Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: 3 star (Page 4 of 7)

85. Portlethen. 2 Sep 2018.

September 22, 2018 /

The “Committee Only” Car Park sums up why Golf has to change to survive.

Round £45.   Par 70.  Value (out of 5) – 3

Portlethen, about 7 miles south of Aberdeen, on the A90,  is one of the fastest growing areas in Scotland over the last 30 years.  When the golf course was opened in 1989 the population was recorded as 1500, yet in 2011 it was over 7000 – no doubt driven by the North Sea oil boom.   With the opening of the substantial Aberdeen bypass imminent, Portlethen continues to grow, albeit the area is also suffering from the collapse in oil prices in 2015.

The welcome wasn’t warm at Portlethen – Beware of any clubs with “Committee Only” anything. No wonder some clubs are struggling.

The course, designed by the renowned Donald Steel, along with the substantial clubhouse, seems apt testimony to the ambitions of the area.  Yet somehow, for me, the course fails to deliver on the initial optimism demonstrated by the designer chosen.  When asked what I thought of Portlethen, my answer was “It’s OK”, which sums up my experience.

The 4th at Portlethen, one of the best holes.

It’s a generous parkland setting, and after a few ordinary holes, the 4th tee provides an excellent view of the par 5 signature hole;  after a good drive I hit an excellent 3 wood over the pond guarding the green – my best strike of the day – which caught the top of a large tree and ended in the water.  The 5th is also a picturesque water featured par 3.  After those highlights, I thought the course somewhat fell away in quality, other than the superb 15th, the SI 2 par 4, which also had a green fronted by water.

The difficult par 4 15th at Portlethen.

The course was in reasonably good condition.  But it was the lack of welcome which stuck with me.  As a www.teeofftimes.co.uk customer I was advised I would be paired together – not a problem, but expressed in a manner that made me feel a second class citizen.  However, shortly thereafter, I was advised I could play on my own as there was space on the tee!  Nevertheless, my round was very slow, and it was clear that people in front of me were determined not to let me through, even when there was space in front.

The aesthetic 5th at Portlethen, a short iron par 3.

This seemingly unfriendly approach by a couple of players cannot, of course, be judged representative – however, when I saw the size of the “Committee Only” car park, this seemed so representative of the welcome I’d received.

My overall assessment was that Portlethen was about a 3 for value.  The club’s website makes a big sell of “The Portlethen Experience” – but I must say, for me, it just felt a little bit pretentious overall.

On the day I played well for my net 71.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 70 (3 par 5s, 10 par 4s,  5 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 5747 Yards

Moly’s Gross score: 88

Moly’s Portlethen 88, with only 1 lost ball – which was the best strike of the day, including direction!

82. The Glen, East Links, North Berwick. 11 Aug 2018.

August 29, 2018 /

Excellent vistas, with some memorable holes, but clearly an overplayed course and a little worse for wear.

Round £58.   Par 70.  Value (out of 5) – 3

The seaside town of North Berwick, about 25 miles east of Edinburgh, sits along an outstanding coastline that is home to many renowned and world class golf courses, helpfully listed in the East Lothian golf website here.

The Glen golf course sits on the east of the town, and has historically been called “East Links”, to differentiate it from its more westerly and much older “West Links” neighbour, North Berwick golf course, which is one of Scotland’s great championship golf courses.

The Bass Rock from the 10th tee at The Glen.

The North Berwick “West Links” golf club actually opened in 1832.  Demand for golf expanded rapidly towards the latter part of the 19th Century along with the expansion of the railways and the increased wealth and leisure time which came from the Industrialised age.  A second 9 hole golf course to meet this demand was laid out in the east of the town in 1894, designed by Ben Sayers, the legendary Scottish golf professional and club innovator, who played a match to mark its opening.    Then, only a little over 10 years later, Sayers again, this time in conjunctions with James Braid, oversaw the extension to 18 holes, of what is now The Glen golf course.

The view from the 1st green at The Glen towards the nice clubhouse.

The course is dominated by the views of the Bass Rock, one of the several islands which dot the outer part of the Firth of Forth.  The rock can appear almost fluorescent in the correct light, which is the result of the white droppings of the large colony of gannets which inhabit it.

Views North towards the Fife Coast from the mid iron par 3 4th hole, where Fran and I both kept right as guided in the Course planner!

In fact, the coastal views from the course are among the best in Scotland, extending far north to the Kingdom of Fife; however, they serve as a rather flattering deception as many of the holes of the course are in my opinion pretty bland.  In particular, the several holes on the inland most side of the course are built on arable turf and don’t feel particularly links like at all.

Fran at the 9th, with a view of the typically worn teeing ground.

The course is basically an out and back layout, and starts with one of the most challenging holes, which after a fairly innocuous drive to around 200 yards, requires an uphill shot to a blind green – take at least 2 clubs more than normal, as the green is very long.  If you just get to the top of the hill, you’re faced with almost an inevitable 3 putt!.  This brings me to the greens – they were in good condition but seemed to have a great deal of variability of pace, which I never got used to and I three putted 8 times, which I think must be my record.

The course was otherwise in fair condition, except for the tees which were really very poor, and a clear sign of the amount of play throughout the summer – granted, the dry summer may not have helped the green keepers.  Nevertheless, the high amount of golf played is a really good thing, as golf in Scotland is in general decline.  I think The Glen provide a nice welcome and the facilities and clubhouse are new and very good, another sign of the general wealth on the coastline.

The signature par 3 13th green here seen from a distance. Note the hole is not played in this direction.

The course does have some excellent holes, and some very challenging ones, in its 6000+ yards locker.  The best known is its signature hole, the 13th, which has been likened to the famous short 7th at Pebble Beach in California, which if you look at comparable pictures is not unreasonable.

Other than my putting I had an excellent day, scoring 86, having hit 10 greens in regulation;  this was greatly helped by the pretty wide fairways the course has.  The nicest thing was having a birdie 2 at the signature hole.

It’s worth playing The Glen, but if possible I would think that early season would be a time the course is at its best before the Summer visitor season.

Facts:

Course Type: Links

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

Distance (yellow): 6048 Yards

Moly’s Gross score: 86

Some excellent play for 86 at The Glen; but included 3 putting 8 greens!

71. Anstruther. 31st Oct 2017.

November 1, 2017 /

Take on  the UK’s toughest par 3, “The Rockies”.     

Summary:  Round £28.   Par 31.  Value (out of 5) – 3

Anstruther Golf Club sits on the Fife coast between the villages of Anstruther and Pittenweem about 9 miles south of St Andrews.  It was established in 1890 with 7 holes with 2 further holes (the current 1st and 9th) added in 1892.  Old Tom Morris advised the club in 1896 to extend the course, but it’s not clear whether he did any re-design.

“The Rockies”, UK’s toughest par 3!

The course provides excellent views over Anstruther Harbour and out to the Isle of May, Bass rock and the North Berwick coastline.  However, I would recommend playing this course solely to play the par 3 5th hole, which was voted in 2007 as the “toughest par 3 in the UK” by Todays Golfer magazine.  “The Rockies” is a coast hugging 245 yards into the prevailing wind, having a blind tee shot from an elevated position into a small green surrounded by a fairly steep cliff bank on one side, with the coastal rocks on the other.  I imagine many a member has never parred this hole from the white medal tee, or even the main yellow tee at 237 yards.  Cynics could conclude that it’s the hardest par 3, because it’s really a par 4!  Disappointingly when I played the tees were placed about 40 yards forward from the bottom of the cliff side, completely altering the hole.  Given that the Golf Club make such a big thing about the hole in there website advertising, they should always use the main tee area in my view.

The nice looking par 3 6th hole at Anstruther.

The 5th hole makes up a bit of  an “Amen’s corner”, along with the par 3 6th and par 3 7th holes, but other than these holes the course is a little featureless to my eye, other than the 2nd hole which is a short par 3 played towards the coast and called “Monument” due to the adjacent WWI War memorial – a “baronial tower”.

The WW1 “Baronial” War Memorial adjacent to the well guarded Par 3 2nd hole at Anstruther.

One interesting quirk is that the course was closed during WW2, during which time the course was trenched and numerous poles erected to prevent the landing of enemy aircraft.  There are also some small wartime gun placements and shell stores which are integral parts of the course.

The course was in pretty good condition when I played and, along with the first light breeze I’d played in for a while, I shot 39, 8 over, and about exactly to handicap (17).

The rather featureless 8th tee shot at Anstruther, with some WW2 relic buildings in the background

 

Other than the magnificent par 3 5th, the clubhouse restaurant is apparently highly rated and given its delightful location is another reason to visit.

Facts:

Course Type: Links

Par 31 (4 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 2252

Moly’s Gross score: 39

67. Bridge of Allan. 11th Oct 2017.

October 12, 2017 /

A 9 hole course from bygone days worth experiencing. 

Summary:  Round  £20.   Par 33.  Value (out of 5) – 4

There can’t be many golfers who play Bridge of Allan for the first time that find the par 3 1st green with their tee shot; less than 5% I suspect, probably much lower.  It’s not that it’s the most difficult par 3 ever, it’s just also so unusual.  It’s 223 yards up a steep slope (40% they say!), with a blind plateau green that has a dry stone dyke across the fairway about 30 yards in front of the green.  Welcome to one of Old Tom Morris’ famous holes.  Thankfully not all of Old Tom’s holes are as demanding as this, otherwise golf in Scotland may not be as popular as it is!

The very demanding first shot at Bridge of Allan – the long par 3.

Old Tom Morris designed this nine-hole golf course in 1895, in the affluent Victorian spa town of Bridge of Allan and the course has commanding views of the surrounding hills and countryside, including Ben Lomond, and also Stirling Castle which is only a few miles away.

According to the golf historian, Robert Kroeger, in his book ‘ The Golf Courses of Old Tom Morris’, Bridge of Allan is “the best preserved in that the layout and length of holes and greens are exactly the same as they were in 1895”.  So for historical reasons alone, it’s worthwhile playing here, and that is why I’ve said this is a 4/5 for value.

Fine views from the 1st, which also shows the typical flat greens

However, I suspect the course will not be to everyone’s taste.  Most of the holes have out of bounds (OOB) in play, mainly for the right handed hooker.  OOB areas are also tight behind some greens, especially the 4th which also has a dyke in front of the green.  There are hardly any flat lies as the course is so hilly.  The greens are however pretty flat, which meant that when I played 2 greens were out of action due to being waterlogged.  Of course, Old Tom mainly designed links greens, which naturally drain much better than parkland.

The semi-blind par 4 7th at Bridge of Allan

Old Tom makes much use of existing dykes which are in play on several holes and also blind tee shots by carefully using existing tree lines – this is especially true on the 6th and 7th holes, which need to be played more than once to get a feel for the line from the tee.

I had a difficult time on the day, including three 7s in my 13 over for 9 holes.  My day was typified by hitting a magnificent drive (probably about 240 yards) at the 7th, but I never found my ball as it was very likely plugged.

The difficult par 4 8th, another uphill hole at Bridge of Allan

The course was very wet when I played which was a pity, but the fairways were in good condition.  I think that it must take several rounds here to get used to the tricky layout.  The highlight holes for me in addition to the 1st were the 4th, 5th and 7th.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 33 (0 par 5s, 6 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 2517 (9 holes)

Moly’s Gross score: 46.

Moly’s Bridge of Allan Scorecard – 46

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