Scotland Golf Bible

A guide to green fee value for money

Category: Members (Page 15 of 27)

104. Dalbeattie. 14th Sep 2020.

July 6, 2021 /

A delightful and great value “crowd funded” course

Round £10 (9 holes). Par 34. Value (out of 5) – 5

I was glad to meet the greenkeeper half way round my game at Dalbeattie, as I’d called him several unrepeatable names since the 2nd green, where I had hit two great shots to the green and walked off with a 9. I didn’t technically 7 putt, since I had putted off the green at least twice.

“These pin positions are a joke, they are ridiculous!”. “Yes, I agree”, said the very affable greenkeeper, “we held a charity texas scramble yesterday and were told to make the pins impossible”. “Ah, well, they certainly are that!”.

So my 50 for 9 holes, or 16 over par, at least has a decent excuse for once.

Difficult short opening hole at Dalbeattie – which had the first of many impossible pin positions.

In addition to the ‘difficult’ pin positions, the drive into the car park, had also not boded well. The sat nav took us through a small wood on a dirt track, which without our 4 wheel drive we may not have made it. Apparently the locals park on the streets surrounding the 9th green.

Beautifully contoured 5th fairway at Dalbeattie

Having got my grumbles out of the way, lets get to the point. This is about as good value golf you can buy and also a good data point in the history of golf development in Scotland. The club was founded in 1894, around the time when golf was becoming accessible to holiday makers due to the expansion of the railways. The club has a delightful, albeit short, history page on its web site here. In summary, the elder fathers of the area raised money through a bizarre to ensure Dalbeattie golf club was an attractive venue; in effect it was “crowd funded”.

Shorts aren’t always the order of the day in September at Dalbeattie – Moly shown here driving at the short par four 6th hole

Despite some excellent information on the club’s web site, there is no detail of the designer of this 9 hole layout. I suspect it was an experienced golf course architect as there is some lovely design, very both pleasing on the eye; the views are wide ranging along the Urr valley and south to the Lake district.

The 7th at Dalbeattie, the nicest framed hole on this course in Moly’s opinion

In particular, there is great framing on many of the holes, with the 5th and 7th holes vying for the signature hole. The 4th, a par 4 dog leg right hole, is also very difficult, with the window to drive intoquite narrow.

The course was in lovely condition when we played on a beautiful September “Indian Summer” day. Just the tonic, before heading off the day after towards the mystical golfing island of Arran.

Very worth playing at Dalbeattie.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 34 (7 par 4s, 2 par 3s)

Distance: 2,733

Moly’s Gross score: 50

Moly’s Dalbeattie scorecard – a pretty poor 50 on this nice course

103. Colvend. 13th Sep 2020.

June 16, 2021 /

A favorite course of The Times’ sports photographers Marc Aspland and Bradley Ormesher

Round £25. Par 69. Value (out of 5) – 3.5

They say you should never meet your heroes. After reading an article in The Times (25th Aug 2020) about Colvend golf course by the sports photographers Marc Aspland and Bradley Ormesher, I felt obliged to seek out the course whilst in the south west of Scotland on a golf trip a couple of weeks later. Marc and Bradley had written so lovingly about a place that was clearly deep in their hearts, to the extent that the “third hole at Colvend remains my favorite place”, even when compared with Open venues. Really?

Moly (top) replicates the photo of Marc Aspland (bottom) at the third hole “Solway View” that appeared in The Times article on 25 th Aug 2020.

Colvend golf course has 9 holes either side of the A710, the road which skirts the northern coast of the Solway Firth, from Dumfries and Dalbeattie. The course was established in 1905 with the 9 holes on the coastal side of the road, designed by Willie Fernie (Ailsa course at Turnberry) and the 9 inland holes were added in 2005 by Dave Thomas (Belfry, Spey Valley).

13th hole at Colvend, easily the stroke index 1 hole, and a clearly modern parkland design which could be picked up from the Belfry. Plan your way to a bogie and move on quick!

Although on the coast, this is very much a parkland layout, with great views on a couple of holes across the Solway Firth to the Lake District.

Looking at the card, you’ll see the difference in length between the original holes and the ones later laid out by Thomas – the par 4 18th at 266 yards, was the original 9th hole. There’s also significant architectural differences as well, with the coastal holes being very naturally laid out, and the inland holes being clearly “designed”, no more so than at the 13th, the clear stroke index 1 hole.

There are some neat challenges as well. The par three 8th has a hidden burn in front so take enough club, but with danger behind the green as well, I imagine this being a “lay-up par 3” for many of the members.

The dangerous 8th green, take at least 1 extra club to avoid the water in front, which is obscured from the tee.

The par-4 dogleg 18th is a clever hole. Only 266 yards long, I imagine the longer hitters see this as a risk reward hole, trying to drive the green. But the green has a burn in front and very large trees obscuring the approach, mean you need to be well back to get over easily. With no wind it’s probably something like 7 iron, then wedge to the green. Very strategic, and to be fair to Dave Thomas, it has the feel of the 10th at the Belfry.

Keep left on the 4th, with plenty of room to chip and putt. One of the original naturally designed holes.

The course was in decent, but not great, condition when I played, but to be fair we had only recently come out of the first prolonged covid-19 lockdown so everyone was just grateful to be out of the house. The greens had become quite mossy.

The 18th green at Colvend with treacherous burn awaiting to spoil a good round

Few things to be aware of. This is not an easy walk as the amount of buggies for hire in the car park attested to, so is not necessarily an occasional holiday golf game venue; the steep uphill first being one of several inclines to navigate. There was also a need for better signposting between the 16th green and the 17th tee, which left Fran and I lost for a few minutes.

The aptly named “Roon the Bend” 17th hole, which is difficult to find, the clue is its part of the 12th tee, but you can’t see that as you walk onto the “17th” tee.

Despite high winds I scored very well breaking my handicap with a steady round. I did walk off though a little perplexed at how “rose tinted” The Times article had been – it was a nice course, but sometimes over-marketing isn’t actually good business as it can just lead to disappointment. Perhaps it needed a clearer day for those views.

Worth playing.

Facts:

Course Type: Coastal/Parkland

Par 69 (1 par 5, 13 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance: 5036

Moly’s Gross score: 83

Colvend Scorecard – 83 in high winds a great day out, level against SSS of 67

101. Forres. 21st July 2020.

August 13, 2020 /

This course worth playing takes the biscuit, despite the nearby witches!

Round £60. Par 70. Value (out of 5) – 4

The town of Forres sits on the mouth of the Findhorn river about 25 miles north east of Inverness; located on the main A96 Inverness to Aberdeen trunk route, this is an easily accessed course, except for the narrow lanes up to the clubhouse and car park – please don’t try and take a caravan there!

The club, formed in 1889, originally played nearer Findhorn. It moved to playing the current course site, laid out by James Braid, in 1904, and was called Muiryshade Golf Course. It was extended to 18 holes in 1912 by Willie Park, then became Forres CG when, in 1944, the land was bought and gifted to the people of Forres, by Sir Robert McVitie Grant of Logie. Sir Robert made his money by creating the McVitie Digestive biscuit, so it was fitting those that ate the biscuits ended up with the course!

The short par 4 first looking up towards the pro shop. An easy start except for the wild slice!


This is a well maintained parkland/highland course at around 6300 yards off white tees and just under 6000 yards from yellow. It is quite undulating, with a number of semi blind and narrow tee shots, especially on the front nine. The course is rather imbalanced with the front nine par of 36 and back nine of 34, but both of similar length. The course has hosted Scottish national competitions, the best measure of its all round standard.

The aesthetically pleasing par four 4th, where a good drive can set up an easy approach shot.

Playing with Fran in excellent sunny conditions the course played shorter than normal with the ball running on its hard fairways. The greens were in great condition and well watered.

There are some really nice holes on the course. The first, a very short par 4 downhill, will temp the longer hitters, but played conservatively should offer a par start even for high handicappers.

Following three further short par 4s, the par 3 fifth hole, “Wee Birkie”, is a cunning par 3, where club selection is all important – miss the green and it’s really difficult to get par – aim for the dead centre of the green here.

Views of the mouth of the river Findhorn in the background of the 9th green at Forres. The pine trees give a real highland feel to this course.

After the easier front nine, the 10th hole is a long par 3, with deep slopes to the right of the green and trees to the left and starts the toughest stretch of the course through to the par 4 15th hole. To do well overall, playing bogie golf through this stretch is good for all other than the single figure players. The signature par 4 16th hole, looks more difficult than it is – a decent 200 yard drive takes you to safe territory, leaving a short approach.

The signature view at Forres from the 16th ‘Pond’ tee – a dangerous card wrecker – but a good drive leaves a short approach

This course was actually the site of one of my best competitive rounds ever more than 25 years ago – an 80 in an RAF Scotland golf competition, including being level par for the front 9. It was very fitting therefore that I shot my best round in a long while – an 84, despite hitting my first shot out of bounds!

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the title – the course sits on a wood reputed to be where ‘the three witches’ from Shakespeare’s Macbeth lived – the 7th hole aptly called “Witch Tree”!

Facts:

Course Type: Highland/Heathland

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

Distance: 5906

Moly’s Gross score: 84

Moly’s best for a while, gross 84, on a track with fond scoring memories

97. Blair Atholl. 7th July 2019.

March 30, 2020 /

Nine hole course to boost your confidence

Round £15.   Par 35.  Value (out of 5) – 3.5

If web searching for Blair Atholl golf club, don’t confuse this Perthshire course with the Blair Atholl Estate golf course in South Africa, built by Gary Player, and a monster of some 8300 yards – yes, that was correct, 8300 yards!

The 438 yard par 4 opening hole at Blair Atholl

Gary Player’s estate actually takes its name from the original Blair Atholl, which is just off the A9 and, since 2008, included within the boundary of the Cairngorms National Park. The original Blair Atholl is also home to a lovely little 9 hole course, which is an easy walking affair of around 3000 yards, or 6000 yards for the 18 holes, not short by any means.

Given its Highland location this course is soft underfoot and was very green during the July time I played here. Surrounded by tranquil ‘highland’ scenery this must be very beautiful to play during the Autumn.

The very short 4th hole at Blair Atholl, at only 96 yards, but well bunkered

With the rough being quite receptive and not too penalising, this is a course which can yield good results – the greens were also receptive and very true. I can well understand why this is a well played course by the tourist community – especially given the restaurant “The Tulach” in the small clubhouse, which also attracts non golfers as well.

The course was established in 1896, and mysteriously on some web sites, is cited as being designed by James Braid, but I’m afraid it does not appear on the list of James Braid courses as kept by the James Braid society. I would appreciate if anyone can advise on the architect.

The course was in good condition when I played, and in particular the teeing grounds had been well prepared.

The tricky approach shot over water at the Stoke Index 1, par 4, 7th hole.

After a long par 4 to open, but played ‘down’ from a plateaued tee next to the clubhouse, the next 4 holes, all relatively short, are where the score is gained on this course. If you avoid the water hazards, which are in play on 3 holes and you should play short off the tee, most notably at the 7th (par 4 SI 1), then this course can be a good opportunity to boost your confidence. After the 7th, with the second shot being over water, the par 5 9th hole also needs great care with the second or 3rd shot (depending on your strategy) needing to avoid some mature trees. Also double check the whereabouts of the pin on the 9th, which shares a double green with the 3rd.

The demanding par 5 9th at Blair Atholl

I indeed kept out of the water hazards and my round of 42, for 20 stableford points, was my best play all season.

This is a nice course and worth playing

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 35 (1 par 5, 6 par 4s, 2 par 3s)

Distance: 2739

Moly’s Gross score: 42

Moly’s scorecard, 7 over par 42, for 20 points.
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