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!”.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Municipal courses like ‘The Tinny’ are at risk from green fee apps
Round £27.50. Par 67. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 64/108. Value (out of 5) – 3.5
Edinburgh Leisure, runs 6 municipal golf courses across Edinburgh on behalf of the council, including Craigentinny, an 18 hole course on the east of the city between Leith and Portobello, just off the A199.
“The Tinny”, as it is known, is a decent little course at just over 5000 yards (yellow). It has no par 5s, and only one of the par 4s, the 10th, is over 400 yards. With wide open parkland, light rough and only a handful of fairway bunkers to speak of – there were signs of some bunkers having been filled in – the Slope Rating of 108 (yellow) lets you know this is ‘friendlyish’ golf.
Perhaps uniquely, the most difficult two holes are par 3s; the long 13th (234 yards) and 4th (216 yards), being stroke index 1 and 2 respectively. I have never come across this situation with a golf course before. The five par 3s are the best of this course.
The course was in good condition, with the small greens being the highlight. There was potential to move on to the wrong holes, with a few long walks between green to tee and no tee box marking. Referral to the scorecard map is essential, as its easy to get waylaid looking at the fine views of Arthur’s Seat from many of the holes.
I played alongside my former Apex Scotland board members. The charity continues to do sterling work supporting people with convictions back into the workplace and society.
We had a competitive game, albeit we all (bar Brian who scored a fine 32 points) suffered from the very high winds that got up to about 40 mph, especially on the back 9. No matter how easy the course is, 40 mph is going to be penal!
There are no specific council facilities at the course, other than a kiosk, toilet and a basic vending machine in the “pavilion” style ‘clubhouse’. There is however, a co-located clubhouse for the Lochend Golf Club, named after the nearby Lochend Loch, which play at “The Tinny”, hence the blog and course is called “Lochend Craigentinny”.
Lochend Golf Club does have a lengthy history, dating back to the 1700s, albeit they didn’t play at “The Tinny” till it opened in 1908, a few years after the Council banned golf at the then open Leith Links. The club costs an additional £177 for its annual fee, to get access to to the usual club benefits. The clubhouse was closed when we played, hence why the lack of Council provided facilities were brought into focus. Thankfully, nearby Newhaven, where we retired to afterwards, has arguably the best fish restaurant in Scotland!
An annual 7 day ticket for the 6 municipal courses costs £500, incredible value. An individual visitor green fee on any of the 18 hole courses is £27.50, again decent value, but this pricing is starting to look relatively expensive when set alongside the offers available through golf fee apps, led by Golfnow. On any given weekday, you can play much better nearby courses than Craigentinny, at significantly lower than £27.50; including Newbattle, Baberton, Turnhouse and Royal Mussleburgh. Some Scottish Councils (such as South Ayrshire and Aberdeen) are offering discount pricing through Golfnow, and I think Edinburgh Leisure would do well to consider that.
Overall, I would say this is “an average Municipal course”, and will need to keep a keen eye on visitor income, which will be an increasing challenge from apps such as Golfnow.
Arguably the epi-centric viewpoint of world links golf
Round £195. Par 71. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 70.4/122. Value (out of 5) – 5
In Michael Murphy’s great book, “Golf in The Kingdom”, golf is eulogised in metaphysical or spiritual terms. In starting to write about Gullane, I can’t do better than Murphy’s epigraph, the Scottish golf saying:
“Golf was invented a billion years ago; don’t you remember?”
That epigraph made complete sense as I walked onto the 7th tee at Gullane Number 1 for the first time. Set on the small Gullane Hill, it is said on a clear day you can see fourteen counties. What is without debate, I think, is that you have the greatest links land view on earth. Perched there, you are at the mid point of the East Lothian ‘golf coast’ stretching from Dunbar to the east and Musselburgh to the west, with names synonymous with world golf – Dunbar, North Berwick, Archerfield, Renaissance, Muirfield, Luffness, Kilspindie, Craigie Law and Longniddry.
Look north across the Firth of Forth towards the Kingdom of Fife, with Leven, Crail, Elie and St Andrews; see past the Tentsmuir Forrest towards the links of Carnoustie, Montrose, Royal Aberdeen and Cruden Bay. Golf has been played on the East Coast of Scotland for hundreds of years, perhaps indeed ‘billions’. This 7th tee on Gullane Number 1 could be the epi-centric viewpoint of world golf; the Old Course is undoubtedly the “home”, but Gullane’s viewpoint is unparalleled.
So much has been written about Gullane, including the crafted explanation of posh ‘Gillin’ versus humble ‘Gullan’ in his book, “Playing Through”, by Curtis Gillespie, that I decided to more or less tell this story mainly through pictures.
Accompanied by Gullane member, Alastair Allanach, a man who has played more golf courses than anyone I know, we had an absolute blast, waxing lyrical about Gullane and its history. Alastair, a great all round sportsman, and now well into his 70s, was keen to get in at least two of the three Gullane courses on the day, as he struggles to “carry my bag for three rounds nowadays!”
I met Alasdair a few years ago, when I helped a tiny bit in his editing of the golf book, “The Golfing Life of Jock Kirkcaldy“, the alter ego of our mutual great friend Frank Crowe. The book was forwarded by Gary Player, a friend of Alastair’s – of course!
This Championship course, the first of the three Gullane courses, dates back to 1882, (the others being innovatively named Gullane 2 and Gullane 3) and it was in brilliant condition. It could have immediately held another Scottish Open without any adjustment. The greens had a little more grass than a professional tournament would have, in order to ensure they didn’t become unplayable in the wind. We had a relatively still day on the links – only a 10mph breeze. Whilst Gullane 2 and 3 were both designed by golfing royalty, Willie Park Jr, the designer of Gullane 1 remains a mystery, which seems so apt.
The bunkering was exceptional. Strategically placed, penal, but not impossible, many of the new US style courses could learn from a Gullane recce. I recently played on the Ryder Cup course at the K Club and found that almost all the bunkers required a shot height and carry I no longer had in my bag. Gullane bunkers give you a chance.
I was very pleased with my 91, despite 3 triple bogies, including at the stroke indexes 1 and 2 holes, the 5th and 10th respectively. I played off the yellow tees at 6162 yards, plenty enough distance for me. I had such a great time playing Gullane. I only hope all of the very fortunate 1200 members feel as blessed as Alastair does, who was a joy to play with on a memorable day for me.
The course sits on a vast area, so expect to 3 putt some of the monstrous greens. Despite being a busy day with all tee slots taken, I was amazed to only hear one shout of “fore”, a measure of the space here.
Now for the assessment of value. Golfing visitor fee inflation has really impacted Scottish golf. In 2018, in my St Andrews Old Course blog, I said anything higher priced than the old course can’t be worth the money. At the time the Old Course was £180 for a high season round, this year it is £270, a compound annual rise of over 10% per year, or more than three times the retail price index over the same period. Put another way, using 2018 as the datum, the Old Course should be £205.
No matter how much might have wanted to, in the end I couldn’t give this course anything less than 5 out of 5 for value, despite the price tag of £195. It’s a must play links golf course with unbeatable turf, bunkering, green surrounds, sea breeze, wispy rough.
Play, if for nothing else, to stand on the exact epi-centric viewpoint of world links golf. If such a thing could exist.
Brilliantly priced golf course with divergence of views
Round £35. Par 69. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68/113. Value (out of 5) – 4.5
When I played Kingsknowe, pronounced Kings-NOW, on a magnificent May day, with clear skies and beautiful views, I was struck by how much the surroundings of the golf course must have changed over the last 100 years, since its foundation in 1908. It has literally ‘lived’ amongst the great social changes of the 20th Century.
Sitting on the western side of Edinburgh, Kingsknowe is only 4 miles from Edinburgh Castle, obviously well within the city boundary. However, go back over 100 years, and the course would have been surrounded by countryside. At the time, the nearby Union Canal, was one of the main traffic routes near the course.
Initially laid out by the 1902 ‘Champion golfer of the year’ Alec Herd, the first major impact the club suffered was the loss, during WWI, of 27 of its members, commemorated by a plaque in the clubhouse and recorded on the Imperial War Museum website here. During the second world war, by which time James Braid had been commissioned to implement some architectural changes, some of his changes were turned to farming use to support the war effort.
The course opens with a tricky par three, very untypical of a Braid Course, which normally has a straight forward short par four to get things going. The course character is further reinforced with the dog leg right 2nd, then a long par five into the prevailing wind. Playing to handicap through the first three is a challenge.
With several more undulating and dog legs, I was very surprised by the Slope Rating of only 113 (yellow), but I guessed this may be due to its relatively short length and the fact that there are no – yes zero – fairway bunkers. This bunker situation makes me question the validity of Braid’s involvement in the design, as he placed so much emphasis on this element of architecture. If anyone knows of his exact involvement, that would be interesting.
Another great social change, is highlighted at the 12th, “Wester Hailes”, a mid length par 4. Named after the revolutionary housing development immediately to the north of the course, the social housing is actually visible on a great number of the holes. The large and formidable wrought iron boundary fence, tells only a fraction of the story.
Following slum closures elsewhere in Edinburgh, in the 60s, Wester Hailes, a development of over 4000 homes was to be one of the most ambitious housing projects in Europe. It transpired within 20 years into a haven of crime in which parts of the development were referred to as “Vietnam”. The Edinburgh News writes about “How a field of Dreams turned into a Concrete Jungle“. The building of the housing required the culverting of the Union Canal.
Whilst the ‘polis’ were dealing with major crime one side of the golf course, just over the fairways sits Merchiston Castle, the last all male boarding school in Scotland. Such a contrasting start to life, so close to each other. I wonder what percentage of the membership is from Wester Hailes?
Back to the golf – tree lined, but not interfering too much, Kingsknowe, with its fine clubhouse, serves as a excellent society day. It’s is very well priced for visitors, I got a rate of only £22 through Golfnow, but the full summer fee of £35 still represents excellent value.
The course was in excellent condition, especially the teeing grounds. The greenside bunkers were great, highlighting the lack of fairway bunkers hadn’t diminished the green keeping skills.
In a very high wind, up to 30 mph, I shot 87, four over net. This included almost driving the short par 4 finishing hole, but ending in a small copse left of the green. I won’t describe the rest of my play in recording a 7, but still came back in 40 shots.
Well worth playing at this well manicured and highly enjoyable course, where the hole names are also worth taking note with their clues – “Wee Drap”!