Category: 4 star (Page 16 of 20)

47. Huntly. 3rd Aug 2016 (front 9).

August 11, 2016 / Moly McMillan

Great value little course well worth going out of your way for

Round £18. Par 67. Value (out of 5) 4

Huntly Golf Club, in Aberdeenshire, sits between the rivers Deveron and Bogie (the confluence of these rivers is between the 12th and 13th tees) and also adjacent to the ruined Huntly Castle, the ancestral home of Clan Gordon. The castle ruins provide a backdrop to the par 3 2nd hole.

Signature par 3 2nd hole at Huntly, with Castle ruins visible through the trees.

Established in 1892, the course was dormant during both world wars and after lengthy periods of only 9 holes, has been an 18 hole layout since 1966.

It is a relatively short course at 5359 yards from medal tees and 4904 yards from the yellow tees. However, there are many sloping fairways which, when coulped to the trees, mean accuracy plays a dividend.

Approach to 4th at Huntly

The course has no par 5s, and 5 par 3s – moreover only one par 4 (the 8th) is over 400 yards, and that is by only 7 yards. My recommendation would be to leave the driver in the car and ensure you play off the fairways – this will pay dividends. Of course if you spy my card (below), you’ll not be surprised to find I didn’t follow my own advice – I lost balls at the 5th and 8th!

Demanding tee shot at the 9th at Huntly

Fran, my playing partner on the day, and I only played 9 holes before being caught in an absolute downpour – but the kind starter gave us a refund for the holes not played – don’t say Aberdonian’s are mean, its absolutely not true. I plan to return and play the back 9 at some point in future.

There are a number of nice blind driving holes on the front 9, namely the 4th, 5th and 7th, and in reality you only need to get a shot perhaps 180 yards out to make these holes pretty straight forward. Of the par 3s the 2nd is a really nice hole, but beware the hidden bunker to the right of the green.

rain stops play at Huntly – I’ll be back!

The course was in excellent condition when I played, and along with the picturesque surroundings, make this course really good value at £18. Huntly is also a nice little town to visit.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Par 67 (0 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance (yellow) 4904 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 49 (front 9)

Front 9 at Huntly (Rain halted round)

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

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

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!

Category: 4 star (Page 16 of 20)

47. Huntly. 3rd Aug 2016 (front 9).

Par 67 (0 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

46. Maverston. 2nd Aug 2016.

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

45. Elmwood. 7th July 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)

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