Category: The Kingdom of Fife (Page 5 of 7)

43. Charleton. 7th June 2016.

June 7, 2016 / Moly McMillan

A rather bland open parkland course, but with magnificent greens – it’s a cunundrum!

Round £32. Par 71 (yellow). Value (out of 5) – 3

Charleton House on the East Neuk of Fife was built in 1759 and after passing through several hands is now owned by a Swedish family and it was Baron John Bonde (1918–2009) who established the golf course and small picturesque club house in 1994. The Estate house and terraced garden, with outstanding Firth of Forth views, is operated as an events location.

Short par 4 17th tee with Charleton house in the distance.

Firstly, I’d point out that unlike the club’s website boast, this is definately not in my opinion “Scotland’s Premier Parkland Course”, a rather embarrassing claim, given the competition. Given that the course was opened by ex-US president George Bush Snr, one can’t help conclude that the Bonde family have many good contacts!

The difficult short par 3 5th green.

Charleton is actually the most open of parkland courses, in fact it has some of the widest fairways you’re likley to find in Fife. Therefore it is a good course for Society outings, without the need for several balls in your bag.

The course is a bit of a conundrum, since although the tee shots are relatively mundane, when you get to the greens, many of them are rather magnificent; several are up to 50 yards from front to back, some guitar shaped narrowing to only 6 yards wide and there are several positions on the greens that you might have to pitch over the fringes to get to the flags. There are also some very severe sloping banks at the sides of the greens, which combined with deep bunkers, make the approach play some of the most challenging around.

The trecherous green at the par 4 14th.

There are some real highlights, but for me the most difficult were the par 3s, only 3 of them, but on each occasion I struck what I thought were excellent shots, only to discover my ball in devilish greenside bunkers. I also must mention the 14th green – it measures 50 yards front to back, and has several very damging bunkers – I took 4 to get out of one of them!

The guitar shaped 15th green – a par 4.

Therefore, the course without greens gets no more than 2/5 for value, whereas the greens are 5/5 alone, giving a rounded 3/5 value score. It was rounded down because the teeing grounds were in poor condition when I played.

The par 3 6th green at Charleton

I gaurantee if you play at Charleton, you’ll want to re-play many of your greenside chips and long putts. You can see from my card, of 99, I found the greens a challenge, having 3 putted 6 times!

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland/Woodland

Par 71 (2 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance (yellow) 5989 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 99

Moly’s scorecard at Charleton adding to 99, with two 9s.

34. Scoonie. 15th Oct 2015.

October 19, 2015 / Moly McMillan

An easy walking course with good views and subtle greens

Round £18. Par 67. Value (out of 5) – 2.5

Scoonie is a short and straight forward parkland golf course located on the eastern side of Leven on the Fife coast and has good views out to the Forth Estuary and across to the North Berwick coastline.

The long par 4 6th tee at Scoonie

It is one of 7 courses managed by the Fife Golf Trust which was established in 2011 to take over Fife Council’s directly managed courses. This is becoming a common practice by Local Authorities in Scotland to manage golf courses. The actual Scoonie Golf Club was formed in 1951, and welcomes visitors to their catering and bar facilities.

View through the “forgiving” trees at the 6th.

Originally a 9 hole course it was extended in 1936 with James Braid doing the re-design, albeit it’s unclear what Braid’s exact design changes were, since the course lacks sophisticated course architecture one normally expects from a Braid course in my opinion. Parts of the course in fact seem quite immature with small trees aside wide open fairways, and therefore feels much younger.

The 12th at Scoonie – the subtle and often large greens provide a good challenge

Having said that, there is still sufficient to keep one interested at Scoonie. The greens are subtle and true, with a few of them being very large. I suspect not many visitors, of any standard, will fail to 3 putt at least once during a round.

The approach at the long par 4 15th hole, bathed in Autumn colour.

The course is a little imbalanced with an outward par of 35 with only one par 3, and inward par of 32 including 4 par 3s. There are no par 5s on the course.

My favourite holes were the short par 4 2nd, which had a steep upward incline to the green, where it is better being long on the approach, the short uphill par 3 13th and the final hole which has a lovely green and well positioned front bunker.

The lovely 18th green at Scoonie

On the day, I played poorly on a course which is relatively easy, with a SSS of 64 versus the card of 67 off the yellow, scoring 31 points.

Scoonie is ideal if you’re looking for a fairly easy walking course, with no major hazards coming into play.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Par 67 (0 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance (green!) 5133 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 92

Stableford 31

Moly’s Scoonie scorecard – 92

33. Drumoig. 16th Sep 2015

September 20, 2015 / Moly McMillan

A Driver’s paradise with some prayers needed around the turn!

Round £25. Par 73. Value (out of 5) – 4

Drumoig golf course is a substantial par 73 golf course, designed by Dave Thomas, set in a resort style estate, with housing and a hotel, situated between Dundee and St Andrews. It is a parkland layout and sufficiently undulating to make for a tiring walk on this 7000 yard course.

The difficult 9th hole with water on both sides of the fairway.

It is well set within the surrounding arable land with some far reaching views, notable across to Broughty Ferry, Monifieth and Carnoustie, on the other side of the Tay Estuary.

Surrounded by the classic links on this north Fife coastline, Drumoig would make a nice contrast for touring golfers, who may be finding the local links fairways a bit tight.

The “cliff side” green at the 5th – the long signature hole at Dromoig

My main impression of Drumoig, was the width of the fairways, especially on the five par 5s; you can really open your shoulders whilst driving here, that is all bar the 9th, 10th and 11th, where all three holes are set around a large lake, making up its own Amen Corner. These holes at the turn were the highlight for me, particularly the 10th, where I took a bogie 5, having taken 3 from the tee!

The 11th green at Drumoig

There are other interesting features, with a 25-foot quarry wall sitting immediately behind the 5th hole, a long par 5, and the 13th. The 18th, is also a very nicely architected hole, with carefully laid water hazards, where the safe play is a medium iron or hybrid from the tee, leaving a short iron to the green.

13th at Drumoig with the quarry wall behind.

The course is a little unbalanced in my opinion with only 1 par 3 (the 2nd) and 2 par 5s on the front 9 of 37, but 3 par 3s, 3 par 4s and 3 par 5s on the back 9. The course was in nice condition when I played, although the bunkers were a little stony and greens much slower that the nearby links courses. That aside, its a good course which is well worth playing and good value.

The greenside bunker at the left of 14th, a natural target with OOB all down the right.

I had a fairly good day for me, shooting 96, with 46 on back 9.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Par 73 (5 par 5s, 9 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (green!) 6472 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 96

Stableford 33

Moly’s Drumoig Scorecard – 96

24. Glenrothes. 15th July 2015.

July 17, 2015 / Moly McMillan

Challenging Parkland Golf in Centre of Fife

Weekday round £18; weekend £22 . Par 71. Value (out of 5) – 4.5

1st tee at Glenrothes

Glenrothes golf course is set in a prominent position on the high ground to the west of Glenrothes and offers a mainly parkland setting; some of the back 9 is exposed to the elements with a more heathland feel.

Approach to the 7th at Glenrothes

It is one of 7 courses managed by the Fife Golf Trust which was established in 2011 to take over Fife Council’s directly managed courses. This is becoming a common practice by Local Authorities in Scotland to manage golf courses. The golf club itself is private, like many Scottish clubs associated with publicly owned courses, and welcomes visitors .

The heathland feel of the 12th at Glenrothes

This is a challenging golf course, with quite wide fairways, although if you stray into the rough you are penalised severely, so be well equipped with balls if you are wayward from the tee. There are some great individual holes, with the highlights for me being the 9th, 10th and 12th. The bunkers to the long par 3 10th being very well positioned, so better being long than short.

18th green and clubhouse at Glenrothes

The heathland holes on the back 9, 11th through 13th, are exposed to the elements and in a breeze (which I had) proved to be a card wrecker – I was 15 over for these 3 holes, with several lost balls in the heavy rough. Another thing to be aware of is the large greens, therefore ample opportunity to 3 putt.

Amply named final hole – given my 62 on the back 9.

The course was in very good condition when I played, with only some attention to some fairways needed to get to the next level. However, with a twilight round only £12 (after 3pm), this is fantastic value golf. I think many visitors to Scotland would be surprised at the quality of such a public golf course.

This is a highly recommended course to play.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland/heathland

Par 71 (3 par 5, 11 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (yellow) 6223 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 107

Moly’s Glenrothes Scorecard – 107 (62 on back 9!)

Category: The Kingdom of Fife (Page 5 of 7)

43. Charleton. 7th June 2016.

Par 71 (2 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

34. Scoonie. 15th Oct 2015.

Par 67 (0 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

33. Drumoig. 16th Sep 2015

Par 73 (5 par 5s, 9 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

24. Glenrothes. 15th July 2015.

Par 71 (3 par 5, 11 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

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