Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: 1851 – 1900 (Page 10 of 14)

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!

68. Braid Hills No 1. 16th Oct 2017.

October 17, 2017 /

Edinburgh’s public gem too prominent to be called “hidden”   

Summary:  Round  £25.30.   Par 70.  Value (out of 5) – 4.5

Braid Hills “No 1” is a wonderful public 18 hole golf course carved among the gorse and hillocks of Braid Hills on the south western edges of Edinburgh.  It has magnificent views of the Edinburgh skyline towards the Firth of Forth and also the Pentland Hills.  Although often misused, the term “gem” could well have been defined just for this golf course.  It is sometimes described as “one of the best loved public courses in Scotland”, and a real gem it is.

Overlooking the 16th green and 17th tee, with the view representing the feel of Braid Hills

“The Braids” takes its name historically from the nearby Braid estate originally the property of the “de Brad” family, one of whom, Henri de Brad, was Sheriff of Edinburgh in the 12th century.  The name has nothing to do with the famous course architect James Braid who, ironically, did not in any way shape his namesake course!

It was appropriate to play here with Sheriff Frank Crowe, fully equipped with Tommy Armour irons, given that Henri de Brad, the 12th Century Sheriff of Edinburgh, is the origin of the Braid Hills name.

The golf course was opened in 1893 and several golf clubs sprang up to accommodate the popularity of the sport with many of those clubs still affiliated: Edinburgh Thistle, Edinburgh Western, Harrison, Comiston Ladies and Braids United.  The 1931 Open Champion Tommy Armour was a member at Edinburgh Western.  Such was the popularity of golf, the nearby Braid Hills Hotel, immortalised in Muriel Spark’s ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’, originally had a Golf Room erected to serve the golfers playing the new Braid Hills golf course.

It’s a relatively short course, but there are many blind or semi blind tee shots, and I would highly recommend buying the course planner, as some of the holes can be played with very different strategies, most notably the par 4 7th and 14th holes, where successful drives can be 60 yards wide on either left or right.

Brian Fearon teeing off at the very difficult par 4 7th hole. Choose your line with care; my shot seemed the best drive but was never found!

Although easily accessed from the city, whilst on the course if feels incredibly remote, especially in one of the holes surrounded by the gorse.  The main hazard on this course is the pervasive gorse bushes, and the need to get the correct alignment from the tee.  If you play well off the tee here, you will score low, otherwise disaster awaits.  This is reflected abundantly on my card, where I had several disasters, resulting in lost balls.  However, I found many more that I lost – on the 4th hole my own ball was the 7th I found.  Make sure you remember the ball you played with!  Also take care with approach shots, which often seem to take at least one extra shot here – this was evident from the 17th tee, which has about 140 yards of “valley” between the tee and green – you need to get up here to make par.

The lovely par 3 17th, one of 4 nice par 3s, of which the uphill 9th was the most challenging

The walk is quite hilly with some hazardous steps up and down from teeing grounds, but the walk is well worth it just to get to the 18th tee alone which must have one of the best views in Edinburgh.  Even on a fairly misty day we were able to appreciate it.

The course was in pretty good condition when I played with some colleagues from the Apex organisation.  The greens were quite quick and the fairways good; there were some bunkers although they are quite spare and very basic in construction.

A set of happy golfers on the characteristic 8th hole of Braid Hills.

For the record, there once was a Braid Hills No 2 course of 18 holes, but that disappeared a few decades ago, and there is now nearby a small 9 hole course called Wee Braids and also a Braid Hills Golf Centre.

This is a really great little golf course highly recommended.

Facts:

Course Type: Heathland

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

Distance (yellow): 5508

Moly’s Gross score: 106

Moly’s disastrous Braid Hills Card – 106 including 10 penalty shots and 40 putts

67. Bridge of Allan. 11th Oct 2017.

October 12, 2017 /

A 9 hole course from bygone days worth experiencing. 

Summary:  Round  £20.   Par 33.  Value (out of 5) – 4

There can’t be many golfers who play Bridge of Allan for the first time that find the par 3 1st green with their tee shot; less than 5% I suspect, probably much lower.  It’s not that it’s the most difficult par 3 ever, it’s just also so unusual.  It’s 223 yards up a steep slope (40% they say!), with a blind plateau green that has a dry stone dyke across the fairway about 30 yards in front of the green.  Welcome to one of Old Tom Morris’ famous holes.  Thankfully not all of Old Tom’s holes are as demanding as this, otherwise golf in Scotland may not be as popular as it is!

The very demanding first shot at Bridge of Allan – the long par 3.

Old Tom Morris designed this nine-hole golf course in 1895, in the affluent Victorian spa town of Bridge of Allan and the course has commanding views of the surrounding hills and countryside, including Ben Lomond, and also Stirling Castle which is only a few miles away.

According to the golf historian, Robert Kroeger, in his book ‘ The Golf Courses of Old Tom Morris’, Bridge of Allan is “the best preserved in that the layout and length of holes and greens are exactly the same as they were in 1895”.  So for historical reasons alone, it’s worthwhile playing here, and that is why I’ve said this is a 4/5 for value.

Fine views from the 1st, which also shows the typical flat greens

However, I suspect the course will not be to everyone’s taste.  Most of the holes have out of bounds (OOB) in play, mainly for the right handed hooker.  OOB areas are also tight behind some greens, especially the 4th which also has a dyke in front of the green.  There are hardly any flat lies as the course is so hilly.  The greens are however pretty flat, which meant that when I played 2 greens were out of action due to being waterlogged.  Of course, Old Tom mainly designed links greens, which naturally drain much better than parkland.

The semi-blind par 4 7th at Bridge of Allan

Old Tom makes much use of existing dykes which are in play on several holes and also blind tee shots by carefully using existing tree lines – this is especially true on the 6th and 7th holes, which need to be played more than once to get a feel for the line from the tee.

I had a difficult time on the day, including three 7s in my 13 over for 9 holes.  My day was typified by hitting a magnificent drive (probably about 240 yards) at the 7th, but I never found my ball as it was very likely plugged.

The difficult par 4 8th, another uphill hole at Bridge of Allan

The course was very wet when I played which was a pity, but the fairways were in good condition.  I think that it must take several rounds here to get used to the tricky layout.  The highlight holes for me in addition to the 1st were the 4th, 5th and 7th.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 33 (0 par 5s, 6 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 2517 (9 holes)

Moly’s Gross score: 46.

Moly’s Bridge of Allan Scorecard – 46

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