A challenging Council “9 holer”
Round £10. Par 71. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 69/124. Value (out of 5) – 4
South Lanarkshire Council state on their website they are “proud to operate six quality golf courses” – and so they should be if Strathclyde Park represents the offering, being one of the two 9 hole golf courses in the package which can all be played by subscribing to their season long Rover deal.
Having been brought up on Caird Park “9 holer”, a Dundee Council course, I was expecting a similar set up from Strathclyde Park. How wrong I was – this is a serious and ‘meaty’ golf course. A little under 6000 equivalent yards (from the Yellow), this is a a big challenge, especially for those taking up the sport.
Set in Strathclyde Country Park, adjacent to junction 6 of the M74, with the backdrop of Hamilton racecourse on the finishing holes, I really enjoyed this great value course.
Because there was one winter green still in play and still being on the winter rate (even though I was able to play in shorts on an unseasonably warm March day), I paid only £5.40 for 9 holes. The tees were in poor condition, but the fairways were very good as were the bunkers. The greens are varied in size, shape and contour with many very challenging (I three putted several times).
I got to thinking, at only £10, for the high season rate for 18 holes, what is the value of a course as the price tends to zero? Or put another way, how do you really offset course quality and value?
Overall, this course is probably 2 out of 5 for ‘quality’ on a national basis, but at such a low price it is 4 for ‘value’, a score I would say provides an upper bound for the quality – even if free, because you still have to spend the time playing! It’s a great debate.
The course is well designed with a rounded mix of two par 3s, two par 5s and five par 4s – a classic combination. The fairways were wide, and very firm for the time of year.
I played better than I scored with several three putts in my gross 48.
We were staying in our caravan in Strathclyde Country park, which is a great location to set down to play all the courses on offer from South Lanarkshire Council.
Course Type: Parkland
Par 36 (2 par 5s, 5 par 4s, 2 par 3s)
Distance: 5891 (yellow)
Moly’s Gross score: 48