Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: Region (Page 21 of 49)

The 15 regions are as defined by the visitscotland website, the Nation Tourism Organisation; http://www.visitscotland.com/destinations-maps/

116. Kirkcudbright. 28 Oct 2020.

January 10, 2022 /

‘Kuh coo bree’ – worth a visit to this course and the local art galleries

Round £32. Par 69. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68/117. Value (out of 5) – 3.5

The town of Kirkcudbright, mysteriously pronounced ‘Kuh-coo-bree’, sits on the east of the River Dee estuary in Dumfries and Galloway. It’s a remarkable place; festooned with art galleries and nice coffee shops – one could imagine it being twinned with Glastonbury, the epi-centre of Druids in Somerset, England.

The course, set above the town, gives excellent views of The Galloway Hills providing a very picturesque backdrop – here Moly tees at the 3rd, one of the more straight forward holes – a short par 4.

The town was home of The ‘Kircudbright’ artist movement in the late 1800s, and several of the galleries tell that story. The golf course was in fact founded in 1893, at the very height of the art movement in the town. I wondered how many of the artists, some of international significance, ever played the golf course – after all, the first hole, (Charles) ‘Oppenheimer’ is named after one of the towns best know artists?

A birdie opportunity at the fairly short downhill par five 8th, stroke index 15, hole at Kirkcudbright.

The course was originally 9 holes and only extended to 18 holes in the 1970s, unfortunately neither original or extension architect are listed in the website. After a fairly benign opening par 4 , the second is played uphill across the current 15th hole. After a short par four 3rd, the first of the several difficult holes is the 4th – although a relatively short dog leg right, judging the distance off the tee is crucial to avoid a lost ball. On the day, I saw an old man in the woods searching for golf balls – it was as if I saw the “ghost of golf future” for me.

The signature ninth hole, a challenging par 3 likely requiring a mid to long iron for most players.

The extension of the course, includes a nice run of holes, from 9 through 12, by far the most nuanced part of the course. The 12th, in particular would fit into a much higher standard layout.

The course was in pretty good condition when I played with Fran, but there were a few winter greens in early use, even although they seemed completely playable, and firm.

The beautiful par five 12th hole, the best on the course, in Moly’s opinion. The stroke index of 2 fully justified.

I shot 91, and played pretty well on the back 9, where I had 18 stableford points. This was helped by the wide fairway in the main.

Another wonderful quirk is that the clubhouse is used by an award winning Thai restaurant – I loved this and it just seemed so befitting this ‘cool’ place. The artists would undoubtedly been customers of the restaurant, even if they were not golfers!

Lastly, I have to mention the few local members in the clubhouse were really friendly and helpful explaining the layout of the course.

Course Type: Parkland

Par bb (2 par 5s, 11 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance: 5412

Moly’s Gross score: 91

A struggle to 91 at Kirkcudbright 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

114. Wigtownshire County. 25 Oct 2020.

December 29, 2021 /

Great value and wide open links course is a means to experience, or more accurately feel like, history

Round £45. Par 70. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68.3/124. Value (out of 5) – 4

Wigtownshire County golf course, set beside Luce Bay on the west coast of Dumfries and Galloway, will, I suspect, sharply divide opinion. This is links golf at its most basic, which I really like.

The 8th – a typically basic hole at this course.

It’s an open course, with many wide fairways, so several of the holes aren’t readily framed to the eye. It’s also made up of 14 par fours, with only 1 par five and 3 par 3s; to some this likely lacks the desired variety of holes.

Moly drives at “St Helena”, the dog leg right par 4 fourth hole, which hugs Luce Bay, at Wigtownshire County. Plenty of room to the left.

On the other hand, many golfers who prefer the natural feel of what courses were historically like, might love Wigtownshire County; however, to that extent, the course is also a bit of a façade. It was a 9 hole course (current holes 1 to 4 and 14 through18) when designed in 1894 by Charlie Hunter, who also designed Machrihanish and Royal Troon, so he has has great pedigree. It was only extended to 18 holes as recently as 1987, by designer Gordon Cunningham, whose work is really brilliant in that you really feel like you’re playing a joined-up 18 holes , unchanged for 100 years.

The 3rd at Wigtownshire, a decent par 4, one of the original 9 holes. This is a typical hole here.

Given the open aspect of the design and its coastal location, weather is going to dominate your experience here. I played in very high winds, with gusts up to 40mph, didn’t break 100, and racked up 4 triple bogies or worse. I suspect the wide fairways and relatively open approaches as well, would see very low scoring in benign conditions. Weather notwithstanding, the would be a great society day out. Good greens, no impossible challenges, 2 nice coastal holes and generally good course conditions.

The par four 10th, one of the very few undulating holes at Wigtownshire County. This was one of the new holes laid down in 1997.

If you’re a lover of links golf and like the historic feel of a basic layout, it’s worth going out of your way to play here, especially as the price represents excellent value and great natural drainage guarantees all year round golf.

Facts:

Course Type: Links

Par 70 (1 par 5, 14 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance: 5829

Moly’s Gross score: 102

Moly’s Wigtownshire County Scorecard – a 102 in very high winds

113. Cally Palace. 23 Oct 2020.

December 22, 2021 /

Don’t believe the hotel’s description – this is no better than your average council course.

Round £32. Par 71. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) not registered. Value (out of 5) – 2

The hotel website quotes: “The Cally Palace has it’s own 18 hole parkland golf course, which is one of the finest golf courses in the area.”

Utter rubbish, this course, designed in 1994 by Tom Macauley, an architect described as “adequate” by golfclubatlas.com, is no better that many average council run courses in Scotland. In fact, that might be doing a great disservice to many of the wonderful council run courses.

The trees are the star on this course – Moly finding a nice hazard on the 16th fairway!

If there is a highlight at this ‘free to hotel residents’ course in Dumfries and Galloway, it’s the many beautiful trees that adorn the grounds of the hotel. They are worth seeing – albeit one of them made for a difficult lie on the 16th!

The trees are the star at The Cally – here as a backdrop to the hotel at the 18th

Everything about the course spoke about it being done ‘on the cheap’. The bunkers were shallow, the greens were small and, disappointedly, the course made little use of the magnificent Cally Loch on the estate. In addition, several of the greens were indistinguishable from their surrounds.

The 13th at Cally Palace – by far the best hole on the course.

Although the course is free to residents, this is definitely not a golfing hotel, with no changing facilities for the visiting golfer. It is also closed in January and February, made possible by not having any golfing members. It’s also not listed on Scottish Golf’s list of courses, so it doesn’t have a course rating or slope index.

When I played, the course should really have been closed due to being waterlogged, but the benefit at least being that Fran and I were the only people playing.

The very poor 17th green at The Cally – typical of the course, unfortunately.

Other than the trees, the only hole of real note was the Stroke Index 1, short par 5 thirteenth hole – by for the best on this layout. I was very lucky to get a par, after pulling my drive, only to find I’d miraculously cut the corner of the dog leg and able to get to the green in 2!

The 7th at The Cally, a typically bland par 4.

The course helped me to another personal record, the most occasions relief for casual water has been taken.

Don’t go out of your way to play Cally Palace.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 70 (3 par 5, 11 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance: 5706

Moly’s Gross score: 94

A wet day, making the 94 at The Cally, better than the score really.
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