Good design with many memorable holes and outstanding Ochil Hills view.
Round £38. Par 71. Value (out of 5) – 3.5
The site for Alloa Golf Club, Schawpark, has a long and heraldic Scottish history and is named after James Schaw of Greenock who in 1431 married Mary de Annand, heiress to the Lands of Sauchie, whose ancester, Henri, was granted the lands in 1321 by King Robert the Bruce. The only notable existing relic of the historic estate is the derelict Sauchie Tower dating from the 15th Century.
1st at Alloa with Ochil Hills.
The golf club was founded in 1891, but the current course was designed by James Braid in 1935. The site is blessed with outstanding views of the Ochil Hills and Braid makes sure the hills are never far from sight through the variety of trees on the course. The fairways are invariably tree lined with some cleverly undulating fairways, most notably the stroke index one 8th hole.
The 7th at Alloa, which depends so much on the wind direction.
However, this is not a course where you’ll need a dozen balls to get round as many of the tree areas have fairly open surrounds. The course layout also uses the rolling countryside well, with significant changes in direction on each hole (except the 11th and 12th) so respite from any wind is never long in coming.
The treacherous ditch in front of the long 17th at Alloa
I played Alloa GC with long standing member Brian Fearon and our mutual friend Frank Crowe, both Trustees of Apex Scotland, a charity which does such fantastic work supporting people who have offended or at risk of offending. We had 20+ mph winds when we played, so the downwind holes were very welcome. None of us played especially well, but all had enough good shots to keep our golfing aspirations up!
The difficult to hit 15th green looking back to the tee.
The course was in pretty good condition, particularly in light of the amount of rain that had recently fallen with the fairways being the highlight for me – I never got the pace of the greens but they were well conditioned.
The course has a very difficult last 4 holes, including 2 par 3s (one being the 18th) and I suspect this stretch has laid waste to many a potentially good medal card. In fact, the par 3s were the highlight of the course for me with the uphill 15th and the last both being very difficult greens to hit – I suspect the members would settle for bogies every time on these holes. The 2nd and 17th holes are par 5s off the white tees, but more difficult long par 4s from the yellow tees – the 17th needs to be played as a 3 shot par 5 for all but the longest hitters as it has a devilish blind ditch just in front of the green.
The par 3 18th at Alloa – a great finishing hole.
Alloa is a good golf course, with many memorable holes and fantastic views – well worth playing.
Some Facts
Course Type: Parkland
Par 71 (3 par 5s, 11 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance (yellow) 5991 yards
Moly’s Gross Score 100
Stableford 28
Alloa – Moly’s scorecard – 100