Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: Dumfries & Galloway (Page 2 of 3)

113. Cally Palace. 23 Oct 2020.

December 22, 2021 /

Don’t believe the hotel’s description – this is no better than your average council course.

Round £32. Par 71. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) not registered. Value (out of 5) – 2

The hotel website quotes: “The Cally Palace has it’s own 18 hole parkland golf course, which is one of the finest golf courses in the area.”

Utter rubbish, this course, designed in 1994 by Tom Macauley, an architect described as “adequate” by golfclubatlas.com, is no better that many average council run courses in Scotland. In fact, that might be doing a great disservice to many of the wonderful council run courses.

The trees are the star on this course – Moly finding a nice hazard on the 16th fairway!

If there is a highlight at this ‘free to hotel residents’ course in Dumfries and Galloway, it’s the many beautiful trees that adorn the grounds of the hotel. They are worth seeing – albeit one of them made for a difficult lie on the 16th!

The trees are the star at The Cally – here as a backdrop to the hotel at the 18th

Everything about the course spoke about it being done ‘on the cheap’. The bunkers were shallow, the greens were small and, disappointedly, the course made little use of the magnificent Cally Loch on the estate. In addition, several of the greens were indistinguishable from their surrounds.

The 13th at Cally Palace – by far the best hole on the course.

Although the course is free to residents, this is definitely not a golfing hotel, with no changing facilities for the visiting golfer. It is also closed in January and February, made possible by not having any golfing members. It’s also not listed on Scottish Golf’s list of courses, so it doesn’t have a course rating or slope index.

When I played, the course should really have been closed due to being waterlogged, but the benefit at least being that Fran and I were the only people playing.

The very poor 17th green at The Cally – typical of the course, unfortunately.

Other than the trees, the only hole of real note was the Stroke Index 1, short par 5 thirteenth hole – by for the best on this layout. I was very lucky to get a par, after pulling my drive, only to find I’d miraculously cut the corner of the dog leg and able to get to the green in 2!

The 7th at The Cally, a typically bland par 4.

The course helped me to another personal record, the most occasions relief for casual water has been taken.

Don’t go out of your way to play Cally Palace.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 70 (3 par 5, 11 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance: 5706

Moly’s Gross score: 94

A wet day, making the 94 at The Cally, better than the score really.

112. Lochmaben. 24 Sep 2020

December 13, 2021 /

A gem of a course where Robert the Bruce stole a castle!

Round £38. Par 70. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68.4/126. Value (out of 5) – 4

Lochmaben golf course, founded in 1926, is set in a picturesque village of the same name in The Scottish Borders, on the A709 between Dumfries and Lockerbie. There is an interesting and long history of the area dating back to the 1300s and the story of Robert the Bruce.

Bruce’s Motte – the wonderful par 3 second hole at Lochmaben – the toughest hole on this course according the Moly

Take a close look at the name of the second hole, ‘Bruce’s Motte’, and you realise you’re actually playing uphill to a plateau upon which Bruce built a fortification to stop intruders. It’s a very fitting name, as the golf hole, a par 3 of 185 yards, is the stroke index 2 hole; and that, on a course with several long par 4s, is a measure of the challenge. I always try to take heed of stroke indices before playing a hole, as often when a short hole is rated so difficult it deserves added attention. Take at least 2 or 3 clubs more to get up the incline and be satisfied with a bogie. I imagine many long term members have never birdied this very demanding hole.

The signature par 3 eight hole, ‘Kirk Loch’ at Lochmaben – a delightful short hole

The course overall is an absolute joy. It’s set around Kirk Loch, one of 3 lochs in which the village of Lochmaben sits in the middle. Intriguingly, none of the 3 lochs are called Loch Maben? Castle Loch, the biggest of the 3, is the site of what was a more formidable castle and central to many of the battles between the Scots and the English in the area.

The 15th, a short par 5, a typical hole on this course; one of the added holes in 1995.

The original layout of the course was only 9 holes, laid out by James Braid, and occupied the majority of the holes on the east of the loch, with the course only extended to 18 in 1995. The lakeside holes, especially the short 8th, are characteristic of more modern design. Overall though, it really works as a ‘joined up’ 18, with some really great holes. Other than the 2nd, which I think is the most difficult, both the 10th and the 17th are challenging par 4’s both playing uphill and at 450 and 423 yards respectfully and are difficult to reach with 2 shots.

It was in great condition when I played. The fairways were good, the greens very true, and only the bunkers were needing attention, but that was likely due to the covid pandemic. I shot 98, and felt I played not bad. It was one of those courses where local knowledge has a bigger premium than usual, and I imagine the home advantage makes a bigger difference in club matches here.

The good finishing hole at Lochmaben (looking bach from the green), a relatively short (328 yards), but tight, par 4 finishing hole. A good matchplay finish.

It’s not an easy walk, so make sure the trolley batteries are fully charged, but its well worth playing Lochmaben.

Incidentally, Robert The Bruce apparently stole the castle from Edward 1, so the history books say!

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 70 (2 par 5, 12 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance: 5873

Moly’s Gross score: 98

Moly’s Lochmaben scorecard – 98 – which felt hard fought for

111. Powfoot. 23 Sep 2020.

December 2, 2021 /

Great value James Braid course well worth playing

Round £50. Par 71. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 69.5/126. Value (out of 5) – 4.5

If I were to list 5 courses, of varying price points and quality, to encapsulate Scottish golf, Powfoot might fit the bill for ‘great course taken for granted’. It would never make the cut of the top 50 Scottish Courses, perhaps even the top 100 courses; however, in many ways, playing Powfoot at under £50, using the typical offers abounding, makes you realise what great value golf exists in Scotland.

The brilliant par three 7th hole at Powfoot, with 9 greenside bunkers!

Powfoot, which takes the name from the village, sits on the north of the Solway Firth, in Dumfries & Galloway, not far from Annan. Overshadowed by the nearby Southerness course, I suspect a great many golfers bypass Powfoot – that would be a mistake in my opinion.

The blind tee shot at Powfoot’s tricky 8th hole, a tough and typical links hole.

Founded in 1903 with 9 holes, it was extended to 18 holes in 1911, then improved on by James Braid in 1923. At over 6200 yards from the white tees, it is a good challenge, especially I suspect when the wind gets up.

It plays and feels like a traditional links course; firm turf, good bunkering, aesthetically framed holes and greens, surrounded by thick gorse bushes. However, the last few holes are really parkland holes, with more trees bordering and sheltering the holes and on arable land.

The well framed 12th hole, a devilish par 3, showing the gorse that abounds on this course. Pay short to be safe. I didn’t and the wheels came off, with a quadruple bogie:(

Dominated by a range of good par 4s (13 of them), there are only 2 par 5s and 3 par 3s. There are quite a few memorable holes. The stroke index par 4 third hole is the first great hole; called ‘shore’ it plays south towards the firth and would be very difficult to reach in 2 shots when the prevailing south westerly wind blows. The seventh is a short par 3 that has nine greenside bunkers – aim for dead centre of the green here. The 8th, a tough par 4, has a blind tee shot and a sloping green that could be approached using the full array of links shots. Likewise the short par four 11th hole demands respect where shots need to be played cautiously to avoid being wrong sided on the right of the fairway and green.

The 17th green, with the copse in the background, on the parkland part of the course.

Despite being in the pandemic the green keepers had presented the course in excellent condition when I played. The bunkers were particularly good and well maintained.

The golfing gods decided to give me a reminder on the cruelty of the game. Playing incredibly well, I was level par for the front 9 and only 1 over after 11 holes. I then played the last 7 holes in 13 over par! Ouch! Nevertheless, it was only the second time in my life I had been level par after 9 holes on a ‘proper’ golf course!

WWII created an unusual hazard at the 9th – with the course guide showing the crater made by a German bomb.

Go out of your way to play Powfoot, highly recommended

Facts:

Course Type: Links

Par 71 (2 par 5, 13 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance: 5990

Moly’s Gross score: 85

The cruel game of golf – level par front 9, 14 over on back 9.

104. Dalbeattie. 14th Sep 2020.

July 6, 2021 /

A delightful and great value “crowd funded” course

Round £10 (9 holes). Par 34. Value (out of 5) – 5

I was glad to meet the greenkeeper half way round my game at Dalbeattie, as I’d called him several unrepeatable names since the 2nd green, where I had hit two great shots to the green and walked off with a 9. I didn’t technically 7 putt, since I had putted off the green at least twice.

“These pin positions are a joke, they are ridiculous!”. “Yes, I agree”, said the very affable greenkeeper, “we held a charity texas scramble yesterday and were told to make the pins impossible”. “Ah, well, they certainly are that!”.

So my 50 for 9 holes, or 16 over par, at least has a decent excuse for once.

Difficult short opening hole at Dalbeattie – which had the first of many impossible pin positions.

In addition to the ‘difficult’ pin positions, the drive into the car park, had also not boded well. The sat nav took us through a small wood on a dirt track, which without our 4 wheel drive we may not have made it. Apparently the locals park on the streets surrounding the 9th green.

Beautifully contoured 5th fairway at Dalbeattie

Having got my grumbles out of the way, lets get to the point. This is about as good value golf you can buy and also a good data point in the history of golf development in Scotland. The club was founded in 1894, around the time when golf was becoming accessible to holiday makers due to the expansion of the railways. The club has a delightful, albeit short, history page on its web site here. In summary, the elder fathers of the area raised money through a bizarre to ensure Dalbeattie golf club was an attractive venue; in effect it was “crowd funded”.

Shorts aren’t always the order of the day in September at Dalbeattie – Moly shown here driving at the short par four 6th hole

Despite some excellent information on the club’s web site, there is no detail of the designer of this 9 hole layout. I suspect it was an experienced golf course architect as there is some lovely design, very both pleasing on the eye; the views are wide ranging along the Urr valley and south to the Lake district.

The 7th at Dalbeattie, the nicest framed hole on this course in Moly’s opinion

In particular, there is great framing on many of the holes, with the 5th and 7th holes vying for the signature hole. The 4th, a par 4 dog leg right hole, is also very difficult, with the window to drive intoquite narrow.

The course was in lovely condition when we played on a beautiful September “Indian Summer” day. Just the tonic, before heading off the day after towards the mystical golfing island of Arran.

Very worth playing at Dalbeattie.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 34 (7 par 4s, 2 par 3s)

Distance: 2,733

Moly’s Gross score: 50

Moly’s Dalbeattie scorecard – a pretty poor 50 on this nice course
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