Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: Members (Page 11 of 27)

124. Duns. 21 Sep 2021.

March 8, 2022 /

This well laid out course might just be “The Average Scottish Course” – that’s good!

Round £30. Par 70. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 69.2 /119. Value (out of 5) – 3.5

I’ve now played about 25% of all Scottish golf courses, with about 20% now blogged – that represents a statistically significant sample for the mathematical minded.

The Wellrig Burn comes into play on a number of holes, here shown at the 16th, a tough par 4, played uphill – it is Stroke Index 5.

Therefore, when I played Duns I couldn’t help but consider what the ‘average’ Scottish golf course would be like. A small town setting. A club formed in the latter part of the Victorian age. A course, starting off as a nine hole layout, now having gone through a number of variations, culminating in an 18 hole course only established in the last 30 years. A course length off the yellow tee just under 6000 yards. A nice clubhouse, but with no frills. A course with tees adorned with sponsorship from the local hotels and garages. A decent price of, perhaps, around £30, being low but higher than the municipals that still, thankfully, abound in Scotland. Decent and homely catering, attracting travelling “days out”. A good, but not necessarily outstanding course condition or difficulty.

The well framed 9th hole, ‘Green Knowe’, a par 4 of 354 yards (yellow) – I scored 5

All in all, I realised Duns might be one of the (reasonably many) ‘average’ golf courses that Scotland has; that is to say a really nice place to play golf at great value. With an annual membership fee of £460 (2021) that, in particular, represents excellent accessibility. It is also good to see Family memberships available (Couple plus 2 children under 16) at only £900.

The par four 8th, “Postie’s Walk”, at 363 yards.

Duns, with a population of just under 3000 is the historic county town of Berwickshire, in The Scottish Borders. Only 10 miles north of the Border, It is slightly off the beaten track, in that it doesn’t lie on any of the main trunk routes between Scotland and England. To that extent, Duns is a ‘day out’. It would be an ideal visit for lovers of motor sport, as it is home to the famous racing driver Jim Clarke who has a museum in the town dedicated to his life.

The second hole, the first of the tighter driving holes at Duns. It’s strategic, requiring good judgement on the second lay-up to leave a pitching iron to the dog leg right entered green. Good golf hole.

The course is blessed with some outstanding scenery over the Tweed valley towards the Cheviot Hills in Northumberland. Set in open agriculture countryside, it did at times have a heathland feel, in particular the turf. The course wasn’t in brilliant condition though, albeit the greens were being treated as it was the end of the season. I can understand why it plays fast in the Summer. The fairways were quite tight, but the rough was forgiving – a reasonable compromise.

The downhill par three 15th hole. Choose your club wisely, I overshot the green to find the very narrow burn! A 5 on the scorecard at the SI 18, always annoying. Play towards the right of the green

On a breezy day of 15mph wind, I played very soundly for my 90, which equated to 31 stableford points, breaking my contentment threshold of 30 points for a first time play.

Overall, this felt like an innovative and progress club, with attractive and variable pricing using the BRS booking system, increasingly common for tee bookings for several clubs.

If you wanted to visit Scotland for golf, playing Duns would give you a great feel for what most members of Scottish golf clubs experience. No nonsense, good value golf.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 70 (3 par 5s, 10 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance: 5944

Moly’s Gross score: 90

A solid round of 90 on this decent Duns course

122. Eyemouth. 23rd June 2021.

March 1, 2022 /

Not one, but two notable challenges making it worth the drive, but mainly for the ‘fish n’ chips’ and a warm welcome.

Round £37.50. Par 72. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 70.2 /122. Value (out of 5) – 3.5

I’m glad I don’t overly research courses before I play and I learnt long ago to ignore the marketing hype golf clubs use on their websites. It’s similar to reading the tantalising comments on the latest ‘best selling’ book, before you consign it to the charity shop after 50 pages!

The 6th, one of the ‘challenge’ holes at Eyemouth – a watery grave got all 3 of our balls.

Therefore, please ignore “The club was formed in 1894” – the original 9 hole course is completely gone and has been replaced by a ‘home made’ design in 1997 on a different piece of arable (not links) land, known as Gunsgreen Hill, to the south-east of the original course. The course feels like a new ‘parkland’ layout, before saplings mature to properly frame the course.

It is worth playing Eyemouth though; it’s good value, has a couple of notable challenges (more of below) and excellent fresh locally caught ‘fish ‘n chips’, served in the clubhouse restaurant that has long reaching views of the Berwickshire coastline.

The short par three 3rd hole, with the clubhouse on the right that has commanding views. All three of us playing made par, which was unusual for us!

It’s certainly a meaty, if not fishy, course, which has hosted a number of regional and Scottish amateur competitions. Many of the longer holes playing uphill are very difficult, none more so that the 450 yard par four 15th hole, the stroke index 1; albeit, at 450 yards, it is still 200 yards shorter than one of the two ‘challenge’ holes – the par five 13th, cheesely named ” The Hawkness Monster”, at 656 yards it is reputedly Scotland’s longest hole; thankfully it is all downhill. On the day I actually parred the longest hole in Scotland, yet scored a quadruple bogie 9 on the Par 4 15th, That’s golf in a nutshell.

The ‘Hawkness Monster’ – Scotland’s longest hole. 656 yards.

The other notable, and more attractive, hole, is the 6th; curiously named ‘A Still No Ken’ [‘I still don’t know’] it is a visually stunning mid-iron hole over craggy coastline, at 167 yards from the white tee, albeit the actual carry required is only about 140 yards. It’s all in the mind. Played into a stiff North Sea breeze, this would obviously compound the difficulty. All 3 of us playing (Brian and Frank being my partners), found the sea. On reflection I would call the hole something like ‘North Sea Graveyard’.

Frank putting out on the tough par four 15th hole, his technique scrutinised by Brian.

We paid through www.golfnow.co.uk and received about 20% off the ‘rack rate’ prices. Golfnow, has been a great development for peripatetic golfers who prefer to not join a club, but as yet less than 50% of Scottish clubs allow this means of booking, and disappointingly, hardly any of the premier clubs. This is a shame and the pricing of the top100 clubs remains elusively high, compared with the annual fees paid by their members; the ‘must play’ courses leveraging their attractiveness, which I guess is understandable.

The very difficult 11th green overlooking this relatively new course at Eyemouth.

The course was in decent, but not great, condition when we played, despite it being high season; the tees and very large greens were no more than average. Some of the greens were very tricky, most notably the 11th, where you couldn’t afford to be over the back of the green. The fairways are wide, but miss them and the rough is deep – there is no semi-rough to speak of. Although in dry seaside conditions, this might feel like a links, it is arable land, and I consider it a parkland course.

If you plan to play Eyemouth, I recommend considering a buggy if you’re not as fit as you once were. More importantly, the ‘fish ‘n chips’ in the clubhouse were as good as I’ve tasted anywhere. Those, and the very friendly staff at the club, make it a decent place to visit and play.

The openness and wide fairways at Eyemouth, typified here at the 9th.

Finally, in writing about Eyemouth, I came across an extraordinary sporting story in the excellent https://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/ web site, which charts the long lost history of Scottish Links. In the 1880s, during which time golf was played on a 5 hole course around the Eyemouth beach fort, the world famous cricketer, WG Grace actually played two seasons for Eyemouth cricket team. Now there’s a context for a film.

Course Type: Parkland

Par 72 (4 par 5s, 10 par 4s, 4 par 3s)

Distance: 6182

Moly’s Gross score: 102

Eyemouth – 102 reflects the challenge of this tough layout

121. Newbattle. 22 June 2021.

February 24, 2022 /

This oasis might be the cheapest Harry Colt course in the world?

Round £40. Par 69. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 68.1/127. Value (out of 5) – 5

Drive through Dalkeith, which might appear a bit drab, and through the car park of Newbattle GC and you are met with a graceful parkland layout, with many magnificent trees, that just seems so unexpected. The course is an easy walking affair, other that the 2 holes (2nd and 17th) that play across the river esk valley that sits between the opening and closing holes and the rest of the course. With a substantial club house, this makes Newbattle a great venue for a group or society day out.

The delightful 17th at Newbattle, a par 4, stroke index 4, which must be a formidable match play hole. The River Esk is just visible, and never comes into play.

We know about the genius of some golf course design; the majestic Augusta of Alister McKenzie, the natural beauty and guile of The Old Course, the brutal nature of Pete Dye’s Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. Sometimes though, great golf course design is difficult to put your finger on.

When I played Newbattle, in Dalkeith near Edinburgh, it felt great, not because I played well, not because the weather was nice, but because ‘it just did’. It was almost indescribable why the course flowed so well and that I think is real genius. That was what Harry Colt design can be.

The very well bunkered par three 11th hole, ‘Roundel’, at Newbattle.

Although the Newbattle club was formed in 1896, the current full 18 hole course, the Colt legacy, was built in Dalkeith in 1934. Originally linked to Dalkeith Golf Club (1880), it’s called Newbattle as it’s within the historic boundary of Newbattle Abbey, a Roman Catholic monastery, and a key part of the Scottish religious story.

The tee markers, here at the 9th, are typical of the small yardage differences at Newbattle

When Fran and I played on a delightful mid summer day, the course was very busy, but never seemed to get back logged. The tees, fairways and greens were immaculate, with the bunkers still unraked due to the ongoing Covid Pandemic.

After pulling my opening drive about 2 yards out of bounds left, then hitting my second ball over the back of the first green, that turned out to be my only ‘blob’ in returning an 89, for 35 stableford points. If it were a competition though, it wouldn’t have troubled the scorers on this ideal day for golf.

The approach to the 13th at Newbattle, with Arthur’s Seat in the background

Play aside, this is a great little course well worth playing as part of an East Lothian tour. In terms of East Lothian value for money, it must be near the top of the pile. It’s certainly underrated in my opinion. The stand out holes for me, were the 5th, a long par 4, and easily the Stroke Index 1 hole and the long par 3 14th hole. To score well though, you need to avoid the clever and penalising bunkers.

The relatively easy finish at Newbattle, except if you find the copse of trees beside the green

There is an argument to say Harry Colt, the main contributor to many of the world’s great courses, including 3 on the Open Championship rota (Muirfield, Royal Liverpool, Royal Portrush), is the foremost designer of his age. I think Newbattle might just be the cheapest green fee of the more than 100 courses designed in whole or part by Colt.

Course Type: Parkland

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

Distance: 5753

Moly’s Gross score: 89

Moly’s scorecard – a very decent 89

119. Aberfoyle. 5 Nov 2020

February 16, 2022 /

A wonderfully understated golf course

Round £25. Par 66. Course Rating / Slope Rating (yellow) 64.1/115. Value (out of 5) – 5

From the endearing conversation with local members, to the beautifully crafted use of space and to meeting the challenge of some excellent holes, Aberfoyle golf course is an absolute joy, set in the magnificent surroundings of the Trossachs area of Scotland. It’s a must play and incredible Scottish golfing value.

The 6th tee at Aberfoyle, with the typical scenic views of he Trossachs countryside.
Bend that right leg Moly!

The course was established in 1890 with 9 holes and only extended to 18 holes in the 1980s, albeit it’s a difficult job trying to guess the original 9. It’s short in length, at well under 5000 yards from the yellow tees most people will use, but still has a slope rating of 115 despite only having 8 bunkers.

My favourite hole at Aberfoyle – the short par four 4th, with tricky thin green from front to back.

Set among the glens, the wind may make some of the longer par 3s and par 4s difficult to reach in regulation. Particularly so, for those holes played into the prevailing wind; the long par three 5th and par four 14th, well deserving of their stroke indexed 2 and 1 ratings.

The approach shot into the first at Aberfoyle, is the first of several blind shots played at this course.

The highlight of my playing was actually a bogie 4 at the 5th, after pulling a 3 wood tee shot into the heath on the left of the green and getting the ball miraculously onto the green with my second. It’s not always birdies that get remembered.

The most memorable hole, however, was the gorgeous short par four 4th hole. Again, played into the prevailing wind, it has a delightful thin green from ‘front to back’. The local guide, excellently displayed on the good club website, is well worth reviewing before play, with the advice on the 4th not to be tempted to go for the green from the tee, but rather play conservatively left with a mid iron, or hybrid, to leave an easy pitch up to the green.

The lovely par three 10th hole at Aberfoyle

The recent weather when I played had been horrendous and I was amazed at the great condition of the course, testament to the natural drainage and mindful greenkeeping. I can imagine the joy of playing Aberfoyle on an early or late Summer evening.

It is a tough walk tough, with several blind shots to encounter (the 17th was the most striking in this regard), so a yardage device is also recommended. There are also some holes that cross each other, something typical of the late Victorian courses. Some amalgamation golf course guides cite James Braid as the designer, but I didn’t get any confirmation of that on the list of courses on the Braid association guide. It would be interesting to know who the designer of the original 9 holes was.

The beautiful scenery at Aberfoyle, displayed here at the 11th

Golf is such a game of “what if’s” – on the day, mine were a triple bogie 7 on the 16th followed by an even worse 9 on the par four 17th having lost 2 balls. Other than those holes, I played pretty well.

It’s a great course Aberfoyle, well worth the journey. One trivial point – having paid £15 on-line using the clubs booking system, I turned up to find a sign on the closed clubhouse door saying “From 1st Nov, only £10”. Despite being a little peeved, this is still 5-star value!

Course Type: Heathland

Par 66 (0 par 5s, 12 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

Distance: 4767

Moly’s Gross score: 89

Moly’s Aberfoyle scorecard – 89
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