We'd just about enough time after our round on 1 November 2016 over Royal Troon's Old Course (and a leisurely lunch) to play the club's 9-Hole Craigend Course. The Craigend measures 1539 Yards and is a par 29, with holes ranging from 67 to 290 Yards. It had been used during The Open as a site for TV lorries, studios and general storage and in places the ground was still recovering, but it was still very playable, despite the dying light.
Graeme, Donald and I literally ran round the course in well under an hour, with our last hole being played as the sun set over the Old Course. Here are some random photos of the course that hopefully will give readers an idea of the course.
Craigend is normally only playable by members of Royal Troon so I'm grateful to Donald and indeed to the club, for the opportunity to play the course. As might be suspected, Craigend is a good practice course for members as well as an ideal course for beginners and seniors wanting a casual short round of golf. For the record, I went round in 34 shots, with 16 putts. We'd played the course just as the sun set but if we'd taken our time and lined up putts properly, etc. I suspect the score might have been no better, since we'd have finished the last 3 holes in the dark!
Our Craigend 9th Hole marked the end of a perfect day's golf. The club couldn't have been more helpful and friendly, so a great big thanks goes to everyone we met and especially to Donald, for inviting us to play these courses.
This is now a 6 hole course at present due to a new driving range being built
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