Electrifying, but not in a way you would want.
Moly’s Score – 89
Round £25. Par 71. Course/Slope Rating (yellow) 68.9/124. Value (out of 5) – 2.5
Torrance Park golf course started off as an ambitious project. Owned by David Murray, the Scottish businessman and former owner of Glasgow Rangers FC, it was designed by Dave Thomas (The Belfry, Spey Valley) as an impressive PGA style 18 holes course and opened as recently as 2008. It had plans also for a driving range. Sited close to the M8 motorway and adjacent to the town of Holytown, an area with rapid housing development, it was ideally located.
However, jump forward 15 years, and the course was rather forlorn when I played, during which I also found out that from 2023, the course was to be 9 holes only. The land to the west of Legbrannock Road, was to be a housing development, leaving 9 holes currently the nearest around the modern clubhouse.
When I played I met up with a local member, who was angry that he and many other members had paid their annual membership fees, before shortly thereafter being advised by email of the course reduction plans, but without an option to cancel their membership.
This parkland course feels rather odd. Fairways are wide, with disproportionally huge bunkers – it’s as if an innocuous municipal course had a few bunkers that would be at home in Valderrama! The greens are nonetheless pretty good, but again they feel better than the surrounding landscape and course conditioning.
When I played the course was very wet, although the greens had held up well. The new clubhouse had very friendly staff, and the building seems to be used as a ‘local’ for the adjacent housing estate. The food was good.
As for value, I struggle to think more than 2.5/5 is justified, using £25 as the stated amount. It’s convenient to the M8 if you want a quick knock about, but not worth going out of your way for, in my opinion.
Facts (pre 2022):
Course Type: Parkland
Par 71 (3 par 5s, 11 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance (yellow): 5916 yards
Moly’s Gross score: 89
