Round £30. Par 69. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 67.5/118. Value (out of 5) – 5
Moly’s Score – 97
When deciding to play all Scotland’s golf courses, I had no idea of the joy I would find from learning about Scotland’s geography and local histories, plus on the few occasions I would find a course that overwhelmingly surpassed my expectations. Airdrie is such a course.
Airdrie’s far reaching views, on show here at the 8th, a difficult par 3, played slightly uphill.
Scottish football fans are well aware of Airdrieonians, the club with the distinctive red ‘V’ embossed on its white football top. However, I would never have played golf in Airdrie, a town of some 40,000 people in the central part of Scotland, had it not been for my golfing ambition.
The pristine 10th tee at Airdrie, a 320 yard par four.
Along with neighbouring Coatbridge, this collective municipal ‘working class’ area is called “The Monklands”. As the name suggests, this land was used by the monks of Newbattle Abbey in West Lothian, who were granted charter over the land by King Malcolm in 1160.
The beautiful short third, “Virtue Well”, at only 130 yards, requires enough club, despite the drop from the tee, to avoid the visually hidden front burn.Clever design.
Dates can be both clues and conundrums. Airdrie is regarded as one of James Braid’s courses, albeit it was founded in 1877 when James was only 7 years old; no record could be found who laid out the original course.
Good use of internal OOB at the seventh, to the left of this dog leg left hole of 363 yards. The green is visible through the trees.
The golf course sits high over Airdrie which already lies 400 feet above sea level. The 14th, “Arran View”, tells its own story – Arran is 50 miles away to the east. Despite the altitude, there is surprisingly no “heathland” feel to the course, which I consider a “parkland” venue, albeit the club describe it as “woodland”.
The dog leg right 17th, at around 400 yards, presents a tough driving challenge – keep the ball left, to avoid the left to right sloping fairway taking the ball OOB.
The course is relatively short – it has one par 5 (the 9th) and four par 3s, but still has variety in abundance through the undulating layout, a number of dog legs (both right and left) and deceiving gullies. This course suits a player who understand their yardages. My gross 97, for 25 stableford points, suggests I need to get back on the driving range to assess my distances!
Moly playing into the par five 9th hole at Airdrie, which the club considers a “woodland” layout. Regardless of classification, this course is a beauty.
With brilliantly named holes, the course was in superb condition, especially the teeing grounds that made it feel higher quality. The greenkeeping staff are doing a great job.
Fran putts at the 11th, a par three, played downhill, with a “haa haa” fronted green. The beatiful greens on show.
Airdrie is a delightful golf course and, at £30, almost defines 5 star value. I paid only £20 through a Golfnow discount. There is something for everyone at this course, that is worth travelling to Airdrie for other than football.
Airdrie was in excellent condition, that this view of the 1st green and 2nd teeing ground shows.
Facts:
Course Type:Parkland/Heathland/Woodland?
Par 69 (1 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance (yellow): 5530 yards
Moly’s Gross score: 97
Moly’s 97 at Airdrie, wasn’t great, but his enjoyment gained despite this score, is perhaps the greatest testament to Airdrie’s “Hidden Gem” status.
Missed opportunity as the “First and Last” in Scotland.
Round £32. Par 70. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68.8/124. Value (out of 5) – 3
Moly’s Score – 98
How many fuel stations or pubs on borders proclaim “First and Last”? Like many people, I suspect, I had no idea exactly where Hirsel Golf Club was. Conversely, ask Scots where Coldstream is and most would know the border town famed for the Coldstream Guards, the regiment formed in 1650 making it the oldest continuous serving unit of the British Army.
The picturesque 10th hole at only 93 yards.
Hirsel Golf club, sits on the Hirsel Estate in Coldstream, the home of the son of the former Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home. A 9 hole course was designed and built by members in 1948, after the original course in Coldstream, called Lennel Golf Club, founded 1879, fell into some disrepair, a story covered in the website Forgotten Links.
The interweaving layout is evident, with the first green on show here from the 2nd tee.
Hirsel GC remained a 9 hole course until extended to 18 in 1996. The resulting layout is a rather jumbled affair, with a number of tee/green cross overs, which must make Open events a potentially hazardous affair. There is also a significant range of hole design quality, which comes I suspect from the extension. I find the club’s website banner headline “Arguably one of Scotland’s best kept secrets” true in the sense that it’s “unknown”, but the inference of it being a “Hidden Gem” is not what I found.
The very disappointing bunkers on show, despite the rakes fully in use, here at the difficult 5th hole, a 369 yard par four.
Despite the main Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns being over, I found a course in poor condition, with some bunkers appearing to imitate 19th century photos featuring Old Tom Morris himself. Nevertheless, with perhaps half dozen really good holes, I can see why it is a popular society day out, especially with the substantial club house overlooking the final green.
The tough par three 7th, with “Leet Water” in play for one of the few times.
It does indeed have some tricky holes, notably the tough uphill par 3 third, played with a blind tee shot at well over 200 yards; it will play as a par four for most. The fairways are generous but miss them and card wrecking is the order of the day, as there are OOB on more than half the holes. As a testimony, I amassed 15 over par on only 3 holes, including a 10 on the 363 yard par four 17th.
The stroke index 2, ninth hole, a long par four, the longest hole on the front nine, with both par fives coming after the turn.
Despite several holes being routed around “Leet Water”, a tributary of the Tweed, the river doesn’t come into play much. The best aspect of the course was the variety in hole lengths, the use of dog legs (on 5 holes) and the use of quite small greens often sloping front to back. Collectively the slope rating of 124 felt spot on for me.
The par 5 18th hole, played downhill it gives a good birdie chance to finish.
At only £32 for a round, with discounts on offer though Golfnow (we paid only £22) it’s okay value, but with a bit of work, especially to the bunkers, it would be really worth playing at that price point.
As to the course name, here’s a suggestion. “Coldstream Golf Club – The First and Last in Scotland”. That would remove the secrecy.
Facts:
Course Type:Parkland
Par 70 (2 par 5s, 12 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance (yellow): 5820 yards
Moly’s Gross score: 98
Moly’s 29 points despite his 98 including 15 over collectively on holes 5, 13 and 17. Golf!
Decent course that highlights beautiful municipal pricing.
Round £27. Par 67. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 67.2/119. Value (out of 5) – 3.5
Sport Aberdeen is the local council’s vehicle for publicly funded sport, with its golf offer being managed under ‘Golf Aberdeen’. They manage 5 courses in total, with three of them ( two 18 holes and one 9 hole course) being at Hazelhead Park in the west of the city. The other two courses not at Hazelhead Park are Balnagask and Kings Links.
First green at Hazelhead Pines, a straight forward par 3 to start. The clubhouse is in the background.
All Golf Aberdeen 18 hole courses are priced at £27 for an individual round; albeit I was able to access Hazelhead Pines for only £22, through the Golfnow app.
The Pines course was originally a 9 hole course, but extended to 18 holes in the 1970s; it was designed by the golf architect Roger Dyer with the well known golfers Brian Hugget and Neil Coles. The three also designed other courses, including nearby Auchmill.
The 5th, a par four over 400 yards, a characteristic hole at Hazelhead Pines, highlighting the rather tired looking teeing ground
The best value option at Hazelhead Park, if your body can cope, is to pay the day rate of only £37, for which you can play all three of the park’s courses, which includes their “Jewel in the crown” – the MacKenzie Championship course. That being Dr Alister Mackenzie, one of the most pre-eminent golfing architects of all time, whose credits include Cypress Point, the West Course at Royal Melbourne and Augusta National.
17th at Hazelhead Pines, with far reaching views over Aberdeen
This highlights a pricing anomaly. The Pines course is a nice, but pretty basic layout. Fairly short, with generous fairways that have few bunkers, a number of the holes are unmemorable. The greens are good and some are well bunkered. Other than the teeing grounds, the course was in good condition and the price tag represents decent value. The Hazelhead Park MacKenzie course on the other hand, deserves its “championship” label – a much more sophisticated track, by one of the worlds greatest architects, could attract a much higher price than The Pines. But one could argue that providing both courses at the same price, is the hallmark of good municipal golfing management.
Gary Fleming, of Dullatur GC, another golfer trying to play all Scotland’s golf courses
One of the delights in playing Hazelhead Pines, was meeting up with fellow “Scottish Golf bagger” Gary Fleming, a member of Dullatur GC in Glasgow. Gary, a similar standard golfer to me, had played over 400 Scottish courses, and I was keen to pick his brains for any tips about value and planning. He had played in many Open competitions, winning a few of them – well done Gary and good luck with completing them all.
The brilliant 8th green (shared with 13th) at Hazelhead Pines, showing one of the good greenside bunkers.
Perhaps inspired by Gary, I played well, shooting 83, just 2 over net. Admittedly, the course actually played much easier than the excellent flyover videos available on the Sport Aberdeen website here would suggest – it’s not nearly as tight as it looks. In that regard the slope rating at 119 for the yellow tees feels a little high.
Stroke Index two 4th at The Pines, a really tough par 4.
It’s worth playing the Pines course, but if you can I suggest playing both on the same day for greatest value. That was what Gary did – he planned better than me!
Foreshadows of Augusta at Dr Alister MacKenzie’s only Fife creation
Round £30. Par 70. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68.8/134. Value (out of 5) – 5
Paul Brookes, the professional at Pitreavie GC asked me, “Name an architect that has three courses consistently in any list of the world’s top 100 courses?”. He was, of course, speaking about the courses Augusta National, Cypress Point and The West Course at Royal Melbourne, all creations of Dr Alister MacKenzie. Paul could even rephrase the question to be “in the top 10 or 20 best courses ever built”, such is the regard for these designs.
The ‘camoufleur’ skill of Alister Mackenzie on show at the par three 3rd hole. A brilliant golf hole.
You could spend a lifetime, and a fortune, trying to play all of these top 10 world courses; however, you can get a glimpse of MacKenzie’s skill by playing Pitreavie in Dunfermline for no more than £30. Pitreavie is one of only three courses in Scotland fully designed by MacKenzie, the other two being Hazlehead Municipal in Aberdeen and the Eden course at St Andrews.
Moly tees it up at the fifth hole, one of the more scoreable par 4s on Pitreavie.
Born of Scottish parents, MacKenzie was in fact a Yorkshireman. His Scottish name must have been handy though in the early 20th Century US golf growth period, at a time when many of the great Scottish designers, such as Donald Ross (Pinehurst) and Tom Bendelow were making great advances.
The very wide and narrow 12th green at Pitreavie, a downhill par 3 of only 135 yards. A great hole.The entrance is from the right of this picture.
After two par fives to start, the third is the first real glimpse of MacKenzie’s skill. A long par three, it is the stroke index 2 hole, with a teeing ground almost 65 yards long giving many distance options. But looking at the hole you can’t readily see how hazardous it is. Medical army doctor MacKenzie had specialised during the Boer war and then WW1 to become a camoufleur, a specialist in camouflage. He was to later note the similarities between camouflage and golf design. At the 3rd, there is a hidden burn running across the front and up the right of the long multi level green. It is a formidable ‘camouflaged’ hole, as your eye is drawn naturally to the green tiers.
The third, the most beguiling of par 3rd at nearly 200 yards. I can imaging even low handicap players playing as a 2 shot hole.
This clever use of the burn is brought into play on several more holes, notably the par threes 6th and 12th holes, and most cunningly at the par four 13th hole, the Stroke Index 1. When you play Pitreavie, keep in mind the use of Ray’s Creek at Augusta, especially at the front of the 13th green. It’s the symmetry between both 13th holes, at Augusta and Pitreavie, that adds to the story.
The wonderful par four SI1 13th hole at Pitreavie. Have a close look at the course map (top right) at how the burn cuts into the green, but is completely unseen from the approach (bottom right). You can see my ball in the top left picture!
Another feature of the course is the undulating terrain. This gives rise to the question about how closely did MacKenzie follow his own 13 principles of course design published in Golf Architecture (1920). “The greens and fairways should be undulating, but there should be no hill climbing”, also “There should be a minimum of blindness for the approach shots”. Whilst there are several blind tee shots, there are indeed no blind approach shots; however, I’ll leave readers to find out about how tough a walk it is in places!
I met up with local members, father and son, Ian and Dean Black. Ian on the left here, with both shown playing into the 17th green.
The course was in great condition when I played. The sand in the bunkers was perfect, often an overlooked part of parkland maintenance. There are also outstanding views from several tees, towards the Queensferry Bridge.
The fairways were fairly open, which reinforces the difficulty of the green surrounds that contribute to the slope indices well into the 130s for both white and yellow tees.
I met up with local members Ian Black and his son Dean, and we enjoyed a few holes together, and I listened to how they were very happy with the course and how good value the membership was.
The beautiful 18th green at Pitreavie, adhering to Alister MacKenzie’s design principles.
I played well, shooting 89 for 34 stableford points, with only one blob/disaster at the 10th, where I took an 8 at one of the few dog leg holes.
As to value, although there are a few weaker holes, to be able to experience some of MacKenzie’s genius at no more than £30 (I paid only £17.99 on Golfnow) means 5 out of 5 for me. This is outstanding value and highly recommended.
Facts:
Course Type:Parkland
Par 70 (2 par 5s, 12 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance (yellow): 5781 yards
Moly’s Gross score: 89
Moly’s Pitreavie scorecard – 89 for 34 stableford points.
