Polly and I had played the 18 hole Corbiehill Course at Fraserburgh GC in 2010, but my plan to play the smaller 9 hole Rosehill Course immediately afterwards was thwarted by a thunderstorm and torrential rain. Polly wasn't feeling great after our round at Fyvie on 8 July 2012, so I drove up to Fraserburgh myself to play the Rosehill Course. This is a 2416 Yard Par 33 course and would be a good test of your links game before the greater challenge of the superb Corbiehill Course. Rosehill is pretty flat with generously wide fairways and is simple enough if you hit the ball straight and avoid some cleverly positioned ditches, water hazards and bunkers. If you don't, this wee course will bite your legs, big time!
The 1st on Rosehill is a flat 410 Yard Par 4 with the widest fairway you'd ever want to ease your way into the round. However, a nasty little ditch cuts across the fairway, just where a good drive would run to - and there was no sign of the prolonged rain here, other than that the fairways were slightly softer and greener than might be expected at this time of year. I'd hit a pretty good drive and was only a few feet short of the water hazard and just missed the green with my 27 Degree Rescue. Still, an opening bogey was not too bad, as this was comfortably the longest hole on the course. Here's a view from the 1st green back to the clubhouse. The 2nd is a 165 Yard Par 3 played from a slightly elevated tee to a small green protected in front by a single cavernous bunker. I'd missed the green by a couple of feet but had an easy par.
The 3rd is a slightly uphill 294 Yard Par 4. I'd hit a really good drive and a sand iron to within 15 feet. The putt looked to be straight and uphill (all that caddying work has improved my green-reading no end!) and so it proved, for my only birdie at Rosehill. The 4th is a mere 96 Yards, but is far from the easy Par 3 that you might expect. The green is largely hidden behind a small mound and with the pin positioned only a few feet on and right behind the highest point on the mound, my tee shot looked to be quite tricky. I'd tried to just clear the mound with a sand iron but my tee shot was a yard or so off line and short, so my ball ran off into light rough a few feet to the left of the green. A scrambled par was good in the circumstances. The 5th is a 380 Yard slightly uphill Par 4 with another generously wide fairway, but the green is further away than it looks so be generous with your clubbing. An easy par for me, despite just missing the green in regulation by a few feet.
The 6th is a slightly downhill 155 Yard Par 3. I'd hooked my drive slightly into moderate rough, but a good pitch with my sand iron set up another single putt par. The 7th is a 244 Yard Par 4, but think twice before deciding whether to go for the green as there's another ditch to contend with, just short of the green. I'd played short, pitched just short and scrambled another par. The 340 Yard Par 4 8th and the 332 Yard Par 4 9th are probably the best 2 holes on Rosehill. There are more ditches to avoid as well as OOB to the left and as shown here, a hollow in front of the 8th green makes things even more tricky. I'd hit what I thought was a good pitch on the 8th only to find it had settled back into the hollow, so have a good look at this green before choosing a club for your approach.
I scored a good 35 gross, only 2 over par, thanks largely to having only 12 putts on good even paced smooth running greens, so well done me. This is a really good links course in its own right and I'd recommend you play it as well as the more formidable Corbiehill course. Fraserburgh GC is the 5th oldest Scottish club and the 7th oldest in the world and Corbiehill is one of a string of great links courses in the Aberdeenshire area. The Fraserburgh clubhouse is also one of the most friendly I've been in lately and the Scotch pies are simply great - yes, that enduring symbol of the legendary Scottish diet is can be found here, but after playing either Fraserburgh course, a pie and a pint is the perfect finale, for me at least. If you're ever in the area with our clubs, give this great place a visit.
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