Category: Links (Page 10 of 11)

31. Garmouth & Kingston. 8 Sep 2015

September 15, 2015 / Moly McMillan

Lovely Parkland & Links Course! – worth playing just for the 15th Tee shot!

Round £20. Par 67. Value (out of 5) – 4

Garmouth & Kingston Golf Club lies on the west bank of the mouth of the River Spey, which comes into play only on the 15th, but still probably eats up a great deal of golf balls – more later.

2nd tee – Garmouth & Kingston

The course was founded in 1932, and at a little over 5000 yards presents, in theory, a reasonably straight forward test of golf, with several short par 3s and par 4s. Its a very interesting layout, with a parkland front 9 and a links back 9 – it is literally 2 different golf courses.

5th Green at Garmouth & Kingston – course is in beautiful condition

It’s also very flat and an easy walk, with some good views, especially of the Moray Firth on the links side – its a really great course for a round whilst on holiday, with many local attractions for the non golfer.

13th green with the Moray Firth in the distance.

The course was in perfect condition when I played, with beautiful fairways and greens. At only £20 for a round it is great value golf.

There are a number of nice holes, with most of the par 3s quite short, but they are well guarded so club selection is important, and I suspect difficult if any wind gets up.

The frightening 15th tee – pray for a left to right wind.

The highlight of the course is the par 3 15th played alongside the River Spey – a right to left wind would make this hole a nightmare, and must destroy many a medal round. I played badly, except for the 15th where an 8 iron to only 7 feet left me my first birdie for a while – highly enjoyable.

Worth playing just for the 15th! Lovely little course and great value.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland & Links

Par 67 (13 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance (yellow) 5046 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 99

Stableford 29

Moly’s Garmouth & Kingston Scorecard – 99

22. Kinghorn. 14th July 2015

July 15, 2015 / Moly McMillan

Small Historical Links Challenge at a Bargain Price

Summary: Round weekday £18; weekend £22 . Par 65. Value (out of 5) – 4

Detail:

Kinghorn's second green with views over the course to Burntisland and the Forth Estuary

Kinghorn’s second green with views over the course to the Forth Estuary

Kinghorn Golf Club, was founded in 1887, with the initial 9 holes being designed by Old Tom Morris – the remaining 9 holes were laid out in 1905 by Willie Fernie of Troon. Kinghorn therefore represents a fine historical pedigree of golfing architecture.

Kinghorn is one of 7 courses managed by the Fife Golf Trust which was established in 2011 to take over Fife Council’s directly managed courses.

The tricky Par 3 3rd with the wall in play!

This is becoming a common practice by Local Authorities in Scotland to manage golf courses. The golf club is private, like many Scottish clubs associated with public courses.

The course presents a fine test of all aspects of your game, especially your course management – my advice would be that other than the long par 4 8th and 13th holes (the 2 hardest on the course), leave your driver in the bag. Accuracy from the tee will pay dividends here.

An “eagle” at the par 4 6th – putting a joy on these greens

There are some tricky blind tee shots, with the 2nd and the 6th, both par 3s (from the yellow), needing good club selection to reach the green. Although I played from the yellow tees, it was easy to imagine how much more difficult from the white boxes several of the holes were. The SSS is 3 shots different between white and yellow.

Uphill approach to the Par 4 10th

The longest hole on the course – the 8th – a might 2 shots might not reach here.

The greens, and their immediate surrounds, were the highlight of the course condition when I played, and must be amongst the best in Fife; hard, true and very fast, it was difficult to judge your approach shots at times. The fairways were mixed, most were very good but some, notably the 18th, were poor. The tee boxes in particular needed attention. I think if some of the considerable effort placed on the greens, were shared to other areas, the whole course would benefit greatly.

This is a great little course, with magnificent views of the Forth Estuary and if you’re able to play after 3pm during the week in Summer, the twilight round rate of £12 represents great value.

Key Facts

Course Type: Links

Green Fees:

weekday £18 (round), £24 (day)
weekend £22 (round), £29 (day)

Par 65 (0 par 5, 11 par 4s, 7 par 3s)

Distance(white) 4587 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 88

Moly’s Kinghorn Scorecard – 88

17. Scotscraig. 23rd May 2015

June 13, 2015 / Moly McMillan

Great links worth the visit if you’re also playing St Andrews

Summary: Midweek £65 (round); £85 (day); weekend (morning) £80. Par 71. Value (out of 5) – 3.5

Detail:

Scotscraig 18th green and clubhouse

Scotscraig was founded in 1817 by some members of the St. Andrews Society of Golfers (later to be the R&A) and therefore became the 13th Golf Club in the world. Pedigree apart, it’s a great test of golf and has been a final qualifying venue many times when The Open has been at St Andrews. It has therefore played host to many of the world’s best golfers.

It is a fine links course, but with a layout more typical of a parkland course, therefore wind direction impacts differently on each hole, unlike many of the “out and back” links courses on the east of Scotland.

Par 3 6th at Scotscraig

Scotscraig also has a fair number of trees as well. This, coupled with a lot of broom, the indigenous Scottish links shrub, makes for a really nice vista on many of the holes.

The greens had recently been rotavated and treated by the newly appointed green keeper, and so were not typical of the good condition that I’d experienced here several times before – however, the rest of the course was in excellent condition.

Approach to the 7th at Scotscraig

Playing with an old family friend, David Husband, a member of Scotscraig for many years, I was reminded of the importance of local knowledge to playing links courses, especially when the ground around the greens becomes so hard, and the need to play the chip and run, sometimes from up to 100 yards out. Even if you’re not used to this form of the game, its nice to try this shot out.

There are some great holes at Scotscraig, with the par 4 fourth hole, stroke index 1, being the first major test, played to a steep sided plateau green, over a second shot carry from the fairway – settle for a bogey and move on. You also need to be aware from several of the tees of the adjacent greens and tees which criss-cross at times.

The par 3 15th with Moly’s best shot of the day!

There are also 2 really nice mid iron par 3s, the 6th and 15th, the latter to a 2 tier green would be a good “nearest the pin” for a society.

I had a mixed round, with 55 out and 45 home, the latter with an 8, but enough to win my match – but to be fair neither David nor I played to our handicap, on a day when the wind got up sufficiently to make scoring difficult.

A nice club house with good visitor facilities make this course well worth a visit.

Key Facts

Course Type: Links

Green Fees:

Midweek £65 round £85 day
Weekend £80 (morning)

Par 71 (3 par 5, 11 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance(yellow) 6310 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 100

Moly’s Scotscraig scorecard – 100

12. Buckpool; 8th April 2015

April 25, 2015 / Moly McMillan

Accessible Links golf with good views of the Moray coastline – A terrific warm up for golfing tourists before attempting some of the nearby monsters!

Summary: £30 (day), £25 (18 holes). Par 70. Score 88. Value (out of 5) – 3.5

Detail: Buckpool Golf Club is in the small fishing town of Buckie in Moray. Its links style course, elevated above the sea, has views across the Moray Firth towards the hills of Caithness.

View to Portgordon from the 15th tee

The course is built on sand, and has fast, rolling fairways, invariably lined by tall mature gorse bushes, which makes finding balls a touch painful.

The typical Buckpool terrain from the short par-4 12th tee

The approaches to fast tricky greens, are protected by several deep score-wrecking bunkers.

This was my first round of golf since August 2014, having suffered a back relapse, so I was absolutely delighted by my general standard of play. I was also blessed with one of the nicest April days one could imagine in this part of the world.

The Moray coastline has some outstanding links courses at Nairn and Lossiemouth, plus the majestic nearby Aberdeenshire links of Cruden Bay and, recently, the Trump International.

“Drive of the day” in front of the short par-4 12th, with moray firth in the background

For golfers not used to Links golf, Buckpool would be a nice start to a golfing break in the area. It has a friendly staff at the “golf club”, which is actually a local Sports & Social Club.

Course planner on back of local scorecard – great idea

Apart from 2 very bland holes (the 10th and 18th) played towards the unattractive clubhouse, the rest of the course is a delight to play. Tees, fairways and bunkers were all good, and the greens were excellent.

View from behind the 16th Green

With the severe gorse, it’s crucial to concede length for accuracy to score well.

Key Facts

Course Type: Links

Green Fees: Day £30. 18 holes £25 (All week)

Par 36 (2 par 5s, 12 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance(yellow): 5826 yards

Moly’s Gross score: 88

Moly’s Buckpool Scorecard, 88 with 3 lost balls!

Category: Links (Page 10 of 11)

31. Garmouth & Kingston. 8 Sep 2015

Par 67 (13 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

22. Kinghorn. 14th July 2015

Par 65 (0 par 5, 11 par 4s, 7 par 3s)

17. Scotscraig. 23rd May 2015

Par 71 (3 par 5, 11 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

12. Buckpool; 8th April 2015

Par 36 (2 par 5s, 12 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

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