Category: 3 star (Page 3 of 7)

107. Brodick. 18 Sep 2020.

August 15, 2021 / Moly McMillan

Easy walking course with good views of Brodick and it’s surrounds

Round £27. Par 65. Slope (yellow) 109. Value (out of 5) – 4

The Isle of Arran sits off the North Ayrshire coast, accessible all year round by regular ferry crossings from the Port of Ardrossan or, during Summer, from the Kintyre peninsular. The main port is Brodick, which is also home to one of the 7 golf courses on the island.

**Moly on the 17th green at Brodick, with Goat Fell dominating the background.**

The Brodick course was founded with 9 holes in 1897 and designed by John Duncan of Glasgow. It was originally sited in an elevated position near Knowe and West Mayish, as noted on the www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk web site. It moved to the current location in 1913.

**The 10th green at Brodick, with a Calmac ferry in the background in the town of Brodick, the main port on the island of Arran**

At only just over 4500 yards this is a short course, but has a slope rating of 109 due, I suspect, to several of the nine par 3s being very difficult; the 4th and 15th are over the “Glenrosa Water”, the 167 yard 8th deserves its stroke index 3 rating with a difficult plateau green tight against a set of trees, and the 188 yard 13th requires a blind shot taken close to the beach if the green is to be found.

**The short par three 4th hole, one of 2 over water par 3s on the Brodick golf course**

The course was in excellent condition when I played with Fran during our Arran venture. Although adjacent to the bay this is most definitely mainly arable turf and therefore not a links course. In fact in the fine weather, the tall pine trees across the 5th, made us feel we were playing in Portugal – albeit I don’t imagine that happens often.

**The magnificent pine trees on Brodick’s 5th hole**, **a dog leg left par 4**

With excellent true greens, this helped my 80, for a net par round, so I was very pleased especially my back nine of 37.

**The treacherous 11th tee at Brodick golf course**

Unfortunately the clubhouse and changing rooms had seen better days. It felt like the run down changing rooms of football clubs I played with in the 70s!

Nevertheless, this is a good course and one well worth playing. The green fee made for excellent value, like the other Arran courses.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 64 (1 par 5, 8 par 4s, 9 par 3s)

Distance: 4540

Moly’s Gross score: 47

96. Craigieknowes. 19th June 2019.

March 23, 2020 / Moly McMillan

Playing 150 years ago might have felt like this

Round £7. Par 27. Value (out of 5) – 3

This course is really worth playing, but its assessed ‘value’ of 3 does not necessarily mean this course is good or even average quality; it’s not. Craigieknowes is cheap at less than £10. The greens were terrible when I played – little more than well mowed lawn. The teeing grounds don’t actually exist, they are just areas of the fairway with a tee marker. There are no bunkers – or if there were I can’t remember any.

**Craigieknowes Facebook Page focuses on the real attraction – Cake!**

Craigieknowes golf course, near Kippford in Dumfries and Galloway, is really worth playing, for no other reason than it is what I imagine golf would have been like in the late Victorian era, when golf courses were sprouting up all over Scotland.

**Fran on the 3rd green – she played much better than me on the day.**

It’s a 9 hole par 3 ‘highland’ course against the beautiful and peaceful backdrop of South West Scotland which still exists I suspect from the income generated during the Summer months in this holiday park of Scotland. The golf course seems to be secondary to the delightful tea room, which is the centrepiece of the facebook page of the course. The fact that Craigieknowes doesn’t even have its own proper website is also a measure of its status.

Unfortunately, despite some research I couldn’t find any meaningful history of the course.

**The difficult 4th, take at least one club longer**, **for the 156 yard hole**

Although being in poor condition, there are some meaty holes to overcome here. In particular the 4th, played uphill to a plateaued green, requiring more club that it looks to the eye, and the 166 yard 6th, again uphill, with OOB to the left of the green. On the 6th I lost a ball near the OOB wall, despite at least a 5 minute search – no-one was behind us!

**The 6th – a challenge with OOB on the left.**

On the day, we had lovely weather, and it was really good fun. Nevertheless, I couldn’t par any of the holes in my score of 43, which I’ll put down to the greens;)

If you are in the area this is fun to play, and the tea and cakes were really yummie!

Facts:

Course Type: Highland

Par 27 (9 par 3s)

Distance: 1391

Moly’s Gross score: 43

**Moly’s 43 at the par 27 Craigieknowes GC**

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

88. Murrayshall. 16 Sep 2018

October 30, 2018 / Moly McMillan

Murrayshall is a nice parkland course, but its hotel partner course (Lynedoch) is much better value.

Round £50 ( variable on-line). Par 70. Value (out of 5) – 3

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.

Fran plays at the par 5 9th at Murrayshall

The esteemed golf architect Hamilton J Strutt (grandson of James Braid’s foreman) designed this Championship course in the 70s, and returned to design the Lynedoch course which opened in 2000. The Murrayshall course is indeed a fine example of Strutt crafting a course amidst mature parkland, leaving an impression that the course has been there for a hundred years. This is almost completely true except for the bland and exposed par 4 13^th hole, which was oddly the SI1 hole (more of later).

The 6th tee view, typical of the Murrayshall course

Whereas the sister Lynedoch course is partly woodland, Murrayshall is exclusively parkland. I had previously played the Lynedoch track and had been very impressed (read my blog here). I was therefore greatly looking forward to playing the hotel’s premium course, but must admit that I don’t think the higher price is worth it is versus its shorter neighbour. It’s still a very nice course, with some outstanding countryside views, nice greens and good bunkering; but, other than being a longer course, it lacked the guile of its smaller sister course.

The short par 3, 4th hole, at Murrayshall

The course was in good condition when I played and I had a nice round of 89, for 37 stableford points (off 17); including a birdie at the 13th, the stoke index 1 hole, which was one of the more bland holes played towards a local farmyard. My score also reflects the fairly open fairways and relatively accessible surrounds of the trees. Other notable holes were the stretch of 6th, 7th and 8th, a really nice set of challenges, with a reachable par 4, a difficult par 4, and a tricky par 3. Also noteworthy is the mix holes, with five par 5s and five par 3s, its an odd mix.

The two dogs (Isla and Joseph) whose grave guards the very difficult pay 4 7th, “Dogs Grave”

Unfortunately, the round at Murrayshall was the slowest I’ve played for several years, at around 4.5 hours. Having caught up with the 4-ball in front, on hole 2, which actually turned out to be the last group of about 10 groups making up a society day, we then were delayed at about 5 minutes per hole for the remained of the round! I’m writing this, to give context to my “value” assessment. How should an assessment be dictated by pace of play? Well, if I hadn’t been doing a blog, we would have walked in after 12 holes. It was anything but value for money. How many times have you heard “we would let you through, but it’s the group ahead holding us up” – I refer everyone to the Etiquette section of the rules of golf, which clearly recommends allowing a faster grouping through, regardless of circumstances.

It is worth playing, but perhaps check whether a society is playing in front!

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Par 70 (5 par 5s, 8 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance (white) 5868 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 89

Moly’s 89 at Murrayshall – a decent round given the chilly weather