Easy walking course with good views of Brodick and it’s surrounds
Round £27. Par 65. Slope (yellow) 109. Value (out of 5) – 4
The Isle of Arran sits off the North Ayrshire coast, accessible all year round by regular ferry crossings from the Port of Ardrossan or, during Summer, from the Kintyre peninsular. The main port is Brodick, which is also home to one of the 7 golf courses on the island.
The Brodick course was founded with 9 holes in 1897 and designed by John Duncan of Glasgow. It was originally sited in an elevated position near Knowe and West Mayish, as noted on the www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk web site. It moved to the current location in 1913.
At only just over 4500 yards this is a short course, but has a slope rating of 109 due, I suspect, to several of the nine par 3s being very difficult; the 4th and 15th are over the “Glenrosa Water”, the 167 yard 8th deserves its stroke index 3 rating with a difficult plateau green tight against a set of trees, and the 188 yard 13th requires a blind shot taken close to the beach if the green is to be found.
The course was in excellent condition when I played with Fran during our Arran venture. Although adjacent to the bay this is most definitely mainly arable turf and therefore not a links course. In fact in the fine weather, the tall pine trees across the 5th, made us feel we were playing in Portugal – albeit I don’t imagine that happens often.
With excellent true greens, this helped my 80, for a net par round, so I was very pleased especially my back nine of 37.
Unfortunately the clubhouse and changing rooms had seen better days. It felt like the run down changing rooms of football clubs I played with in the 70s!
Nevertheless, this is a good course and one well worth playing. The green fee made for excellent value, like the other Arran courses.
Facts:
Course Type: Parkland
Par 64 (1 par 5, 8 par 4s, 9 par 3s)
Distance: 4540
Moly’s Gross score: 47
