Nestled near the Campsie Hills north of Glasgow, the Allander course at Hilton Park Golf Club offers a rich blend of history and natural beauty. Opened in 1928 and designed by James Braid it represents a good example of Braid’s artistry of balancing challenge and fun.
The approach to the first, presents a typical view of this Allander course.
Set within an area of beautiful scenery of rolling hills and lush heathland greenery, full of flora and fauna, the course is nice just to walk around.
The par four 5th on the Allander course, fully justified as the Stroke Index 1 hole.
I was particularly impressed by the friendliness of the PGA Pro, Ewan Grimes, who went out of their way to make me feel welcome. His knowledge and welcome were second to none, along with his stories.
Moly teeing off at the 15th on the Allander course at Hilton Park, a mid iron par three.
The course was in good condition. However, the drainage seemed poor, which was unexpected given the heathland conditions. Given the conditions there were several winter greens in play, which was a disappointment.
The tree lines framed many holes, but in fact the fairways were quite generous. Here at the par three 17th.
One of two courses at Hilton Park, the Allander is very much the secondary, shorter course. It would be worth playing though on in a fine summer day.
The Allander 18th hole, a mid length par four, with the impressive clubhouse.
So what do I think of using AI? It created a very bland and flowery draft, which was frankly difficult to take seriously. Clearly influenced by Golf Club websites, full of standard phrases ‘course for all all abilities’, ‘challenge for all’, etc etc, after editing it left me with no more than 4 meaningful sentences.
Price £45.
Discount: Golf Now, £15, against the Winter rate of £30.
Great value open parkland course well worth playing – I hope Rowallan Castle’s interesting business plan stands the test of time.
Round £45. Par 72. Course/Slope Rating (yellow) 71.6/129. Value (out of 5) – 4.5
Moly’s score – 91
Insert “parkland” into their claim that Rowallan Castle is “one of Ayrshire’s finest golf courses” and they certainly have a case. This Colin Montgomerie designed course is well worth playing, and a great alternative to the several world class links courses along the nearby Ayrshire coastline.
The well bunkered approach to the 18th at Rowallan Castle, one of five par 5s at this clever layout.
Opened in 2010, this course is clearly set up, from the blue ‘tips’, to cater for professional play. Moreover, the yellow yardage of 6284, which most visitors will use, still presents a meaty challenge, especially as there are some long walks between green to next tee.
The first fairway, a tough par 4 of over 400 yards, adorned by “executive” housing, a key part of the longer vision of owner Niall Campbell.
Rowallan Castle, is 4 miles north of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, and has a history dating back to the 13th century. Now owned by Niall Campbell and his family, the recent history is both colourful and ‘cuts to the quick’ for businessman trying to create up market golf developments in Scotland.
Moly at the short 8th “Old Castle” hole, at 149 yards, the shortest of the five par 3s.Go long.
Initially planned to be a hotel golf resort, its appears that there has been planning challenges over the last 20 years. What you are left with is an interesting mix; one of the two castles is used as a wedding venue, the other as up market holiday lets. A separate restaurant in a new “orangery” style building, adjoining the “turreted” golf pro-shop, serves both the golf club as well as “fine dining” visitors.
The great second hole, deceptive on the eye, with more room on the huge green than it appears. You might need a long two putt for par here.
One of the oddities therefore, is that you don’t really have a golfing clubhouse and bar. Golfers use the small bar of the restaurant. Having been to several golf resorts, I’ve never come across anything like Rowallan Castle – I hope it remains profitable, because the course is a great addition to the Scottish golfing landscape.
The 3rd, “The Crow Flies” a tough par 5 and stroke index 2. Almost 100 yards longer from yellow than red.
The course itself is beautifully laid out around the estate, which sees continuing housing development. The best thing for me about the layout was the hole variety, not least because it has five par threes and five par fives; I can’t recall encountering this balance of holes before. There is never more than two par fours in sequence. The ladies card has a par of 75, with eight par fives in total.
The greenside bunkering at Rowallan Castle is a key feature, here shown at the par 5 9th hole.
The fairways are very open; the greens and their surrounding large and deep bunkers are indeed worthy of national competitions. The course was in very good condition when we played, but let down somewhat by some of the teeing grounds. Several comments I’ve read regularly mention the poor quality drainage, but despite very heavy rain when we played, the course remained fully playable. I suspect drainage improvements have been successful.
“Wee Sneekit”, the par 3 17th hole, aesthetically typical of the “fee” at Rowallan Castle.
The club also has some innovative membership options, including a 9 hole membership, for play on the first 8 holes, plus the 19th, for only £380, against the full membership of £750. Both of these are excellent value. Yes, I did say “19th”, which is a short par three, and I assume added to provide the “9 hole course” option.
“The 19th Hole” is actually a hole at Rowallan Castle, which is very fitting as the place doesn’t really have a golf bar!
As to single green fees, its very competitively priced at £45, with discounts available through golf green fee apps, such as Golfnow. We paid only £25.
The pro shop at Rowallan Castle – you know straight away the ambition of the owners here.
I played pretty well, on a course playing its full length, my 91 needed a few good putts. It’s well worth playing at Rowallan Castle.
Facts:
Course Type:Parkland
Par 71 (5 par 5s, 8 par 4s, 5 par 3s)
Distance (yellow): 6284 yards
Moly’s Gross score: 91
Moly’s Rowallan Castle scorecard – 91, for 31 points.
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.
Round £50. Par 69. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 67.2/119. Value (out of 5) – 5
Forfar is an incredible golf course. Although I’m a native Dundonian and played football in nearby Forfar many times, I had never actually played the golf course – I had no idea what I’d been missing all those years. Whenever I’ve mentioned Forfar to my non-Scots friends, I always get “Forfar four, East Fife five!”. It should be famous for its golf course.
The 4th, ‘Cat Law, a tough par four, with Forfar’s terrain on show.
Having read many reviews of Forfar golf course, I was struck by the number of writers commenting on the unusual terrain – “it’s an ‘inland links'” said many.
The majestically bunkered 17th hole – this is typical of the views playing Forfar.
The geology is very marked. It has hummocks and undulations with so much similarity to a links. Look at the fairways, and it could be Scotscraig, near St Andrews. Look at the numerous Scots Pine, with the hilly surrounds, and it could be Boat of Garten in the Highlands. The wonderful heather and bunkered green surrounds, would make their way easily onto Lanark, Edzell or any number of the great heathland courses.
The blind tee shot at the par four 2nd hole.
I’ve played over 200 golf courses throughout the world, from the Monteray Peninsular, through the championship layouts of South Africa and Australia. Ryder Cup parkland courses and Open Championship links. Asian tour venues. Forfar is both like none of them and yet like all of them, simultaneously.
The green complex at the fifth, a challenging long par 3.
On land influenced by the remnant boulders of the last ice age, Forfar sits only 15 miles north of Carnoustie and 15 miles south of Glen Clova in the Angus Glens. The golf course has a lengthy history, claiming to be “the 4th oldest 18 hole course in the world and is the very first Club to have an 18 hole course from inception and inauguration”. This latter comment is carefully contructed, since there are many earlier 18 hole courses, for example the Lundin/Leven Links (blog here) 18 holes dates to 1868, 3 years before the creation of Forfar.
The approach to the seventh, the par four, ‘Quarry’, SI 2 hole. Play long and right, if you can hit the green in 2.
The course was designed by Old Tom Morris, at a time when no major earth moving was done in course construction. So all that you walk on is natural. The green surrounds are at times genius, which makes sense since James Braid carried out a redesign in 1926, but the majority of the holes remained the same. Overall, its a beautiful golfing challenge.
The tricky 18th green to find from a blind approach shot. I was lucky to choose the right club, to get my 3rd birdie of the day. Very unusual for me!
Despite having a few weaker holes, notably the par three ninth, there are many that are memorable. When we played on a calm, July day, the course was in great condition. The fairways were dry and fast running, the turf was firm, the greens slick, the bunkers consistently first class and the teeing grounds all excellent.
The wonderful 12th hole, the SI 1 hole on the course. A par four of 422 yards (yellow).
Value for money is undoubtedly 5 star, at the £50 mid-week rate; we paid only £20 through a Golfnow ‘hot deal’ for a Saturday twilight time. In fact, unbeatable golfing value.
The 10th, a mid length par 4, where storms had left their mark with a loss of trees.
If I had to select only 10 courses that collectively represented the range of golf in Scotland, Forfar might just be be my number one pick, it is that unique. As to its overall ranking, it regularly appears in the “Top 100” Scotland courses, typically around 70th place. This doesn’t do it justice for me, I think it’s easy to justify a top 50 placing.
I can’t recommend Forfar high enough.
Facts:
Course Type:“Inland Links?”
Par 67 (1 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance (yellow): 5754 yards
Moly’s Gross score: 84
Moly’s Forfar scorecard – a commendable 84. 3 birdies and 3 triple bogies!
