Well worth a detour to play this very well designed course
Round £60. Par 72. Value (out of 5) – 4.5
Hotel Schloss Roxburghe, operated by the Berlin based 18.12 Group, is not far from Kelso in the Scottish Borders. It was formerly owned as a hotel by the Duke of Roxburghe, one of the wealthiest UK landowners. The golf course, on the hotel grounds, is called Schloss Roxburghe Golf and it was opened in 1997; at over 7100 yards from the championship blue tees, it was clearly designed by Dave Thomas (1934 – 2013) with the intention of hosting professional tournaments.
With top quality hotel facilities, this is a great short golfing break destination, but with limited high quality golf in the area, 1 or 2 nights is more than enough for just golf.
Playing in a strong wind on a chilly 1st February, the course was, not surprisingly, very quiet! Even from the yellow tees, it was well over 6500 yards, and I struggled to a 103 despite having been only 2 over after 5 holes! This poor display was not helped by me trying to carry my own clubs.
Although not scoring well, it was very enjoyable due to the great design; Thomas’ philosophy states “I believe all golfers must be presented with a visual challenge and the opportunity to determine a strategy for playing the course depending upon individual ability.” There were indeed many holes very pleasing on the eye.
Furthermore, with front and back nines each with two par 3s and two par 5s, this classic layout had great variety from hole to hole. Throw in the superb bunkering, nice use of water hazards, sculped with mature trees, all in all this was great golfing value. Indeed, with offers available on golfnow.com this represents some of the best golfing value around.
The course was in very good condition, especially for an early February day. The greens were fully playable with no winter greens in sight, a great testimony to the build quality and the greenkeeping.
The are many great holes at The Roxburgh. Although the 14th “viaduct” hole gains all the plaudits that’s only really for the view. The 10th, stoke index 1, is a magnificent dog leg right par 4, and the run of holes from 10th through 14th, encapsulate the variety and strength of Thomas’ design.
I would strongly recommend a short break at Schloss Roxburgh, but I would suggest to play it twice, it was just one of those courses that you need to play more than once to fully appreciate I guess. It was a nice way to bring up my 100th blog on my journey.
Facts:
Course Type: Parkland
Par 72 (4 par 5, 10 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance: 6546
Moly’s Gross score: 103