Category: 1 star

174. Aberfeldy. 30 Nov 2022.

February 22, 2024 / Moly McMillan

Better Days

Value 1/5

I played the three 9-hole courses of Aberfeldy, Mains of Taymouth and Strathtay on the same wet Highland Perthshire day. This is important context, because whereas Mains of Taymouth and Strathtay were well presented, Aberfeldy was in awful condition.

**The 8th green at Aberfeldy, on a day the course should have been closed.**

All three courses sit along a 12 mile stretch of the River Tay, between Kenmore and Grantully, and experience the same climate. It’s evident Aberfeldy GC is struggling to maintain the course with its small membership, with volunteering a critical resource.

**The length of fairway meant Moly lost 3 balls from shots hit into the “fairway”.**

Finding the course in such a bad state, especially from the 2nd hole onwards, leaves me somewhat uncomfortable in writing a review, as I’m sure there will be reasons why the course was effectively unplayable. Nonetheless, I’m committed to writing what I found on the day; all it would have taken by the club was a “course closed” sign on the first tee.

**The Moness Burn, which feeds the Tay, is the key feature and hazard, which has to be crossed several times, here shown on the approach shot to the par 4, 7th hole, one of the more difficult holes.** **Beware the dog walkers, as the burn seemed a well used route.**

Golf in Aberfeldy, much like in Scotland overall, is a story of expansion and contraction; the websites Missing Links and Breadalbane Heritage collectively tell Aberfeldy’s story, but there are gaps likely created by the old matter of ‘club’ versus ‘course’. There is also a book, intriguingly “Never an Old Tin Hut”, by local historian Jack Rees, published to mark Aberfeldy’s centenary in 1995.

**The 2nd green was GUR. It wasn’t the worst!**

In summary, Breadalbane GC and course, was founded in 1895 at its current location and would later be renamed Aberfeldy GC. But there are records of 2 other courses as early as 1891, in nearby Weem and in a place called Welar, the latter course can still be made out on Google Maps just north-east of Camernay. The current very flat course was characterised by sharing its ground with cows for many years.

The course expanded to 18 holes in 1995 including 6 holes north of the river, but was returned to 9 holes in 2016, due to the drop off in demand.

**The “advanced composite footbridge” over the Tay, shown here from the 5th hole, made accessible 6 holes on the north of the river between 1995 and 2016**.

The pictures tell their own story about the course condition. With much better courses nearby, one can’t see the long term survival of Aberfeldy GC. The local interest in golf can also be gauged in the lack of business sponsorship, even although Aberfeldy is base to one of the great whiskey distillers, Dewars. Plus, Breadalbane Academy, Highland Perthshire’s main school, is only 500 yards away, yet sadly has no mention of golf within its sporting curriculum.

**The 9th green, adjacent the main road and clubhouse, was the most manicured.**

This was a sad day for me, but I’m sure many people have fond memories of Summer golf in Aberfeldy. I thought the course condition when I played might be reminiscent of the course in the late 1890 – ever an optimist.

Round List Price £15. Actual Paid £10 (Winter rate).

Moly’s Score – 45 for 14 points (off 13)

Course/Slope Rating (yellow) nk/~65

Course Type: Parkland

Par 35 ( 1 par 5s, 5 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 2688 yards

**Moly’s score of 45 included losing 3 balls on fairways doubling as rough!**

110. Machrie Bay. 21 Sep 2020.

October 29, 2021 / Moly McMillan

Don’t make the same mistake as Walter Hagen – this is not worth playing

Round £15. Par 33. Slope (yellow) 100. Value (out of 5) – 1

Machrie Bay, is on the west of the island of Arran, not far from the majestic Shiskine. What a big disappointment – unless you’re chalking up all the courses on Arran, I would give this nine hole course a miss. At £15 for nine holes, this was very poor value when compared with the similar prices on offer on the island.

**The very poor first tee at Machrie Bay, not an impressive start.**

The world was in the middle of the Covid Pandemic when I played, but in looking closely at the poor course condition it was clear that the pandemic was not the reason – the course was suffering years of neglect. The teeing grounds were bad and many of the greens were covered in moss.

**The moss covered 1st green at Machrie Bay.**

There’s not much to say about the course. It had many very plain holes, little more than fields with a tee at one end and a green at the other. It did have 2 holes worth noting, both which play over the road that circles the island. The 2nd, played from the white tees was a difficult par 3, and the 9th hole, a fairly short par 4, with a very dangerous blind second shot over the road, for which distance control is critical – I played a good shot and never found my ball again!

The tough par 3 second hole at Machrie Bay – pictured from the white tee.

On the day I struck the ball well and scored 40, for 19 stableford points.

**The par four 6th hole – the typical bland hole at Machrie Bay**

Finally to Walter Hagen. There is a delightful newspaper clipping on the Machrie Bay website here. Enticed to play “The Machrie” course, a beautiful course on Islay, Hagen turned up in Arran to play Machrie Bay. Don’t make the same mistake – but then again doing something the same as Hagen might not be too bad!

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 33 (0 par 5, 6 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance: 2154

Moly’s Gross score: 40

**Moly’s Machrie Bay scorecard – gross 40, with triple bogie at the last**

54. Culcrieff. 20th Sep 2016.

September 24, 2016 / Moly McMillan

Decent greens and fine scenery don’t warrant playing this overpriced course

Round £32. Par 66. Value (out of 5) 1

Culcrieff golf course is part of the well known Crieff Hydro hotel located in Perthshire. The parkland course, with fine views of the local Perthshire hills, was established in 1972 from a disused 9 holes, then extended to 18 in 2002, using a design by John Stark the local Crieff professional.

The greens at Culcrieff were the worst I’d ever experienced, as evidenced here at the 5th green, NOT one designated as GUR. Many others were much worse!

Being part of the Hydro, the course feels as if it’s managed as one of the very many holiday activities on offer, therefore there is no Golf Club oversight of the course. This apparent lack of specific golfing focus, has resulted in a course that is under invested and not worth the money to play. I rather suspect that holidaying golfers staying at the hydro are taken a bit for granted as a captive cash cow. When you look at the price of £32, there are very many council courses in Scotland in much better condition, and no more than £20. The best discount offer I could find was through www.teeofftimes.co.uk at £26, even that is over priced, in my opinion.

1st approach at Culcrieff with nice views

The greens were decent, granted, and apparently built to USGA specification, but the bunkers were the worse condition I’ve played, several were designated as GUR although they would have been better designated as Ground Under Neglect. The fairways also needed a cut when I played.

The 16th at Culcrieff had a tricky green to find.

Setting aside the condition, the course has some nicely designed holes that are challenging, not least because of the small greens. The dog leg left 2nd hole, although short at 295 yards needs a very accurate 2nd shot into a well protected green. The long dog leg right par 4 5th will test the longest hitters. The second to the par 4 12th will also require a longer shot that expected to hit the plateau green, and the downhill par 3 16th, aptly called “Deil’s delight,” is devilishly tricky to find the small green.

Nice finishing hole at Culcrieff, a 200+ yard par 3.

I played fairly decent scoring 32 stableford points with a gross 87. However, I shall not return to try again, and I would certainly not recommend playing here. In its current condition, it should be priced at about £15 – £20.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Par 66 (12 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

Distance yards: 4892 (white)

Moly’s Gross Score: 97

Moly’s Culcrieff scorecard – 87 for 32 stableford points

Category: 1 star

174. Aberfeldy. 30 Nov 2022.

110. Machrie Bay. 21 Sep 2020.

54. Culcrieff. 20th Sep 2016.

Recent Posts

Useful Links