Category: Perthshire (Page 4 of 6)

72. Crieff Dornock. 2nd Nov 2017.

November 3, 2017 / Moly McMillan

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)

64. King James VI. 29th Aug 2017.

August 30, 2017 / Moly McMillan

Easy walking freshwater “island” course on the River Tay in Perth ideal if you are a trainspotter!

Summary: Cost £25. Par 68. Score 95. Value (out of 5) – 2.5.

The “King Jimmy” golf club was founded in 1858 and initially played on North Inch; it was named because King James VI had played golf on the “Inches”, the public land for common use along the River Tay. Golf can actually be traced back 500 years in Perth and this in covered in an earlier blog here.

Moncreiffe island, home of the “King Jimmy” golf club

The club relocated to Moncreiffe Island in 1897, to a course designed by ‘Old’ Tom Morris, and is believed to be the only freshwater island course in the UK.

This presents a challenge for any visiting golfer, as the only access to the course is by using the narrow walkway across the railway bridge, accessed by steep stairs on either side of the bridge. The walk from the nearest public car park is around 500m.

The double green on the 1st/4th with King James VI club house in the background.

The course is very flat and its lack of undulation makes for a fairly repetitive round with many holes looking the same. Although I played in late August after a relatively dry spell the course was very soft and preferred lies would have been appropriate. I understand that the course is impacted significantly after rainfall. This softness made the course play much longer than its stated yardage.

Moly driving at the tree lined short par 4 12th hole

The very lush grass also meant that balls were easily lost in the short semi rough, in fact I found 3 balls sitting in the open; make sure you get a good line on the ball after each shot.

The greens were the best feature of the course, closely followed by the lush fairways. The tees would benefit from some work. The main hazards are the course boundaries and some majestic tree lines.

The 8th green, typical of the scenery at King James VI in Perth

The most memorable holes were those played over a grassy dyke built into the 11th and 13th holes, where it’s important to know your yardages. The dyke is almost 50 yards in front of the 11th green, so make sure you take enough club.

Fran, my playing partner, at the par 3 5th hole.

I played with Fran and we both had good and bad patches in our round. My highlight was reaching the 423 yard par 4 18th green in 2 blows. Pity about much of the rest.

If you do plan to play here, I strongly recommend using a half set carry bag and hiring a trolley from the club.

Key Facts

Course Type: Links

Par 68 (1 par 5s, 12 par 4s, 5 par 3s)

Distance (yellow): 5684

Moly’s Gross score: 95.

Moly’s King James VI scorecard – 95 for 27 points (off 17 hcp)

54. Culcrieff. 20th Sep 2016.

September 24, 2016 / Moly McMillan

Decent greens and fine scenery don’t warrant playing this overpriced course

Round £32. Par 66. Value (out of 5) 1

Culcrieff golf course is part of the well known Crieff Hydro hotel located in Perthshire. The parkland course, with fine views of the local Perthshire hills, was established in 1972 from a disused 9 holes, then extended to 18 in 2002, using a design by John Stark the local Crieff professional.

The greens at Culcrieff were the worst I’d ever experienced, as evidenced here at the 5th green, NOT one designated as GUR. Many others were much worse!

Being part of the Hydro, the course feels as if it’s managed as one of the very many holiday activities on offer, therefore there is no Golf Club oversight of the course. This apparent lack of specific golfing focus, has resulted in a course that is under invested and not worth the money to play. I rather suspect that holidaying golfers staying at the hydro are taken a bit for granted as a captive cash cow. When you look at the price of £32, there are very many council courses in Scotland in much better condition, and no more than £20. The best discount offer I could find was through www.teeofftimes.co.uk at £26, even that is over priced, in my opinion.

1st approach at Culcrieff with nice views

The greens were decent, granted, and apparently built to USGA specification, but the bunkers were the worse condition I’ve played, several were designated as GUR although they would have been better designated as Ground Under Neglect. The fairways also needed a cut when I played.

The 16th at Culcrieff had a tricky green to find.

Setting aside the condition, the course has some nicely designed holes that are challenging, not least because of the small greens. The dog leg left 2nd hole, although short at 295 yards needs a very accurate 2nd shot into a well protected green. The long dog leg right par 4 5th will test the longest hitters. The second to the par 4 12th will also require a longer shot that expected to hit the plateau green, and the downhill par 3 16th, aptly called “Deil’s delight,” is devilishly tricky to find the small green.

Nice finishing hole at Culcrieff, a 200+ yard par 3.

I played fairly decent scoring 32 stableford points with a gross 87. However, I shall not return to try again, and I would certainly not recommend playing here. In its current condition, it should be priced at about £15 – £20.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

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

Distance yards: 4892 (white)

Moly’s Gross Score: 97

Moly’s Culcrieff scorecard – 87 for 32 stableford points

44. North Inch. 10th June 2016.

June 12, 2016 / Moly McMillan

Historic course with some challenging holes, but let down by its poor condition given its vulnerability to flooding.

Round £15. Par 68. Value (out of 5) 2.5

‘The Inch’ is one of the worlds oldest golfing venues (supposedly dating back 500 years) and sits on the banks of the River Tay in the city of Perth. It is the base for the ‘Royal Perth Golfing Society’ founded in 1833, a year older than the R & A of St Andrews. Although the “royal” connection is there, this is very much a local authoritity pay and play course accessible to all.

4th at North Inch, the first of 6 par 3s on this historic course.

The course traces its current roots to 6 holes in 1803, and it had several holes laid out by Tom Morris himself in the late 19th century; after various course guises it became the current 18 hole layout in 1927.

Given its flat layout and location adjacent to the river it has become very vulnerable to flooding and was submersed under water as recently as 2012. This accounts for much of the poor condition of several fairways I experienced, and whilst the course has made a dramitic recovery, it was nonetheless in a poor condition, which is such a pity given its historical importance to the home of golf. The teeing grounds in particular could do with a lot of work.

The short par 3 9th, showing the poor teeing area.

However, given its very reasonable price of £15, it represents decent value, and there are also some challenging holes to overcome. The back 9 is the tougher of the two, and the 5 hole stretch from 11th-15th provide the toughest golf. The 11th is the worthy SI 1 hole, where only a drive exceeding 250 yards off the white tee can get you to the dog leg apex, still leaving a mid iron to the small green, with the approach shot having to negotiate a 100 yard long ditch along the left side of the fairway.

The long 13th looking back from the green, presents a difficult drive.

The River Tay only comes into view and play at the tough par 4 15th and the very short 79 yard 16th.

I had the most mercurial of golf rounds. I was 1 under for the 6 par 3s, yet 26 over for the other 12 holes, including 4 lost balls off the tee!

The 16th with the River Tay on the left – not really in play.

If you are in Perth on holiday, it’s worth playing “The Inch”, but I wouldn’t go out of your way just for the golf.

Some Facts

Course Type: Parkland

Par 71 (2 par 5s, 10 par 4s, 6 par 3s)

Distance (white) 5442 yards

Moly’s Gross Score 93

Moly’s amazingly mercurial scorecard: -1 for the 6 par 3s, and +26 for the other 12 holes! Driving was very poor!