Invergordon GC - course no 546

The village of Invergordon is primarily a deep water port on the Cromarty Firth, but it's also got a pretty decent golf course, as Polly and I discovered when we played this 18 hole parkland course on 8 October 2012 after our earlier round over the Loch Ness Wee Course in nearby Inverness.  This is the 3rd at invergordon, a 441 Yard Par 4 and the Stroke Index 1 hole.  The Cromarty Firth is widely used for vessel storage, hence the oil rig in the background.  The course is 5743 Yards, Par 69, but was playing a bit shorter since temporary Winter tees had just been introduced (is it really that time already?).

This is a fairly flat and easy walking course but maybe we'd just been playing too much (or in my case caddying as well as playing) in the run up to this trip, as we were both pretty knackered by the time we'd got half-way round Invergordon.  Although the course itself is pretty short the layout was tricky to follow, even with the excellent map on the scorecard.  Indeed, we were left wondering whether the sequence of holes had been changed at some stage to disguise the fact that 10 of the holes run parallel to each other, reducing the up/down flow of the course. Tip - if you ever play here, the correct route from the 3rd tee to the 4th tee goes behind the 8th tee and the 7th green.  Try to avoid walking round aimlessly for 10 minutes, looking totally lost, as we did!

I'd played quite a few parkland courses in recent weeks that had been saturated with rain water e.g. Lethamhill, so it was a refreshing change not to have to wade through puddles.  Invergordon was in fine condition, with only the 8th showing any signs of the rain that seems to have soaked the country all Summer.  This is the 8th, a short 108 Yard Par 3.  The flag was in an easy position rather than tucked away to the right, behind the pond.  Indeed, all of the pin positions were front centre, giving another sign that the greens were being rested as much as possible in advance of the coming Winter.  I chipped an easy 9 iron tee shot to within a couple of feet for an easy birdie.  Go me!

Although the course was pretty dry underfoot it was still playing reasonably long, with little or no run on the fairways.  Between that and our tiredness from earlier exertions, it was easy enough to bogey rather than par holes, hence my gross 84, net 73, (net 4 over par) with 31 putts.  And just as we staggered our way to the last hole, Invergordon had one final test, this walk up to the 18th green. Your second shot on this 275 yard hole will be blind, so be mindful that the 1st tee is just beyond the back right side of the green. 

Here's a final view of Invergordon GC, looking back down the 18th a few minutes before sunset on a lovely warm Autumn day.  I liked the course and would recommend it.