A guide to green fee value for money

Category: 4 star (Page 1 of 10)

167. Uphall. 15 Oct 22.

Quirky opening fairway at club with “progressive” ambitions.

Value for Money (out of 5) – 4

As a friendly Starter briefed me, I was pre-occupied by two groups of golfers only 40 yards in front of the first tee – one group on the 16th tee the other on the 2nd green. As a wayward driver, I was trying to remember if I had paid my annual golf insurance. His summarised message had been, “take great care!”.

The good conditioning of Uphall seen from the 1st tee. It’s a hazardous area, with both teeing ground and greens in immediate view – take great care.

Uphall’s first and second holes share a fairway with a green at either end, which I reasoned may have been okay at the turn of the 19th century, when balls didn’t travel so far and times were less litigious. I kept musing on this somewhat dangerous layout, my feelings later reinforced when I met a long standing member who told me “someone’s going to get seriously hurt one day”.

The par 3 third hole – Uphall’s best hole in my opinion, where one has to avoid the Brox Burn.

The golf course (in the village of the same name) sits either side of the A899 with holes 1 to 3, and 15 to 18 on the north side, and holes 4 through 14 on the south. It is near Junction 3 of the M8, and therefore very accessible from any direction.

Autumn colour on display into the trickily placed 5th green, a short par 4.

This Central Scotland location, coupled with the interesting course layout makes for a good society venue, albeit at the time of writing the club are yet to rebuild the clubhouse which was sadly burnt down during the Covid Pandemic.

The mature Uphall parkland on view here as Fran drives at the tough par four 8th hole.

Much of the course lies amongst mature parkland, once part of the Houstoun House Estate. The estate ‘castle’, dating back to 1598, is now a MacDonald Hotel, and sits behind the 4th, 5th and 6th holes.

At just 5366 yards from the yellow tees, with a slope rating of 113, I should have been challenging 80, whereas I didn’t break 100 in the wet and windy autumnal conditions. My score wasn’t helped by losing 3 balls in the leaves. It was very picturesque though with the trees in good colour.

The par three 16th, “burn”, where good club selection is needed at this 95 yard hole (yellow).

With four par threes and only one par five, the courses variety was aided by a good variety of par fours, from the drivable downhill second hole of 293 yards, to the stroke index 1, 14th at over 400 yards.

Moly’s short approach into the par five 11th at Uphall.

The course was in decent condition, with good turf, and is likely a delight on a dry Summer day. I paid only £18 through golfnow.com, a sizable discount on the £30 list price. Overall, I give this 4 out of 5 for value, and worth checking out. Just take great care on the first tee shot.

The short dog leg right par four 17th hole at only 240 yards is a good birdie chance, but be mindful not to run out of fairway like Moly did.

It’s worth noting the Club’s commitment to junior golfers, with its website declaring “a strong focus on the development of our Junior players”, well done.

Facts:

Round List Price £25. Actual Paid £18 using Golfnow.com

Course/Slope Rating (yellow) 65.9/113.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 69  (1 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 5366 yards

Moly’s scorecard – high winds didn’t help, but it was a poor day.

158. The Heritage Links, at Playsport Golf EK (East Kilbride). 19 Aug 22.

Like watching a ‘tribute band’, very enjoyable but at times a bit ‘corny’.

Round £15. Par 32. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 32.1/116. Value (out of 5) – 4

Moly’s Score – 44

‘Playsport’ is a multi-sport commercial site in north East Kilbride, a town of almost 80,000 making it the 6th most populated conurbation in Scotland. ‘Playsport Golf’, the golfing brand of the business, operates a two-tier driving range, a very large golf store and a 9 hole course, called Heritage Links.

The 5th at The Heritage, inspired by the 4th at Royal St George’s with it’s “Himalayas” Bunker on show. Both this hole and the inspiration from Sandwich are similar length.

As the name suggests, Heritage Links is a homage to Open Championship venues, with each hole inspired from a specific hole of the world’s best links courses.

The final hole at The Heritage, homage to Royal Lytham’s short 9th hole, the only hole numbered the same as the doner inspiration for the hole.

East Kilbride lies on a plateau, just south of Glasgow, and the golf course is fully exposed to the elements; on the day I played there were 40 mph winds and some heavy showers. These are ideal conditions to go alongside the course’s design aim of replicating some the challenges faced in The OPEN. In addition, the course has outstanding views.

The 4th, inspired by the 16th at Carnoustie, with the Playsport sports arenas in the background. My par 3 score highlights it plays much shorter than its inspiring hole!

Although this could feel a little ‘corny’, the resulting course is a great test of your game, not least because it’s the bunkering from the host courses that are mainly used to create the inspirational feeling. However, this is not “replica” golf, so take it for what it is and enjoy the layout.

The opening hole at The Heritage, inspired by Turnberry’s 2nd, shows the good ‘links’ quality of the course.

The course opened in 2009, built to high specifications, and has become a popular venue. Despite the inclement weather forecast when I played it was very busy, so ensure to book ahead. With multiple sports on the same site, there are activities for non-golfing partners and kids.

The 6th, based on Muirfield’s 13th, shows the top quality of the bunkers at Playgolf EK.

Although heavily played the course was in very good condition, with greens and bunkers excellent. At £15 for 9 holes, this is very good value.

The 8th hole, showing the “road hole” bunker from St Andrews.

Playing as a singleton, a 4-ball kindly let me tee off first, then watched me rack up a 9 and the par 4 first, playing into the teeth of the wind. I got much better after that, when they weren’t watching. Don’t you sometimes hate getting asked to ‘play through’.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland/Faux Links?

Par 32  (1 par 5s, 3 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 2307 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 44

Moly’s 44, or 37 net (5 over net), with a 9 and the par 4 first!!

153. Banchory. 10 July 22.

Dream society venue in this delightful Deeside setting.

Round £50. Par 69. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 67.1/123. Value (out of 5) – 4

Moly’s score – 91

Banchory golf course got me thinking about what makes for an ideal society venue. A course in great condition, with greens probably better than your home course. A beautiful and scenic surround. A challenge, but not one that will cost you half a dozen balls. A course that gives all handicaps a chance. Some short par 3s, to give a fun ‘nearest the pin’. Plus, a great clubhouse with good catering of course.

The short third hole, at 125 yards, where club selection will be a challenge for the visitor – I found the rear bunker ending up with a 6. Take two clubs less then yardage, into the right of the green.

I don’t think I’ve played a course that has greater society day credentials than Banchory; set in Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire, the course is just over 5500 yards from the yellow tees. Set alongside the river Dee, the water only comes into play once, for any approach shot sliced into the par four 11th green. The course favours a drawer of the ball, with several OOB being to the right of the largely anti-clockwise routed layout. That was not always the case however – more of later.

The approach to the 4th, very typical of the course, where an umbrella is not normally needed for sun.

The course has six par threes and two par fives; it is rather imbalanced with a par of 32 for the front nine and 36 on the back. The par threes are the star here, with four of them (3rd, 9th, 12th and the 80 yard 16th) being both collectively varied and memorable.

The delightful par three 16th, the “‘Doo’ Cot” (in sight on the tower), at only 80 yards. Take a 95 yard club, anything longer will likely put you on the 1st fairway (like me), facing a daunting chip back.

The start of the course is marked by a nice memorial for Open Champion Paul Lawrie, who started his formative professional career here. Fittingly, ‘Chippy’s’ monument is made of granite.

The 12th, ‘The Wood’, aptly named as for lower handicaps that’s likely the correct club selection into this 171 yard par three, with a ‘hidden’ ditch guarding the green.

Opened in 1905, the original architect is not recorded anywhere I could find, but it is noted on several websites that the course was revamped in the 1990s, by architect John Souter. Speaking to a couple of local members about some unusually sited greenside bunkers, I was told that this was a result of the revamp which changed course routing, but didn’t redesign all the greenside bunkers.

The three ‘blind’ bunkers behind the 14th green, make sense when you realise they used to be on the left of the approach to this rerouted hole. This makes for an odd resulting architectural feature

We played on a spectacularly warm day, with the course in great condition. Fast running fairways actually caused some long drives to find bunkers I would never normally reach, but I was compensated by being able to reach the par five 15th, at 490 yards, in two, resulting in a 2 putt birdie, a rare event in my golfing life.

The approach to the dog leg right par four 8th hole, worthy of being SI 4 at Banchory.

Although fairly open parkland, the trees are widely dispersed and come into play a lot. You’re always likely to find a stray shot, but you’ll probably be penalised. Additionally, most of the bunkers are fairly deep, meaning they are a proper hazard, thankfully the sand is very good. The greens were true, but slower than anticipated. I felt I played generally well, but still racked up 91, 9 over my net handicap.

‘Laird’s Cast’, the 150 yard 9th hole, with the best green surround (in my opinion) at Banchory. I think it’s tougher that SI16.

Banchory is good value golf, especially when using a Golfnow discount – we paid only £23. I can understand why it is such a desirable and popular visitors course.

The impressive clubhouse, looking over the finishing hole at Banchory.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 67  (1 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 5567 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 91

Moly’s Banchory scorecard – 91

149. Paul Lawrie Golf Centre. 6 Jul 22.

Sublime attention to detail at Paul Lawrie’s brilliant golf centre

Round £15. Par 29. Course Rating / Slope Rating (white) 29.2/94. Value (out of 5) – 5

This nine hole course opened in 2005 as the Aspire Golf Centre, named after a boat operated by trawler fisherman John Duthie, the original owner. Open Champion Paul Lawrie bought the centre in 2012 and it has gone from strength to strength, providing one of the best all round facilities in Scotland, equipped with ‘top tracer’ driving range, bookable practice areas, a large golf shop and excellent restaurant.

The tricky first hole at Paul Lawrie’s golf centre – avoid the right of the green!

The course itself is a beauty, designed by Old Meldrum’s Graeme Webster and built to US PGA standards. It could easily be argued as the best nine hole course in Scotland. Although short, it has four tee options providing a variety of challenges, it has been good enough to host national 9 hole Par 3 competitions. It only has two par 4s, when played from the white tees, which I used to play my round.

The 3rd green, the stroke index one hole at only 145 yards, which has a devilish bunker and water on the left side of the green, hidden from view from the tee.

The green complexes are challenging, with well positioned bunkers and undulating surfaces they force you to be mindful of where to miss. There are some particularly clever and deceptive run off areas which are blind from the tee. The rough is very whispy and gives some shots a links land feel – none more so than at the first, where I thought I had played into the right side of the green, only to eventually find my ball in the rough; there was a bonus of finding 6 other balls!

The aesthetically framed 4th hole, which plays as a par four from this tee.

To score well you need to have a first class short game, perhaps that’s what attracted “Chippy” Lawrie to buy the course. When I played, I saw Paul heading off to the driving range with a large number of clubs, testimony to the effort required to maintain your game at the highest standard.

The 5th, one of the two holes, which, from the white tees, plays as a par four.

The course is great value for annual membership at just over £300 and is sometimes used as a second club by members of nearby world class Aberdeenshire links courses because the practice arrangements are so good. I met up during my game with Murcar Links member, Alex Singer, who typifies these local golfers who make full use of the Paul Lawrie Centre.

Murcar Links member Alex Singer, chipping onto the 8th green.

On a windy day, I was very happy with my score of 38 – although 9 over par, this included two triple bogies, at the first and 4th, both short par threes.

The well maintained bookable practice area at the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre.

Every aspect of the Centre is first class, a testimony to Paul Lawrie’s attention to detail. Right down to the Seniors’ rate of only £12, that I paid, and the many Kids coaching courses the centre runs throughout the year. Well done ‘Chippy’, you are a legend.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 29  (0 par 5s, 2 par 4s, 7 par 3s)

Distance (white): 1560 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 38

Moly’s Paul Lawrie Centre scorecard – 38, including 5 pars and 2 triple bogies!
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