“Most scenic and challenging in the area.” An exaggerated claim by the Academy.

Round £10 (GolfNow Hot Deal, now £20). Par 31. Value 2/5.

Moly’s Score – 40

There is a real Mearns Castle about half a mile from the golf course, built in 1449 by Lord Herbert Maxwell. The same Maxwell family whose descendants would eventually own Southerness on the Solway Firth, reviewed in Blog 164, a course that justifies the word “scenic” more than anything I encountered here.

The actual nearby ‘Mearns Castle’, a 15th century Maxwell tower house, which the course takes its name. I wonder if Satnav ever gets this confused with the course.

The castle has, as far as I can establish, no connection whatsoever to the golf academy except proximity and, one suspects, the marketable romance of a medieval tower.

The golf academy is a substantial operation with Toptracer range, tuition, café, fitness studio, nail salon, and a massage therapist! More of a leisure complex with a 9-hole course attached. Nothing wrong with that, but problems begin when the website describes that course as “one of the most scenic and challenging courses in the area.”

I played it on 24 March 2023, via a GolfNow Hot Deal, for £10. It was waterlogged. It should have been closed.

How could you allow play with fairways like this in several places. Sometimes short term economics doesn’t make sense. One never knows if a Blogger will come along!

The course occupies pleasant enough parkland on the southern fringes of Newton Mearns, the well heeled commuter town south of Glasgow. The 1st offered an early introduction to the course’s style: there is a hidden fairway ditch ready to swallow a ball without warning. This was one of the very few “challenging” features though.

The course had minimal fairway bunkering. However the greens were surprisingly good surfaces, so well done to the greenkeepers. It is the one positive comment I can offer.

The greens were redeeming, a benefit for players learning the game. Here at the 4th.

The course website mentioned “continued investment in drainage and course improvements.” This is a tacit acknowledgement that drainage was a problem, which again raises the question why the course was open. A course that quietly admits its drainage issues while remaining open in March when waterlogged is providing very poor value, even at £10.

The was the typically bland approach view, here at the 5th hole, with the building ruins on the left being one of the very few interesting features.

The list price is now £20 for nine holes, I paid £10 on a Hot Deal. But golf on a course that should have been closed, is not good value at any price. The marketing overclaim tips it further – a course that sets expectations it cannot meet is doing its visitors a disservice.

Facts:

Course Type: Parkland

Par 31 (9 holes)

Moly’s Gross Score: 40 (net par)

Round: £10 (GolfNow Hot Deal). List price £20 (9 holes).

Value: 2/5

Moly shot 40 on a waterlogged day.