‘Municipal’ feel course, with an Amen Corner worth playing
Round £25. Par 67. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 65.9/124. Value (out of 5) – 3.0
When you look at the economics of Scotland and its number of golf courses, it’s little wonder that courses have closed regularly over the year. Put simply, there is not the GDP to sustain the highest number of courses per capita in the world (for countries with more than 200 courses).
The par four 5th at Canmore, a typical looking hole at this Dunfermline course.
Canmore, is one of those courses that over time is at threat, in my opinion. Sited in the Headwell area on the north of Dunfermline, there are about a dozen courses within a 10 mile radius, a number of which are much better, such as Pitreavie. Although competitively priced with a headline rate of £25 for a peak season round and with Golfnow rates available, I paid only £16, other than a few holes it was a rather forgetful experience.
The green at the difficult par four 10th hole.
Founded, apparently, on its present site in 1902, Canmore is a parkland course at just over 5000 yards long. It actually doesn’t feel that old a course, and without any history on its web site, it’s difficult to find any background context, including its designer.
There is however, a very difficult set of holes around the turn, which are worth testing your game against.
The 9th, a dog leg par four of 371 yards, has a ditch in play for the long drivers and worthy of being stroke index 4.
The 10th, played into the prevailing wind is a more difficult hole (in my opinion), with out of bounds all the way down the left of a sweeping horseshoe shaped hole – keep right at all costs.
The 11th, the signature hole, must be a banker for home matchplay games, with the yardage of the second shot, played over a marker post to a sunken hazard surrounded green, being critical to judge. A bogie is a good score at this SI 2 hole, I really couldn’t work out why it wasn’t SI 1.
The 11th the signature hole, a par 4, at Canmore.
Finally, the 12th, is a really challenging long par 3 (nearly 200 yards), played uphill to semi blind green.
The course was in okay condition when I played, albeit all areas could have been mown, a mark of understaffing on greenkeeping.
The long par three 12th hole, the end of the treacherous stretch of holes
This is not a course that will attract many holidaying tourists, and I wouldn’t be recommending going out of your way to play here. At just over £500 for an annual membership, its probably a decent course if you like your local golf and tend not to travel around.
On the day, I shot 90, for 28 points, and did well to overcome two 7s at the par fours 5th and 6th holes. Plus, I didn’t blob any of the tough stretch which I was very pleased with indeed.
The difficult par three 4th hole, with clubhouse in view.
Other than its Amen corner (9-12), this feels like a standard ‘municipal’ course. I was made very welcome by the staff in the pro shop.
High architectural pedigree at this well rated, but over priced, course that is a tale of two very different surrounds. Is this a camel I wonder?
Round £75. Par 68. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 69.8/119. Value (out of 5) – 3
Sometimes expectation can get the better of you. I’d read that Longniddry, one of the courses along the so called “golf coast” of East Lothian, had been designed through its evolution by no less than four of the worlds best course architects.
Gordon at the first. Lucky to miss the bunker off the tee, he sadly played his second into trouble to the left (see the bushes!). Always a great start:(
Harry Colt laid out the initial design in 1921, with subsequent adjustments by James Braid, Philip Mackenzie Ross and, finally, Donald Steele. That’s quite a pedigree.
Sir Alec Issigonis, designer of the original Mini motorcar, said, “a camel is a horse designed by committee.” The meaning was intended to convey how groups can be an ineffective method of development. Alternatively, “Too many cooks..” could also be used, in the same context.
Brian, again displaying his well coached follow through, here at the par three 6th hole, surrounded by greenside bunkers. I think all 4 of us might have been bunkered here – teamwork:).
These comments came to the fore of my mind when playing Longniddry, along with three good friends with whom I had worked with at Apex Scotland, a not for profit organisation dedicated to supporting people with convictions find work and improve their lives.
The plateaued 5th green, with bunkering awaiting the misjudged approach shots.
Set in the affluent village of Longniddry, only 20 minutes by commuter train to Edinburgh, the course occupies a relatively contained acreage, and has many £1m++ houses adorning several fairways. It is a heavenly place to reside for golfers. But the impression is that Longniddry is not a stuffy place, and one of the few “Golf Coast” upper rated courses that allow booking and discounts through the Golfnow app. That is to be applauded, but it can backfire a little; after booking a round at £75 a head with the clubhouse, I found out about a week before that tee times very close to ours were available at only£50 – on phoning up to challenge our fees, it must be said the club responded well. I do recognise the difficulty for clubs, especially when third party marketing app tee time pricing is sometimes controlled by the club, sometimes by the app marketers direct.
Frank putts out on the 173 yard uphill par three 13th, with backdrop of the Firth of Forth.
The course is very interesting. It has wide fairways, making for a relatively straight forward game off the tees, especially as the fairway bunkering is not as penal as some of its Lothian neighbours. The green surrounds are at times a real challenge, especially at the four par threes, where I lost count of the number of greenside bunkers. Unfortunately, the bunkers were still suffering (sic) from the Pandemic, like much of the population. If you plan to play Longniddry, spend a bit of time practicing your bunker play.
The par four 11th hole at Longniddry the start of the more ‘links’ feeling holes.
The fairways were fairly decent when we played on a lovely late September day. But the teeing grounds needed a little more care. The greens were good and clearly well watered.
The layout is a tale of two quite different environs. The course was created largely by carving out an area from the Boghill Wood, and holes 5 through 10, in particular feel like a woodland course. From 11 onwards the course opens out into a much more traditional links land layout with most holes with gorse in play.
The tough par four 7th hole at Longniddry, in the tree lined section of the course – stroke index 1.
The course is quite long at over 6000 yards from the yellow tees, given that it is a par 68. The real question I have, architecturally, is why none of the renowned architects after Colt said, “what about extending a couple of longer par 4s to make par 5s”, getting the par to (say) 70. Without this, you are left with 14 par 4s, with precious few birdie opportunities for the higher handicappers. The 17th/18th, both challenging par 4s of well over 400 yards, could relatively easily be altered, as could the long par four 3rd at 450 yards. I’m certain it must have been a debate down the years.
The short 16th hole with some of the residences of the well heeled in the background – I suspect that’s envy on my part?
The stoke indices also seemed to not reflect the difficulty. For example, the well bunkered par 3s, being labeled as the 4 easiest holes (not so, surely!), and the last, a long par 4 at 420 yards (yellow) being only stroke index 12? It would be intriguing to get the membership views on this.
There were two stand out holes for me:
> The 5th, a dog leg left par four of only 320 yards, with the approach played to a green on a plateau fronted by two mass grave like bunkers. Stay well right with the drive, and commit to at least one extra club on the approach. Its the most un ‘links’ like hole.
The cleverly designed par four 14th hole, where the burn comes into play for all but the longest off the tee. Good green complex.
> The 14th, a difficult par four, where only the long hitters can confidently drive over a ditch at around 200 yards, but the downhill fairway means that even a hybrid might run into the ditch. Then the approach is uphill to a carefully set green with difficult slopes.
The nice clubhouse awaits at the 18th – a demanding finish, more difficult than the SI of 12, in my opinion.
I played pretty well. After a 10 at the ninth, having been in trouble on both sides of the fairway, I came back in 41 (7 over), to actually win our small stableford competition. The winner was meant to get their meal paid for after by the other 3, but a number of my colleagues had to rush off, quashing my opportunity to milk any praise. But I’ve not forgotten!
Finally, going back to the camel proverb. A camel is actually a highly efficient design for its environment, in which horses would soon die. You can make your own mind up about the course being a camel or not.
Finally, finally. It is reported that Mary Queen of Scots played in the area of Longniddry. But how so, I say, when the location of the course was previously the Boghill Wood?
Course Type:Parkland/Links
Par 68 (0 par 5s, 14 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance: 6052 (yellow)
Moly’s Gross score: 90
Moly’s Longniddry scorecard – a 90 with an excellent 41 on the back 9; but, a 10 on the 9th!.
This course’s struggle epitomises Scotland’s golfing challenge
Round £30. Par 70. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68.9/121. Value (out of 5) – 2.5
One of the sadder days of my golfing life, was reading about the closure of Camperdown golf course in my home town of Dundee in 2020, a course that I’d once written about as “probably the best value golf in the world“. Thankfully, it has recently been announced that a 9 hole course will be re-opened along with a driving range.
The 5th at Castle Park, one of the better holes on the front nine on this course.Mind the Crows!
One of the legacies of being the ‘Home of Golf’, is that on a per head basis Scotland has the most golf courses of any country. Moreover, when analysed on the GDP per head basis, it’s clear Scotland doesn’t have an economy big enough to sustain so many courses. The long term decline in courses seems set to continue.
The opening hole at Castle Park in Gifford. Typical of the open fairways.
However, this is not a ubiquitous story. Whilst attending a conference of Scottish Golf in 2018, one of the things that became apparent to me, was the divide existing between “have” and “have not” clubs, exposed during a debate about increasing the Scottish Golf ‘members sub’ paid as part of each individual golf club fee. There were several speakers from wealthier clubs (those likely occupying the top 100 Scottish courses) who resented any increase in the levy, as they were “doing very well, thanks very much”.
The 10th at Castle Park. Don’t go to the 18th after this, like I did!
The evidence as I see it, is that the top courses make significant visitor fee income, with many courses costing well over £120 per round, whilst their annual membership fees remain significantly under £1000 per year. For example, for 2022 Carnoustie will charge £270 per visitor round during Summer, but local members only paying the equivalent of not much more than 2 visitor green fees for their annual membership. Living close to a top course is like winning a mini golfing lottery.
Considering the courses outside the (say) top 200 courses, of which Castle Park, in Gifford, is a good example. Opened in 1994, during a period of golfing optimism, by 2015 Castle Park was up for sale and highly anticipated that it would revert to farmland; it was not commercially viable. It was saved from closure by a local Gifford businessman, Craig McLachlan, with a partnership consortium resolved to keep the ‘community resource’ open. This threat to courses and passion to keep them open, is understandable, but the big picture economics will remain a challenge.
Take enough club to carry the valley at the par three 12th at Castle Park.
So has it been worth it, in Castle Park’s case – from a golfing perspective? The short answer for me sadly is no. I would anticipate the continued struggle. Why?
Castle Park sits in a lovely part of the East Lothian countryside, adjacent to the Lammermuir Hills and the affluent village of Gifford, which also has a wonderful Harry Colt designed 9 hole course (Gifford golf course). Many of the Gifford GC Members are also members at any number of the world class courses along the nearby East Lothian ‘Golf Coast’. Gifford is only 20 mins from Gullane Golf Club. So to say the golfing competition is fierce, is an understatement.
Perhaps as a ‘PR defense mechanism’, the course’s website declares itself “The Gleneagles of the South — Peter Allis”. Let’s examine the evidence:
> The scorecard was a haphazard affair on a printed piece of normal paper.
> On arriving at the club and showing our www.golfnow.com booking, we were told “They shouldn’t have allowed your booking” – as if it was our fault! Why do some people go into service?
> Two of the management team were driving around on a buggy – when we walked very close by them we were completely ignored, almost as if we ‘didn’t exist’.
> The tee markings were wooden pegs – no nomenclature.
> There was no guidance to find the next tee boxes, even although it was not always clear. We were well down the “11th” before we realised we were actually playing the 18th, that being the only tee box visible from the 10th green.
> There were dead crows hanging from trees everywhere, apparently to stop the crows eating worms (according to a green keeper).
I honestly find it hard to believe that Peter Allis would have made his Gleneagles comparison. I wonder whether he ever played at Castle Park?
The course itself is a tale of two halves. The front nine is an easy walking affair, but the back nine is very undulating and a really tough walk. It is fairly open parkland, but very long penal rough when you do miss the generous fairways. The greens were well watered and very true, but some had several patch repairs. The bunkers were shallow with insufficient sand.
Moly putting out on the 18th at Castle Park – Decent Value but nothing like “Gleneagles”!
Overall, it was a fairly tough challenge but with some decent holes; the slope index of 121 from the yellows, might have been from a 110 front 9, and a 130 back nine. The memorable holes were mainly on the back, with the par three 12th, played over a valley and the long par three 16th being the highlights for me.
The tale of two halves also represented my score, with 17 stableford points going out, and only 9 points coming back.
The best part is the price which is a very affordable£30, the price alone telling the story of the quality. It’s 2.5 star value, but lets not kid ourselves, this is no more “The Gleneagles of the South”, than Peter Allis, God rest his soul, is part of the woke generation. It’s also too tough a walk to be used as a Society day out – in my humble opinion. That’s why it sadly will struggle – no amount of ‘questionable’ PR will address that.
This ‘Royal’ 6th oldest club in the world is a bit like playing ‘Trigger’s broom’
Round £65. Par 70. Value (out of 5) – 2.5
When reading the history of the Royal Musselburgh GC on its website here I couldn’t help being reminded of the classic comedy sketch below….
This ‘Only Fools and Horses’ sketch came to mind whilst researching Royal MusselburghGC
….don’t confuse the pedigree of the Golf Club, ‘founded’ in 1774 , with the pedigree of the Golf Course, which is much less prestigious, in my opinion. When you play Royal Musselburgh you’re actually playing a course opened only in 1925; although a pretty good course, it’s on a flat piece of land and it’s over-priced for the course quality, the price undoubtedly influenced by the ‘Royal’ patronage and the Golf Club heritage. In fact, the first 150 years of the history of ‘Royal Musselburgh’ is related to play at Musselburgh Links at the racecourse! Hence the comparison with Trigger’s ’20 year old’ broom! Please forgive my imagination.
The par 4 third hole at Royal Musselburgh, a typical hole on this flat track.
Musselburgh is the largest of the towns in East Lothian, situated on the coast about 5 miles from Edinburgh and close to the start of the great North Berwick coastal run of courses which includes Muirfield. There are actually three ‘Musselburgh’ courses: ‘Musselburgh Links’, which is in Musselburgh and recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest course in the world; plain old ‘Musselburgh’, which is actually in Monktonhall; and ‘Royal Musselburgh’, the subject here, somewhat nearer to Prestonpans than Musselburgh! I blogged about Musselburgh here and Musselburgh Links here.
The 6th hole at Royal Musselburgh, one of only 3 par threes on the course.
Although only open since 1925, the course does owe its design to the great James Braid, albeit I couldn’t help thinking that the remit was to make a challenging, but not too challenging a course. It is set on ground leased from the Prestongrange Estate, and its clubhouse is within part of Prestongrange House, which is an impressive building from the outside. The fairways are quite wide and the rough under the trees was cut short allowing balls to be easily found. It’s not surprising that Royal Musselburgh is attractive to society or group visits.
The 14th,the shortest of the par 3s, where club selection is crucial at this, “The Gulley”, hole.
The course has only three par 3s and one par 5, and with several similar par 4s, it was a little repetitive, for my liking. It was though in very nice condition when I played and the greens were very true. I actually played the best of the season, scoring 87 for 36 points, including a birdie at the stoke index 3, par 4 15th hole, including hitting one of my longest drives for years – it was the first time I’d played with my new fitted driver and the technology has helped!
The tough 18th hole at Royal Musselburgh, with a well protected green, with views of Prestongrange House to the right of the hole.
My advice would be it’s a nice course to play if you can get a good discount, otherwise play the two other Musselburgh courses, which have much more to offer, by way of both history (The Links) and quality.
Facts:
Course Type:Parkland
Par 70 (1 par 5, 14 par 4s, 3 par 3s)
Distance: 5880
Moly’s Gross score: 87
Moly’s scorecard of 87, best score all year made possible by first new driver bought for years.
