10!)