Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: 9 holes (Page 4 of 13)

123. Melville Golf Centre. 24 Jun 2021.

March 8, 2022 /

Good ‘family friendly’ 9 hole “Pay & Play” course is no ‘pitch ‘n putt’

Round £14.50. Par 32. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 30.0 /98. Value (out of 5) – 3

Look at Melville Golf Centre web site and you would think it is just a ‘Top Tracer’ driving range. However, alongside the ‘family friendly’ range is a nice little 9 hole course that, according to the web site, is built to US PGA Standards. There is no trace of the course architect, unfortunately.

My partner Fran at the 7th with the Pentlands in the background.

The course is only a few miles outside Edinburgh, near the village of Lasswade, not far from the intersection of the A720 Edinburgh bypass and the A7 route to the Borders. It is therefore ideally located to pick up transiting golfers, albeit the range has stiff competition from the nearby Kings Acre golf course.

The tricky 2nd green, a short par four.

Dig a little deeper, and you find that the Melville Golf Centre has attracted EU and Scottish Government funding through an organisation called “Tyne Esk LEADER”, a development vehicle for the ‘River Esk – River Tyne’ region, basically covering The Lothians, which of course is one of the best areas in the world for golf. Why some of this public money should be needed to help develop ‘Family Friendly’ golf, in an area rich in golfing history, with more golf clubs per head than any country in the world, is a sad indictment of the state of Scottish Golf and the lack of funds going from richer clubs back into the grass roots of the game.

The uphill par four 5th hole, which needs good distance judgement with the approach.

Set aside the politics, and Melville Golf Course does indeed provide an excellent setting for introducing people to golf. No frills, and in decent condition, there are a good variety of holes to test the full game. Set in relatively open parkland, you’re not likely to lose too many balls either.

The greens, fairways and tees were all pretty good. Along with great views of the Pentland Hills, from a number of the holes, and this is a handy way to spend a little more than an hour grabbing a very quick game of golf.

The makeshift greenkeeping at the par three 8th hole, with the bricks shoring up the bunker lip:)

The highlights of the course for me, were the tricky uphill par three 3rd, where a difficult club choice awaits, followed by the long par four 4th (SI1), then the uphill par four 5th. Other than these 3 holes, the rest are birdie opportunities for many golfers.

The 4th at Melville, clearly the most difficult hole off yellow (par 4), but a relatively easy par 5, from the white.

This is no ‘pitch ‘n putt’, it’s a nice little course if you have a couple of hours free. I shot 39, seven over the yellow card of 32. This included a 6 at the par four 9th, where after losing my first drive right, my second drive went through the green at 270 yards – it was windy!

Why it attracted EU and Scottish Government money, is blog article for someone else.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 32 (5 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance: 2057

Moly’s Gross score: 39

Moly’s 39, 7 over par at Melville Golf Course

115. Gatehouse. 26 Oct 2020.

January 2, 2022 /

Joyful little gem

Round £15. Par 33. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 32/115. Value (out of 5) – 4

Can you only have fun playing golf if you play well? That was the question I pondered when assessing Gatehouse, a 9 hole golf course in Gatehouse of Fleet, a lovely little town in Dumfries and Galloway, which takes its name from the “Water of Fleet’ river that flows to the sea at nearby Kirkcudbright.

Moly at the short par three 5th tee at Gatehouse with magnificent Dumfries and Galloway backdrop.

It is a ‘highland/heathland’ course, with outstanding views. The clubhouse, a lovely little ‘shed’ type building, shouted ‘golf in its basic form’ to me. The course has been around for a hundred years (founded 1921) and probably has changed very little.

The second at Gatehouse, a beautiful mid length, par 4, with blind tee shot – plenty of room to the left of the marker.

The course has plenty of variety as well, requiring all your clubs (well me, anyway) – one par 5, four par 3s and 4s. The par 3s in particular are varied and collectively difficult. The first, an uphill par 3 of over 200 yards, played like a short par 4. The 8th and 9th are great finishing holes, with the downhill 160 yard 9th presenting a potential disaster if you go long – don’t do that.

The approach shot to the par 4 forth hole, at 322 yards (white), with the wonderful views.

I played well – scoring 37, 4 over par – on this course that I wouldn’t recommend for the ‘occasional’ golfer. It’s very undulating, a tough walk, has small greens and many blind tee and approach shots. It was quite slippery when I played and actually could be a bit hazardous (my playing partner Fran fell on one of the slopes).

The difficult par 3 eight hole, where being long is better than short.

Overall, its really great value golf. The greens and fairways were in excellent condition and overall this is highly recommended.

The ‘highland’ style clubhouse, typical of Scottish 9 hole courses.

But even without playing well, I think I would have come to the same conclusion – this is Scottish golf personified in many ways.

Course Type: Heathland

Par 33 (1 par 5, 4 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance: 2418

Moly’s Gross score: 37

Moly’s scorecard at Gatehouse – 37 and great fun

110. Machrie Bay. 21 Sep 2020.

October 29, 2021 /

Don’t make the same mistake as Walter Hagen – this is not worth playing

Round £15. Par 33. Slope (yellow) 100. Value (out of 5) – 1

Machrie Bay, is on the west of the island of Arran, not far from the majestic Shiskine. What a big disappointment – unless you’re chalking up all the courses on Arran, I would give this nine hole course a miss. At £15 for nine holes, this was very poor value when compared with the similar prices on offer on the island.

The very poor first tee at Machrie Bay, not an impressive start.

The world was in the middle of the Covid Pandemic when I played, but in looking closely at the poor course condition it was clear that the pandemic was not the reason – the course was suffering years of neglect. The teeing grounds were bad and many of the greens were covered in moss.

The moss covered 1st green at Machrie Bay.

There’s not much to say about the course. It had many very plain holes, little more than fields with a tee at one end and a green at the other. It did have 2 holes worth noting, both which play over the road that circles the island. The 2nd, played from the white tees was a difficult par 3, and the 9th hole, a fairly short par 4, with a very dangerous blind second shot over the road, for which distance control is critical – I played a good shot and never found my ball again!

The tough par 3 second hole at Machrie Bay – pictured from the white tee.

On the day I struck the ball well and scored 40, for 19 stableford points.

The par four 6th hole – the typical bland hole at Machrie Bay

Finally to Walter Hagen. There is a delightful newspaper clipping on the Machrie Bay website here. Enticed to play “The Machrie” course, a beautiful course on Islay, Hagen turned up in Arran to play Machrie Bay. Don’t make the same mistake – but then again doing something the same as Hagen might not be too bad!

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 33 (0 par 5, 6 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance: 2154

Moly’s Gross score: 40

Moly’s Machrie Bay scorecard – gross 40, with triple bogie at the last

108. Corrie. 19 Sep 2020

October 19, 2021 /

Dishonest golfers spoil it for the majority at this spectacular setting

Round £20 (no 9 hole price). Par 62. Slope (yellow) 90. Value (out of 5) – 2

In assessing value for money at Corrie, a beautiful little 9 hole golf course in the Sannex Glen on the east of the island of Arran, you have a real conundrum. How do you assess the value for a 9 hole course, when they don’t have a rate for playing only 9 holes? It was £20 for the day, no matter how much you play. When asking some local members about the lack of a 9 hole rate, they advised me that in the past they had had several instances where people had paid for 9 holes but gone round twice. As often the case, the behaviour of the few, spoils it for the many.

The view from the second tee at Corrie, looking up Sannex Glen

Had there been a 9 hole rate of (say) £15, I would have said it was 4 out of 5 for value, but with no 9 hole rate it’s only 2 out of 5 in my book. There is a principle here.

Having got that off my chest, I’ll get on to the next criticism – Corrie must be the most hazardous course I’ve played, due to fairways crossing each other. The 7th, a stroke Index 93 (see card below?) downhill par 4 crosses over the 3rd fairway at about driving length! I just hope the club use some of those over-priced fees for golf insurance, because someone will inevitably get hit by a golf ball. Perhaps the SI 93 isn’t a typo, but the number of accidents that have occurred so far.

“Smearing Horse”, the stroke index one 6th hole at Corrie

After the straight forward par 3 opening hole, the course vies up to the left into Glen Sannex and you witness for the first time the spectacular punch bowl in which the golf course is situated. Play on a fine day, like Fran and I did, and there are some heavenly view all around.

The par 4 7th hole, which crossed the 3rd fairway. Be careful!

The course was in really good condition when we played, but I can imagine that the slopes could be treacherous when the course is wet. I’m sure the rain floods over the course off the hills. Therefore, if you’re visiting Arran, perhaps keep an eye our for nice weather before playing Corrie.

It’s also worth visiting the cafe which is located in the small club house – it had good ratings on Facebook and is worth the visit with its nice range of cakes.

The views towards the sea from the 5th green at Corrie

The course was founded in 1892, so it’s a well established layout, and I get the impressions that it’s not been changed much over the years. The web site doesn’t have any history, but does have a nice layout explaining the holes, each labeled with the hole name. The sixth hole, an uphill par 4, well deserves the Stroke Index 1 rating, and is called “Smearing Horse” – I would love to hear from anyone who knows the origin of that name.

Hitting “up the Glen” from the tee at the short par 4 3rd at Corrie

At only 3220 yards for the 18 holes (sic) off the yellow, with Slope Index 90, this should allow people to get a low round in. I was only 2 over gross, with no birdies, and can’t remember playing better. But with only 4 or so bunkers that I counted, this is a flattering score really.

No golf trip to Arran should miss Corrie, but I recommend planning to go around twice to get your money’s worth.

Facts:

Course Type: Highland

Par 31 (0 par 5s, 4 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance: 1610

Moly’s Gross score: 33

Moly’s lowest every 9 hole course score – 33

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