Great Value with Architectural Pedigree, along with a recent 9 hole expansion
Round £42. Par 70. Value (out of 5) – 4.5
Alyth is a small town of around 3000 with an abundance of golfing choices in this agriculturally rich area of Perthshire. The Alyth golf club now boasts 2 courses – the main 18 hole course (subject of this blog), described as heathland albeit I think it is a parkland course, and dating back to 1895; Old Tom Morris laid out the first 9 holes, then extended to 18 in 1934 by James Braid. Much more recently, in 2016, the club took over the back 9 holes of the Glenisla course when that club closed down. It is one of the small bits of good news in the general decline of golf in Scotland.
The main 18 hole course is really great value, with offers available through several sources, I suspect prices driven to attract the many tourist golfers who might otherwise just play the nearby world class Blairgowrie or Carnoustie courses. I strongly recommend playing Alyth, where the slightly shorter course, compared with those nearby giants, makes it a much more pleasurable experience, especially given the very picturesque landscape. The course has won awards for “best value”.
Although the course is set amongst tree lined fairways, the course is quite wide and the rough and tree areas not overly penalising, which makes it probably attractive to societies and more occasional golfers.
There are some great holes. The Strike Index 1, 5th hole, is a relatively short par 4, but the fairway ditch which runs diagonally across the fairway needs to be avoided, prior to finding the right club to reach the plateaued green. I was delighted with a bogie and moved on.
The 11th is another really nice hole, a short par 5 with well placed bunkers, that should reward those whose smart club selections take the bunkers out of play.
When I played, the course was in excellent condition, with all bar the bunkers immaculate. I shot a gross 94 for 29 stableford points; the most enjoyable part being the very tidy finish over the last 3 holes, which should have been all pars, but for 3 putting the last after hitting my longest drive of the day!
I will go back to Alyth – highly recommended.
Facts:
Course Type: Parkland
Par 70 (2 par 5s, 12 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance (yellow): 5990
Moly’s Gross score: 94
