Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: Region (Page 32 of 49)

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

72. Crieff Dornock. 2nd Nov 2017.

November 3, 2017 /

Pleasant 9 hole course well suited to holiday or “warm up” golf     

Summary:  Round £12.   Par 32.  Value (out of 5) – 4

Crieff Golf Club’s main course, Ferntower, is one of Scotland’s highly regarded inland courses.  The other course, the 9 hole Dornock layout, benefits from the same fine clubhouse and facilities, green keeping staff and well stocked pro-shop, making this a first rate choice for a holiday round of golf if you have a couple of hours to spare.

The 9th green at Crieff’s Dornock course, with the clubhouse in the background.

The club was established in 1891, and Old Tom Morris designed the main course, but the Dornock course only opened in 1980.  The open and beautiful Perthshire parkland on which both courses sit was part of the Victorian Spa ground of the well known Crieff Hydro.  Crieff is the gateway town to The Trossacks and both manicured courses are just what one might expect to find here, a destination well worth visiting.

The par 3 8th hole, one of the more challenging holes on Crieff Dornock

The Dornock course is short, and other than the first hole where out of bounds encroaches on the right, the fairways are very generous, so there is no need to carry too many balls.  The greens are firm and very true and better than most 9 hole courses I’ve played.   The course runs along side the Ferntower course, with some adjoining fairways.

Fran getting out of the bunker at the 8th at Crieff Dornock

The course is made up of 5 par 4s and 4 par 3s, and it’s the latter holes that are the most challenging, since the par 4s are short and prove good par or birdie opportunities.  This was very welcome for me after my difficulties playing at Tain last week.  On the day, I shot 39, +7, and that included a lost ball (under leaves!) on the fairway at 7.

Moly on the 6th green at Crieff Dornock, with the typical beautiful parkland surrounding.

Dornock was in very good condition when I played, plus dowsed in glorious winter sunshine, with zero wind, which always helps keep the score down.

This course is highly recommended – it was only £5 for a winter 9 holes, and still good value at £12 for 9 holes in Summer.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 32 (5 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (black): 2270

Moly’s Gross score: 39

Moly’s Crieff Dornock scorecard – 39 (7 over)

71. Anstruther. 31st Oct 2017.

November 1, 2017 /

Take on  the UK’s toughest par 3, “The Rockies”.     

Summary:  Round £28.   Par 31.  Value (out of 5) – 3

Anstruther Golf Club sits on the Fife coast between the villages of Anstruther and Pittenweem about 9 miles south of St Andrews.  It was established in 1890 with 7 holes with 2 further holes (the current 1st and 9th) added in 1892.  Old Tom Morris advised the club in 1896 to extend the course, but it’s not clear whether he did any re-design.

“The Rockies”, UK’s toughest par 3!

The course provides excellent views over Anstruther Harbour and out to the Isle of May, Bass rock and the North Berwick coastline.  However, I would recommend playing this course solely to play the par 3 5th hole, which was voted in 2007 as the “toughest par 3 in the UK” by Todays Golfer magazine.  “The Rockies” is a coast hugging 245 yards into the prevailing wind, having a blind tee shot from an elevated position into a small green surrounded by a fairly steep cliff bank on one side, with the coastal rocks on the other.  I imagine many a member has never parred this hole from the white medal tee, or even the main yellow tee at 237 yards.  Cynics could conclude that it’s the hardest par 3, because it’s really a par 4!  Disappointingly when I played the tees were placed about 40 yards forward from the bottom of the cliff side, completely altering the hole.  Given that the Golf Club make such a big thing about the hole in there website advertising, they should always use the main tee area in my view.

The nice looking par 3 6th hole at Anstruther.

The 5th hole makes up a bit of  an “Amen’s corner”, along with the par 3 6th and par 3 7th holes, but other than these holes the course is a little featureless to my eye, other than the 2nd hole which is a short par 3 played towards the coast and called “Monument” due to the adjacent WWI War memorial – a “baronial tower”.

The WW1 “Baronial” War Memorial adjacent to the well guarded Par 3 2nd hole at Anstruther.

One interesting quirk is that the course was closed during WW2, during which time the course was trenched and numerous poles erected to prevent the landing of enemy aircraft.  There are also some small wartime gun placements and shell stores which are integral parts of the course.

The course was in pretty good condition when I played and, along with the first light breeze I’d played in for a while, I shot 39, 8 over, and about exactly to handicap (17).

The rather featureless 8th tee shot at Anstruther, with some WW2 relic buildings in the background

 

Other than the magnificent par 3 5th, the clubhouse restaurant is apparently highly rated and given its delightful location is another reason to visit.

Facts:

Course Type: Links

Par 31 (4 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 2252

Moly’s Gross score: 39

70. Tain. 25th Oct 2017.

October 31, 2017 /

Old Tom Morris’ creation is a “must play” if you head North.    

Summary:  Round up to £60.   Par 70.  Value (out of 5) –4.5

Standing on the innocuous looking first tee at Tain, visitors will most likely think “is this it?”;  fast forward 3 holes they may well be thinking “I can’t cope with this!”  The second shot into the 1st is blind over a fenced road with a well placed green side bunker; the approach at the 2nd (SI 4) is also blind with a ditch and engulfing bunker awaiting; and the long par 4 3rd (SI 2) requires a drawing approach shot to have any chance of being close to a left sided or even centre pin – thankfully these holes are assisted by the prevailing wind!  Given the old hickories and gutty balls used in 1890 when the course was opened, Old Tom must have been an incredible golfer.  Welcome to Old Tom’s “Northern Jewel”.

The signature 11th “Alps” – for obvious reasons!

Tain is situated on the Dornoch Firth, 34 miles north of Inverness and 9 miles south of Dornoch.  There is record of 6 holes existing from around 1870, prior to Old Tom Morris designing a 15 hole course which finally extended to 18 in 1894.  Initially called St. Duthus Golf Club, after the patron saint of the town, the name evolved to “Tain” during the 1900s.

The difficult par 4 2nd hole, with this approach being blind for most average golfers – the ditch is deep!

In assessing Tain’s layout, it’s interesting to consider the originality of the course design and what remains today.   There are several detailed maps on the club’s excellent website – in truth, although the general layout remains similar, due to many adjustments and lengthening over the years, only a few holes, the present 9th (still playing to the original green), 10th, 14th and 15th, remain as Old Tom Morris designed them.   In contrast, Bridge of Allen ,is almost untouched from Old Tom’s original design.

After the opening 3 holes, you are then faced with the long par 5 4th, actually a respite, then a mid iron par 3 5th, with deep pot bunkers, then turning partly back into the prevailing wind to play the par 4 6th hole, which worryingly has the name “Bunker”.   By which time on the day I was 13 over par!

The mid iron par 3 8th hole at Tain

After some holes that then feel more like highland golf (trees, turf, ‘feel’), the signature 11th hole, “Alps”, takes you closest to the shore, followed immediately by the aptly named “Glenmorangie”, 12th, with views to the distillery.

By which time, if you’ve still got a card going, beware the SI 1 14th, played into the prevailing wind, then an interesting pair of back to back par 3s, at 16 and 17, both with water in play.

A typical well placed Tain bunker at the 8th.

After a very friendly and helpful discussion before my game with the pro, Stuart Morrison,  in the end I shot 106 (Aaagh), completely down to my very poor play, albeit the wind blew up to 30 mph.  The course was in very good condition with play still on full tees and greens.

It must be said that Tain has very many characteristics of a links course (layout, location, pot bunkers, hillocks) but the turf in many places is distinctly more arable and I suspect Tain will play longer in the summer months than the more harder fairwayed links courses.

A more highland feel at the dog leg par 4 9th at Tain.

This is rightly regarded as a “must play” links course, and I would urge anyone venturing north to play Royal Dornoch, its more prestigious neighbour, to play Tain, which could be argued is better value.

Facts:

Course Type: Links

Par 70 (2 par 5s, 12 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 6109

Moly’s Gross score: 106

Moly’s 106 card at Tain!

69. Moray New. 24th Oct 2017.

October 29, 2017 /

The junior of the two Moray courses is a fine example of links golf.   

Summary:  Round  £50.   Par 70.  Value (out of 5) – 4

Moray Golf Club is in Lossiemouth on the south shore of the Moray Firth, about 6 miles north of Elgin.  The main course, Moray Old, designed by Old Tom Morris, opened in 1889 and is one of the great Scottish Links whose 18th hole has a magnificent green in front of the fine old clubhouse.

Beware aircraft noise – a Typhoon from RAF Lossiemouth passes over the 6th green at Moray New

The Moray New 18 hole course was designed by Sir Henry Cotton and opened in 1979, and extended the 9 hole “Ladies Relief” course which had been laid out in 1905.  This is one of only 2 Scottish courses “re”-designed by Sir Henry (the other being Stirling).

At just over 6000 yards, off the white tees, Moray New is still a substantial test of golf.  With the wind blowing and the abundance of gorse, accuracy from the tee is very important here.

The beautiful looking 3rd at Moray New

The New course is closely intertwined with the Old and it’s important to check which coloured flags are in use on each course.

A significant hazard can be the noise from jet aircraft from the adjacent RAF Lossiemouth base, which is closest to the 6th green on the New.  When I played there was a busy flying day and I was treated to some fast climbing displays by the local Typhoon jets of No’s 1(F), II(AC) and 6 squadrons – the primary task at RAF Lossiemouth is to maintain the Quick Reaction Alert (Interceptor) North mission.

Approach to the 5th at Moray New – with burn in front of green

The course has some fine holes, dominated by the wind of the day.  The 10th is the closest to the coast, and the prevailing wind will normally be against and from the left, making it difficult for a right handed slicer – the green is on a slight plateau and difficult to find.  The par 4 14th, Stroke index 1, will play like a par 5 for all bar the really long hitters.

There are some tricky par 3s, with the innocuous looking short 6th having the burn passing directly in front of the green, making a front tee position very difficult.  The 17th, the longest of the par 3s, has 4 well placed green side bunkers awaiting.  In general, there is some clever bunkering on both fairways and greens throughout the course, although this course does not have the deep re-vetted bunkers found on many a links course.

7th at Moray New, one of the challenging par 4s (SI 7)

The course was in excellent condition for a late October day, demonstrating how accessible Scottish Links courses can be all year round – by comparison many courses inland were closed due to being waterlogged on the same day.

Other than plane spotting, playing at Moray is highly recommended for whisky lovers, since Moray has a well established and long relationship with nearby distillers (several of whom were original members of Moray) from whom the club has bought several vintage whiskys.  It has its own label “Club malt”, currently a Macallan.  Curiously, there is more about the history of whisky on the club’s web site than the golf courses!

Par 4 10th tee, a nightmare in the prevailing wind from the left!

A story worth noting is the political dispute Moray GC had with, probably in hindsight, its most famous member, the first UK Labour Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald –  he was removed from the membership list in 1916 for his opposition to the First World War.  He was finally reinstated as a member in 1929, but never played Moray again.

On the day, I played reasonably well for 28 points, although had a few disasters (on 12 and 14 especially), which meant I scored a gross 97.  I got a birdie on 8, which was my highlight.

If you plan to play the Old course at Moray, try and make sure you savour the New as well.  Highly recommended.  I played using The Courier golf voucher deal for only £15 – an absolute bargain.

Facts:

Course Type: Links

Par 68 (14 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 5772

Moly’s Gross score: 97

Moly’s Moray Old scorecard – 97 for 28 points

 

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