A great society golf course with wide fairways and well maintained facilities
Round £26. Par 68. Value (out of 5) 3
Elmwood golf course, more correctly named Scottish Rural College (SRUC) Elmwood, is owned and run by Scotland’s national rural college and the Elmwood Campus is based in Cupar, Fife. The golf course was opened in 1997 and Geo Certified in 2013 to reward its sustainability credentials. The College offers various golf management courses with the golf course providing the practical setting for several skill developments, such as greenkeeping.
The Par 3 4th at SRUC Elmwood golf course
Although there are some scenic views of Tarvit Hill and the Lomond Hills Elmwood has a rather bland feel, with many wide and feature light fairways. The course highlights are indeed the conditioning of fairways, greens and, in particular, bunkers. However, the bunkers had deep surrounds on all sides, meaning that on one occasion when near the “back” of the bunker, I was forced to play away from the hole – a bunker design flaw in my book.
The difficult to find 10th green at Elmwood
The wide fairways and absense of any water hazards makes this an ideal society day out, and it’s easy to check the course availablity using the club’s on-line booking system, which offers variable pricing discounts.
Elwood has excellent bunkers like here at the 12th
As to the course, there are some difficult and challenging holes. The par 4 3rd at 434 yards off yellow is a long 2 shotter and I thought the par 4 10th (worth the SI 5 at least) was the architectural highlight, where unless you were to the left of the fairway with your tee shot, any shot to an angled and well bunkered green was nigh impossible. The last 2 holes at around 430 yards each, are also card wreckers. With the 16th green being close to the nice clubhouse, I suspect several rounds end there!
The 17th tee at Elmwood, one of the more aesthetic holes
I had a rather inconsistent round with only 2 pars, but a welcome birdie 4 at the long par 5 13th, which I thought was not the hardest hole by any means as the SI 1 suggested.
I would recommend playing Elmwood for the golf, but if scenery is equally important to you its probably worth a miss.
Some Facts
Course Type: Parkland
Par 70 (2 par 5s, 12 par 4s, 4 par 3s)
Distance (yellow) 5757 yards
Moly’s Gross Score 95
Moly’s scorecard – 95 – at SRUC Elmwood