Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: Parkland (Page 4 of 27)

172. Craigie Hill. 29 Nov 22.

February 1, 2024 /

The “Spion Kop”

Value 4/5

Most golfers don’t know the hole names on their own course, yet would instantly know the locations of “Road Hole”, “Hogan’s Alley”, “Postage Stamp” or “Golden Bell”. Some stretches of holes become famous, such as “Amen Corner”.

The original Boer War “Spion Kop”(top left) presents an uncanny resemblance to the Craigie Hill fifth hole (bottom right).

As a carry bag player, the hole name “Spion Kop” fills me with dread and Craigie Hill’s 5th hole was no exception. It is a worthy candidate for the toughest “Spion Kop” in Scotland.

The outstanding views of the Perthshire countryside seen from the top of the “Spioen Kop” 5th, with Moly lining up a rare birdie attempt on this SI 1 hole. Hit long and slightly right on your approach.

“Spioenkop”, means ‘lookout hill’ in Afrikaans/Dutch, and became famous after the Boer War battle of the same name at the dawn of the twentieth century. “Spion Kop” has become a commemorative name for steep standing terraces in many football stadiums in the UK. It is also a common name for several Scottish holes (Edzell 16th, Traigh 2nd and Strathtay’s 5th) in memory of the Scots who fought at Spioenkop.

Moly playing an approach to the par 4 first at Craigie Hill, a typical undulating fairway at this well laid out course.

Craigie Hill was founded in 1911 and well designed by two of the best architects of its day, Willie Fernie and Joe Anderson. It sits on the south of Perth and is the course seen from the M90 which bypasses Perth. Like many readers, I’ve seen this course hundreds of times as I’ve driven past over the years.

Fran playing off a forward winter tee at the par 3 eighth hole.

Craigie Hill is a tough trek and therein lies one of the big challenges for such clubs. The aging golfing population (the average age of Scotland’s club members in 2020 was 55 years old) means that physically demanding courses will struggle to attract older people and societies. Although a very nice course and attractively priced, I was advised that the membership was in decline (around 200) and the course would likely “reduce to 9 holes within three years”. The state of the buildings were also run down.

The 13th, another of the tough par 3s at Craigie Hill

The course had several holes where it was necessary to carry over long gulleys. Again, I imaging this also a struggle for golfers without a long carry in their armoury and has likely contributed to the declining membership.

The approach to the 15th, a par 4 of 319 yards.

The undulations of the course though meant that drainage was very good with the greens in decent shape for the time of year. Unfortunately, all bunkers were “GUR”. The all round fairway condition was excellent. I can well imagine this being a spectacular place to play on a mid summer evening.

The difficult 17th at Craigie Hill, looking back towards the tee, a Par 3 of about 200 yards. One of the holes that might put people off joining Craigie Hill.

We payed only £10 for a winter round, albeit we couldn’t access the clubhouse and no score cards were available, luckily a local member had a spare card and was very helpful to Fran and I.

The Club website says its “dog friendly”. That was certainly true, as one of the greenkeepers dogs ran off with my ball!

For the record, I managed a par on the “Spion Kop”.

Facts:

Round List Price £30. Actual Paid £10.

Course/Slope Rating (yellow) 118/65.7.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 67  (13 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance (blue): 5131 yards

Moly’s Criagie Hill scorecard – 85

170. Tulliallan. 25 Nov 22.

November 22, 2023 /

Where exactly is Kincardine Golf Club?

Value for Money (out of 5) – 3.5

I love marketing using “it does exactly what it says on the tin“.

Most Scots know where the Kincardine Bridge is, but few know where Tulliallan is. Tulliallan Golf Club is less than a mile north of the Kincardine Bridge which crosses the Firth of Forth about 20 miles west of Edinburgh, at a cross roads of several Scottish Counties, including Stirlingshire, Fife and Perthshire.

The tough par four uphill 3rd hole, at well over 400 yards, rightly the stroke index 1.

‘Tulliallan’, meaning ‘beautiful knoll’ in Gaelic, was the name of an estate owned by the Lairds of Blackadder, which is unusual given the Blackadder Clan (now defunct) were from Berwickshire. The original 9 hole golf course was founded in 1902 with 5 holes occupying the ground of Blackadder Castle (sometimes called the Old Tulliallan Castle). For the record the New Tulliallan Castle, built in the 19th Century, is home of the Scottish Police College. The golf clubhouse bisects the two castles which are only a mile apart.

The short par four 262 yard 11th, a potential card wrecker or equally a birdie chance.

As with many courses of the age it was fairly quickly extended 18 although I couldn’t find out the architect, which is a shame as it’s a decent layout. The course makes good use of the gently sloping lands and excellent use of the burns. With some blind shots and sparse, but effective, bunkering, it’s slope rating of 122 means its a decent test.

The approach towards the par four 8th, at 389 yards, with water determining strategy from the tee.

The course was wet when we played, but other than some casual water on the first and last it had withstood the heavy rain well. To prevent mud paths, the club had introduced a clever winter routing altering the order of holes 7 through 13. The tee signs had been clearly marked, highlighting good course management.

The greens (here the long par three 4th) were in good condition, despite the heavy rain.

The highlight is the careful ordering of the holes, ensuring each presents a different challenge from the last. There was really good stoke indexing as well, other than the last, which I think should not be SI 18.

The course’s fairly wide fairways, good greens and very nice cafe/restaurant, as well as its decent pricing means its a good choice for a society outing, especially with its central location.

The 15th is the last of the four par 3s, a strong point of this well designed course.

Finally to ‘marketing’. One wonders how many more visitors this course would get annually it it was called “Kincardine Golf Club”? I actually searched and did find a Kincardine Golf Club – one of the oldest in Canada, founded in 1906, only 4 years after Tulliallan was founded.

Facts:

Round List Price £35. Actual Paid £17 through Golfnow.

Course/Slope Rating (white) 69/122.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 69  (1 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 5678 yards

Moly’s Tulliallan Scorecard – 82

168. Rouken Glen. 16 Oct 22.

November 9, 2023 /

David Lloyd course fails to meet top council standards.

Value for Money (out of 5) – 2.5

Rouken Glen golf course, originally called Deaconsbank after the neighborhood it sits in, is close to junction 3 of the M77 between the Shawlands and Newton Mearns areas of South-West Greater Glasgow. The course was founded in 1923 by the Greater Glasgow corporation and its management was transferred to the David Lloyd sports club in 1999 at which time the Rouken Glen name was adopted. It is still leased from the council.

The short par three 8th green at Rouken Glen, which was in poor condition when we played.

The course is managed by the sports club as one of many activities on offer, and when you play it’s clear that golf is not the priority of this predominantly tennis club. Although specific golf annual membership is on offer for around £400, I suspect many members pay for golf as part of the wider sports club membership. I was previously a family member of the David Lloyd (now Nuffield Health) in Milgavie, which owned Dougalston Golf Club, for which golf as part of the whole family package represented good value.

The first at Rouken Glen, a decent uphill par 4 of 322 yards, is one of the better holes.

When investigating a golf club one doesn’t know, price is the best measure. At typically £15 for a pay and play summer round using Rouken Glen’s variable pricing (I paid £12), the price is well set for what’s on offer.

Nice views north towards Glasgow and the Campsie Hills from Rouken Glen’s downhill par 4 12th, a hole probably drivable in the faster running Summer months

The course actually felt pretty ‘beat up’ on this “end of season” October day, with unkempt greens, bunkers and tees. The course showed a sever lack of green keeping investment. A few greens had actually been “lost”. Overall, the condition was worse than the average council run courses in Scotland, in my experience.

Moly driving at the 9th hole, a dog leg left at 351 yards.

However, at only 4742 yards from the white tees, this par 65 generally open parkland course gives the mid teen handicap golfer the chance of “breaking 80”, that seemingly mythical number. On the day I shot 81, a score made worse by my triple bogie 7 at the downhill short par four 12th, the stoke index 18 hole – two balls were needed.

Fran trying to find a decent place to tee off at the par three 16th at Rouken Glen.

Although a short course, with several bland holes, it is a pretty tough walk and there are a few challenging holes – most notably the uphill par three 5th hole, where driver will be required for all bar the really long hitters. With such a congested golf course area, with several courses nearby, I rather think that without the Sports Club backing, Rouken Glen, would really struggle.

The open aspect of Rouken Glen shown here at the short par three 14th

This is no more than a 2 star quality course, but its cheap pricing means that an overall 2.5 for value is reasonable.

Facts:

Round List Price £15. Actual Paid £12.

Course/Slope Rating (yellow) 62.6/109.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 65  (11 par 4s, 7 par 3s)

Distance (white): 4742 yards

Moly’s Scorecard at Rouken Glen – 81

167. Uphall. 15 Oct 22.

July 19, 2023 /

Quirky opening fairway at club with “progressive” ambitions.

Value for Money (out of 5) – 4

As a friendly Starter briefed me, I was pre-occupied by two groups of golfers only 40 yards in front of the first tee – one group on the 16th tee the other on the 2nd green. As a wayward driver, I was trying to remember if I had paid my annual golf insurance. His summarised message had been, “take great care!”.

The good conditioning of Uphall seen from the 1st tee. It’s a hazardous area, with both teeing ground and greens in immediate view – take great care.

Uphall’s first and second holes share a fairway with a green at either end, which I reasoned may have been okay at the turn of the 19th century, when balls didn’t travel so far and times were less litigious. I kept musing on this somewhat dangerous layout, my feelings later reinforced when I met a long standing member who told me “someone’s going to get seriously hurt one day”.

The par 3 third hole – Uphall’s best hole in my opinion, where one has to avoid the Brox Burn.

The golf course (in the village of the same name) sits either side of the A899 with holes 1 to 3, and 15 to 18 on the north side, and holes 4 through 14 on the south. It is near Junction 3 of the M8, and therefore very accessible from any direction.

Autumn colour on display into the trickily placed 5th green, a short par 4.

This Central Scotland location, coupled with the interesting course layout makes for a good society venue, albeit at the time of writing the club are yet to rebuild the clubhouse which was sadly burnt down during the Covid Pandemic.

The mature Uphall parkland on view here as Fran drives at the tough par four 8th hole.

Much of the course lies amongst mature parkland, once part of the Houstoun House Estate. The estate ‘castle’, dating back to 1598, is now a MacDonald Hotel, and sits behind the 4th, 5th and 6th holes.

At just 5366 yards from the yellow tees, with a slope rating of 113, I should have been challenging 80, whereas I didn’t break 100 in the wet and windy autumnal conditions. My score wasn’t helped by losing 3 balls in the leaves. It was very picturesque though with the trees in good colour.

The par three 16th, “burn”, where good club selection is needed at this 95 yard hole (yellow).

With four par threes and only one par five, the courses variety was aided by a good variety of par fours, from the drivable downhill second hole of 293 yards, to the stroke index 1, 14th at over 400 yards.

Moly’s short approach into the par five 11th at Uphall.

The course was in decent condition, with good turf, and is likely a delight on a dry Summer day. I paid only £18 through golfnow.com, a sizable discount on the £30 list price. Overall, I give this 4 out of 5 for value, and worth checking out. Just take great care on the first tee shot.

The short dog leg right par four 17th hole at only 240 yards is a good birdie chance, but be mindful not to run out of fairway like Moly did.

It’s worth noting the Club’s commitment to junior golfers, with its website declaring “a strong focus on the development of our Junior players”, well done.

Facts:

Round List Price £25. Actual Paid £18 using Golfnow.com

Course/Slope Rating (yellow) 65.9/113.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 69  (1 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 5366 yards

Moly’s scorecard – high winds didn’t help, but it was a poor day.
« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Scotland Golf Bible

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑