Category: 3 star (Page 6 of 7)

50. Broomieknowe. 7th Sep 2016.

September 9, 2016 / Moly McMillan

“A nice course”

Round £25. Par 70(white)/69(yellow). Value (out of 5) 3

Broomieknowe golf course sits in the former village of Broomieknowe now part of the town of Bonnyrigg about 8 miles south east of Edinburgh. The origin of the name Broomieknowe escaped my searching.

The snuggly placed green at the 4th at Broomieknowe

The course was designed by North Berwick’s professional Ben Sayers in 1906 and extended in 1933 by James Braid, but had to be significantly altered in the late 1980s to accommodate the A7 Edinburgh to Scottish Borders road with 5 new holes being built. When playing you really recognise the diffent maturity levels of the course.

The current par 70 layout is 6172 yards in length, but visitors are obliged to play off the 5745 yard par 69 yellow tees.

The par 3 5th at Broomieknowe, with the only nice views from the course.

This is very much a typical parkland course and has “nice” greens, “nice” fairways, “nice” bunkers; in fact everthing was “nice”. However, nothing was really memorable, except the 4-ball playing ahead of me, that despite having no-one ahead of them only let me play through after about 8 holes when 2 of them had lost balls. I had planned to have a drink afterwards, but all the bar noise was from “The Members'” bar, that exclusive part of many golf clubs where members sit and discuss “Why golf clubs are dying?” – perhaps getting rid of the “Members'” area would be a good first step?

At least the members at Broomieknowe have a sense of humour: the “deathly” 7th sponsored by the local funeral director!

The card of the course was a little unvaried with only three par 3s, with the rest par 4s, although the long 8th played as a par 5 from the white tees. The course was pretty private with significant views only at the par 3 5th hole. There were several short par 4s that offered good birdie opportunities, but the highlight of the course for me were the several long par 4s, in particular the 7th, 8th and 12th. Indeed the 7th was a dog leg left with the apex at about nearly 250 yards, and is effectly a par 5 for medium or short hitters.

As I said the course was in “nice” condition, and the greens were true but a little slow and several of the new greens were very flat.

The 16th at Broomieknowe, a typical hole on this “nice” course.

The golfing Gods took some revenge on me; playing off my new handicap of 16 having recently won a Monifieth medal, I crashed to a 97, only 28 over par – I succummed to a 9 at the 8th.

Never mind, I had a “nice” time and I would play again at Broomieknowe as it was pretty “nice” value.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Par 66 (15 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance Yards 5745 (yellow)

Moly’s Gross Score: 97

Moly’s first scorecard off new handicap of 16; 28 over par!

45. Elmwood. 7th July 2016.

July 9, 2016 / Moly McMillan

A great society golf course with wide fairways and well maintained facilities

Round £26. Par 68. Value (out of 5) 3

Elmwood golf course, more correctly named Scottish Rural College (SRUC) Elmwood, is owned and run by Scotland’s national rural college and the Elmwood Campus is based in Cupar, Fife. The golf course was opened in 1997 and Geo Certified in 2013 to reward its sustainability credentials. The College offers various golf management courses with the golf course providing the practical setting for several skill developments, such as greenkeeping.

The Par 3 4th at SRUC Elmwood golf course

Although there are some scenic views of Tarvit Hill and the Lomond Hills Elmwood has a rather bland feel, with many wide and feature light fairways. The course highlights are indeed the conditioning of fairways, greens and, in particular, bunkers. However, the bunkers had deep surrounds on all sides, meaning that on one occasion when near the “back” of the bunker, I was forced to play away from the hole – a bunker design flaw in my book.

The difficult to find 10th green at Elmwood

The wide fairways and absense of any water hazards makes this an ideal society day out, and it’s easy to check the course availablity using the club’s on-line booking system, which offers variable pricing discounts.

Elwood has excellent bunkers like here at the 12th

As to the course, there are some difficult and challenging holes. The par 4 3rd at 434 yards off yellow is a long 2 shotter and I thought the par 4 10th (worth the SI 5 at least) was the architectural highlight, where unless you were to the left of the fairway with your tee shot, any shot to an angled and well bunkered green was nigh impossible. The last 2 holes at around 430 yards each, are also card wreckers. With the 16th green being close to the nice clubhouse, I suspect several rounds end there!

The 17th tee at Elmwood, one of the more aesthetic holes

I had a rather inconsistent round with only 2 pars, but a welcome birdie 4 at the long par 5 13th, which I thought was not the hardest hole by any means as the SI 1 suggested.

I would recommend playing Elmwood for the golf, but if scenery is equally important to you its probably worth a miss.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

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

Distance (yellow) 5757 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 95

Moly’s scorecard – 95 – at SRUC Elmwood

43. Charleton. 7th June 2016.

June 7, 2016 / Moly McMillan

A rather bland open parkland course, but with magnificent greens – it’s a cunundrum!

Round £32. Par 71 (yellow). Value (out of 5) – 3

Charleton House on the East Neuk of Fife was built in 1759 and after passing through several hands is now owned by a Swedish family and it was Baron John Bonde (1918–2009) who established the golf course and small picturesque club house in 1994. The Estate house and terraced garden, with outstanding Firth of Forth views, is operated as an events location.

Short par 4 17th tee with Charleton house in the distance.

Firstly, I’d point out that unlike the club’s website boast, this is definately not in my opinion “Scotland’s Premier Parkland Course”, a rather embarrassing claim, given the competition. Given that the course was opened by ex-US president George Bush Snr, one can’t help conclude that the Bonde family have many good contacts!

The difficult short par 3 5th green.

Charleton is actually the most open of parkland courses, in fact it has some of the widest fairways you’re likley to find in Fife. Therefore it is a good course for Society outings, without the need for several balls in your bag.

The course is a bit of a conundrum, since although the tee shots are relatively mundane, when you get to the greens, many of them are rather magnificent; several are up to 50 yards from front to back, some guitar shaped narrowing to only 6 yards wide and there are several positions on the greens that you might have to pitch over the fringes to get to the flags. There are also some very severe sloping banks at the sides of the greens, which combined with deep bunkers, make the approach play some of the most challenging around.

The trecherous green at the par 4 14th.

There are some real highlights, but for me the most difficult were the par 3s, only 3 of them, but on each occasion I struck what I thought were excellent shots, only to discover my ball in devilish greenside bunkers. I also must mention the 14th green – it measures 50 yards front to back, and has several very damging bunkers – I took 4 to get out of one of them!

The guitar shaped 15th green – a par 4.

Therefore, the course without greens gets no more than 2/5 for value, whereas the greens are 5/5 alone, giving a rounded 3/5 value score. It was rounded down because the teeing grounds were in poor condition when I played.

The par 3 6th green at Charleton

I gaurantee if you play at Charleton, you’ll want to re-play many of your greenside chips and long putts. You can see from my card, of 99, I found the greens a challenge, having 3 putted 6 times!

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland/Woodland

Par 71 (2 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance (yellow) 5989 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 99

Moly’s scorecard at Charleton adding to 99, with two 9s.

23. Auchterderran. 15th July 2015

July 16, 2015 / Moly McMillan

Good value golf on an interesting little course.

Summary: £10 for 9 holes, £12 for 18. Par 33. Value (out of 5) – 3

Nice views from Auchterderrans 6th green

Although Auchterderran golf course, located in the Fife village of Cardenden, was established in 1904, in many ways it feels a younger, less mature course. It is one of 7 courses managed by the Fife Golf Trust which was established in 2011 to take over Fife Council’s directly managed courses. This is becoming a common practice by Local Authorities in Scotland to manage golf courses.

The devilishly difficult long par 3 5th, “Burma Road”

It’s a nice layout in the space available, with a good mix of holes. This is a course for all, with some are pretty straightforward holes, but the 3rd, 5th and 8th are potential card wreckers that will challenge the low handicap player.

3rd green looking down fairway

The long par 3 5th, at 241 yards, called Burma Road, is a very tough par 3, which for most golfers should be played as a 4. It has a small green, and out of bounds down the left. A bogie 4 is a good score in my book. Another tip, which I did not follow (meaning 2 lost balls) was playing safe on the 8th, which has a narrow gap at driving length. Given another chance I would have played a 7 iron off the tee.

2nd green towards adjacent water (not in play on course)

The course is maintained by volunteer members and therefore the condition is not great, but then again the price is very reasonable, so it still represents good value golf. The fairways in particular need a lot of work, but the greens were good and true.

The people I met were very friendly. It’s worth a game, if you have an hour or 2 to spare on your travels.

Key Facts

Course Type: parkland

Full Green Fees:

Par 33 (0 par 5, 6 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

Distance (yellow) 2318 yards

Moly’s Gross score:

Moly’s Auchterderran 9 hole scorecard – 46

Category: 3 star (Page 6 of 7)

50. Broomieknowe. 7th Sep 2016.

Par 66 (15 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

45. Elmwood. 7th July 2016.

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

43. Charleton. 7th June 2016.

Par 71 (2 par 5s, 13 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

23. Auchterderran. 15th July 2015

Par 33 (0 par 5, 6 par 4s, 3 par 3s)

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