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And so on to Taynuilt, which we played on Sunday 11 April 2010, before catching the afternoon ferry to Barra. Like its near neighbour at Dalmally, Taynuilt is a visually stunning golf course as this view from the second tee shows, with Ben Cruachan in the background. Although the Dalmally course was some distance from Dalmally itself, the Taynuilt course was an integral part of the village. It was also far drier than at Dalmally and the greens were also much faster, which we found very surprising, given that the courses are only a few miles apart and looked to be similarly low lying. Taynuilt is a 9 hole course of 2255 yards, par 32 off the yellow tees and was a joy to play from start to finish. We'd received great support from the club and were delighted to see that a notice had been put up beside the first tee about our trip and that the tee had been reserved for us, interrupting a club medal competition (and there are many clubs where that simply would not happen!) Highland hospitality at its best!
As anyone who has seen me play could testify, my 9 iron is used for all sorts of short game play in addition to approach shots from around 110 yards. 
I'd had a poor drive at the 303 yard 5th, so out came the 9 iron for a pitch to the green. I hit the ball cleanly without taking much of a divot, but the shaft broke and the club head went almost as far as the ball itself. I can probably get a new shaft fitted in due course, but this incident was to plague the rest of the trip, given my heavy reliance of the 9 iron for chipping around greens. The greens had some severe slopes, as shown here at the 6th, so the loss of that club was annoying to put it mildly. We all thought that the best hole on the course was the 9th, a devilishly tricky 337 yard par 4, with a severe dog leg to the left and a very narrow entrance to the green, with out of bounds to the right, left and behind the green
, as this photo shows. I managed a bogey after duffing a short chip and run that I would normally have played with my 9 iron. I went round Taynuilt in 39, but on reading the Local Rules after the round I saw that "any shot hitting overhead cables must be retaken." My tee shot at the 1st was deflected by overhead cables but I played the ball as it lay, so a rules decision would have been necessary had we been playing in a competition. I must look up the rules again to remind myself what the decision should be! Thanks again to the club for their generous help to ensure we could play the course, which we all thought was in superb condition, given the harsh winter now thankfully behind us (we hope!!)
This is the first course that Craig, Stu and I played on a Highlands and Western Isles trip between 11-15 April 2010. The plan was to leave Edinburgh early on the 11th, play Dalmally and Taynuilt, get the ferry to Barra, play the Barra course, get the ferry over to South Uist, play Askernish, drive up to Benbecula and play there, drive on to play Solles in North Uist, get another ferry to Harris to play the course at Scarista, then drive up to play at Stornoway, get the ferry to Ullapool, play there and play Gairloch and Aigas before going home for a rest. Eleven courses in all, needing good weather, lots of energy and the occasional liquid refreshment (in moderation of course!). We left as planned so here I am at Dalmally, with a swing as bad as the club's logo, pretending to be loosening up. We pretty much had the course to ourselves, even after I'd taken a wrong turning and ended up in the driveway of the big house next door, much to the surprise of the owner! Dalmally is a short 9 hole course of 2084 yards off the yellow tees with a par of 32, but it's not an easy trek, as I was soon to discover. 
In setting up our visit, the club had advised that we take particular care at the 3rd, a lovely 159 yard par 3 ominously named "Orchy Splash." Water was clearly involved, but this was a fabulous hole to play and bonnie to see, as this view from the tee shows. Absolute accuracy is required and some luck to find and hold the small green. I managed neither and despite clearing the river with a chopped down 7 wood, I duffed an easy chip and ended up with a 5. The small Dalmally greens ran very true, but were quite slow and the heavy dew meant that the ball did not run much anywhere on the course. My pitching was erratic and alarmingly, I made my first proper sh--- of the trip on the 8th and ended up with a treble bogey 7.
This is the view from the 9th tee, a lovely par 4 of 385 yards and the longest hole on the course, with Ben Lui in the background. I managed a 6 there, to go round in a poor 44, miles away from my expectations. We all agreed that Dalmally was a really good and testing layout and a hugely enjoyable start to our travels. We also noticed that there was ample space to the north and east of the course to add another 9 holes and we had some preliminary ideas by the time we'd finished. We did of course recognise that as a small village course heavily dependent on voluntary support and local membership such expansion would be impractical, but course design was to be a recurrent theme of this trip. Our sincere thanks go to the Dalmally club for all of their help.
This course has 9 greens and 18 tees, making it an 18 hole course, which from the yellow tees measured 5179 yards, par 70. I played Lilliardsedge on 8 April 2010 after my round at nearby Jedburgh. Lilliardsedge forms part of a large caravan park with lots of log cabin type lodges as well as large fixed caravans and spaces for touring caravans etc. I don't know much about caravanning, but the standard of facilities looked pretty impressive and it was obvious that some serious money had been invested on site. This is a view of the second green, with some of the caravans in the background. I'd expected the course to be little more than a basic add on to the caravan park, but some of the holes were pretty challenging, particularly where there was a considerable difference between the front and back tees. For example, the 5th is a tricky par 4 of 412 yards, but becomes a 472 yard par 5 as the 14th hole.I parred the 1st, 2nd and 4th holes easily enough as they were little more than driver, wedge and putting on greens almost as slow as at Jedburgh. The 3rd hole was more awkward, with a large pond on the right awaiting anything remotely wayward off the tee. My 8 iron approach was slightly short of the green, but an excellent lob wedge led to a birdie 3. However, I made a right old mess of the tricky 5th with a double bogey after hooking my drive out of bounds. 
This is the 6th, a short par 3 of 115 yards (which becomes 147 yards from the 15th tee). I also hooked a ball into a lateral water hazard at the 7th, the Stroke index 1 hole and ended up with a triple bogey. Not good. I eventually got to the turn in 6 over par for an unimpressive 40. The back 9 was longer by around 200 yards, but 
on most of the holes, there was only a few yards difference between the back and front 9 tees. I thought this was best hole, the 157 yard par 3 17th, from an elevated tee to a small green well protected by bunkers. After some furrther waywards shots, I did the back 9 in 41, for an 81, net 70. Lilliardsedge is an excellent facility for holiday golf and general practice and there are some pretty good holes. It is also mostly flat and easy walking, a welcome relief after the more physical challenge set by the windy conditions at nearby Jedburgh.
I really enjoyed playing this course on 8 April 2010. Jedburgh had been a 9 hole course until 3 years ago and is now a 5664 yard 18 hole course, par 69 off the yellow tees. Some of the new holes from 6-14, are still settling in being higher than the rest of the course. However, this is a terrific upland course, with lots of character and interesting features not the least being the old clubhouse dating back to 1894. The course sits high above Jedburgh and has lovely views across the rolling Border hills. However, it is exposed to the weather and the strong wind made scoring tricky, with the downhill 1st and the long uphill 15th into the wind being particularly difficult.
This is a view of the new 7th, a 183 yard par 3 that played far shorter
than it looked ( I took a 7 iron), with a large water hazard to the left. Some bunkering to the right and some reshaping of the green would make this an even better hole, tightening the tee shot and toughening up the hole generally. By then, I'd noticed just how slow the greens were. Given the tough winter and recent snow, the greens had been mown conservatively, to protect against frost and other damage. As a result, it was really difficult to get the ball up to the hole and it was something of an achievement avoid three-putting. I managed to reach the turn in 43, thanks to some pretty effective scrambling around the greens. For example, the new 8th was an easy looking downhill 374 yard par 4, so I thought I'd land the ball short and let it run down onto the green. The club had run out of score cards, so I'd nothing to forewarn me of the hidden stream and pond in front of the green. My approach shot almost found the pond, so a bogey there was OK.
The best new hole is undoubtedly the 13th, a 275 yard downhill par 4 demanding absolute accuracy off the tee and a delicate pitch over a large pond. 
Here's the view from the tee. the landing area for the drive is about 20 yards wide, but with the prevailing wind being from right to left, it's a hugely difficult tee shot. I got that bit right, but over-cooked a sand wedge pitch over the pond, leading to another bogey. Best shot of the day was my drive at the 17th, a downwind par 4 of 328 yards. With 4 local members stepping to the side of the 1st green right in front of the 17th tee to let me play, I hit my best drive for ages and had only a short pitch with a sand iron for an easy 4. Another good drive and a blind 7 iron up the hill to the last green, a couple of putts for a closing par and I was back in 39 for a gross 82, net 71. Not too shabby, given the understandable slowness of the greens and the windy conditions.
It was a pity that the photocopy of the scorecard that I had to use did not include the names of the holes. This one, the 185 yard par 3 16th, should surely have been "Are you Insured?" given its alarming proximity to the main road! 
Polly and I played this pay as you play course on 5 April 2010. We'd left it late to book a game, as this was Easter Monday and we expected that other courses would be pretty busy. Perhaps it was the heavy rain earlier in the day, but the course was pretty quiet. Alternatively, the difficulty of this course might simply have persuaded others to go elsewhere. Indeed, the starter expressed some surprise that Polly was playing, saying that the course was very difficult and did not attract many female visitors. At 6009 yards par 72 off the yellow tees, Forrester Park is certainly not short, but its setting amongst rolling hills, with ponds or streams coming into play on 9 holes, adds to the difficulty. Throw in saturated ground, early season greens, really tricky bunkering, some difficult long holes and a blustery wind with occasional showers and Forrester Park becomes a pretty brutal test. Above is a view of the 1st hole from the 10th tee, giving a typical impression of the hills and water features. Given the threat of more rain, I didn't loosen up much and some early sloppy play led to a couple of opening 6's on an easy par 4 and a short par 3. However, I parred the next 4 holes to get the scoring back into line. The 7th is an awkward uphill, downwind par 5 of 526 yards, but my third shot found the cavernous bunker in front of the green and unfortunately this was the one bunker that appeared to be in need of some pre-season maintenance. Suffice to say I ended up with an 11, having given up trying to go direct for the flag after several attempts to overcome an overhanging lip. To make matters worse, the 8th was Stroke Index 1, a 407 yard par 4 played directly into the wind, with a blind uphill second shot. I was happy enough with a bogey, only to find that the 9th was a par 5 from an elevated tee, straight into the wind, with another long uphill approach to the green and a river awaiting the drive. Another bogey followed and I was out in 49, needing some inspired play on the back 9 to rescue the score.
The wind had been strengthening and was enough to blow our trolleys over by the time we we got the 10th tee. Here's a view of the 10th hole, with 
the 18th fairway on the left. There are 8 large pot bunkers within driving distance of the tee, but since the hole is a left hand dog leg, the shortest route is up the 18th fairway. Even the rough between these holes was pretty short, so my drive up the 18th left only a wedge to the green. I'd managed a par on a particularly hazardous hole, but since the back 9 holes are over 400 yards longer than the front 9, potential trouble lay ahead. Indeed, that was to be my last par of the round, as a combination of poor putting on huge sloping greens and increasing trouble with the by now very strong wind meant that scoring was becoming hugely difficult.
Here is a view of the 18th, a par 4 of only 322 yards. 
Factor in the elevated tee, the strong headwind, another river, an extremely steep approach to the green and severe undulations on the green itself and the Stroke Index 13 rating looked to be wrong. A 3 wood to the green for my second shot landed just short, but rolled 70 yards down the hill, leaving a completely blind wedge approach. The hole had been set on a severe slope so another 3 putt followed for a closing double bogey and a disappointing 48 on the back 9. I'd gone round in 97 and although most of that was down to my mistakes, some of the conditions didn't help. Forrester Park is certainly a very challenging course and I was just glad that I hadn't played it off the Blue tees, from where the course is 6855 yards. Now there's a future challenge for Craig to consider!
I played here on 2 April 2010 after my round at nearby Auchterderran. Leslie is a private club and was great fun to play. However, I must begin by an appreciation of the warm welcome I had here from Ian, the Club's President. I'd not arranged anything in advance, but Ian gave me the warmest of welcomes (and a copy of the Club's excellent Centenary book) and put me out with Colin, a new club member who'd just taken up the game again after a break of several years. Colin has made a wise choice joining Leslie, as this was one of the friendliest village courses I've played so far. This is a view from the second tee, with the clubhouse to the right and the village in the background.
Leslie is a 9 hole course of 2470 yards, par 31. I didn't realise this at the time, but looking at my scorecard now, I see that I didn't get a single par in my dismal round of 46. It wasn't the course, which was in pretty good condition considering the harshness of the winter and recent storms
. I'd gone round a relatively straightforward short 9 hole course in 15 over par, but such was Colin's company and the friendliness of the place that scoring didn't really matter. I even handled an unsettling s---- at the 4th (leading to a 9) without losing my composure. For those who know me well, that will be difficult to believe, but it's true. Here is the excellent par 3 149 yard 5th hole. I somehow found the green with a 6 iron, only to 3 putt from 20 feet
. The way this round was going, anything could happen and it was with some relief that here at the 7th, I managed to avoid the burn to the left of the green. Colin found it though and I think we halved the hole with double bogeys. Even at the last, a good drive was followed by a couple of duffed chips and a bogey 5. I hope that one day, when I've completed the ultimate Scottish golfing challenge we have set ourselves, I can go back to Leslie and take it to bits, or at least get under 46. I'd like to think I couldn't play it so badly again.
Thanks again to Ian and Colin for making my visit so enjoyable.
This is another of the excellent courses operated by Fife Council, keeping golf in local communities. Auchterderran is in Cardenden, a former mining village and is a 9 hole course of 2318 yards off the yellow tees, par 33. I played the course on 2 April 2010, a couple of days after a severe storm had dumped heavy snow and rain over most of Scotland. Having splashed my way to the first tee, I went back to the car for the waterproof trousers, as it looked like being a very soggy round. However, only the first couple of holes were waterlogged, and pretty forgettable if truth be told.
Auchterderran came alive on the 3rd, a difficult 397 yard par 4 that weaved its way between gorse to an uphill green. This is the view from my drive
, for once in the middle of the fairway. A good 3 wood, a duffed pitch and run (more of an arthritic limp) and a couple of putts followed for a bogey at the Stroke Index 1 hole. The 4th was an easy par 4, with a blind wedge over a ridge to the green "aided" by 2 marker poles that were nowhere near the right line from the middle of the fairway, where my drive was, again. The 5th was just plain silly, a supposed par 3 of 231 yards, with only a marker pole to aim at, between out of bounds on the left and gorse on the right and dead ground in front of the green. I'm not a fan of blind par 3's at the best of times, but come on, Fife Council, make the hole a par 4 as the difficulty of this hole is completely out of character to the rest of the course.
My favourite hole had to be the 7th, a par 4 of 243 yards, with gorse to the right of the fairway. My drive was perilously close to said gorse, but found a large puddle (remember that storm I mentioned?) 
I managed to persuade a young woman walking her 2 dogs to retrieve my ball (though the water almost came up to the top of her pink wellies) and chipped in from 20 yards for an unlikely birdie. This is a view of the 8th green, a 306 yard par 4 played into the wind and requiring an accurate wedge to a semi-blind green. I scrambled a par with a couple of good putts. The last hole was a short par 4 of 288 yards, with out of bounds on the left. I almost made the OOB and had a tricky 9 iron over some trees to the green for my second. I just missed the 10 foot putt for another birdie, but went round in 37. Overall, this was a pretty good wee course.
And so on to Taynuilt, which we played on Sunday 11 April 2010, before catching the afternoon ferry to Barra. Like its near neighbour at Dalmally, Taynuilt is a visually stunning golf course as this view from the second tee shows, with Ben Cruachan in the background. Although the Dalmally course was some distance from Dalmally itself, the Taynuilt course was an integral part of the village. It was also far drier than at Dalmally and the greens were also much faster, which we found very surprising, given that the courses are only a few miles apart and looked to be similarly low lying. Taynuilt is a 9 hole course of 2255 yards, par 32 off the yellow tees and was a joy to play from start to finish. We'd received great support from the club and were delighted to see that a notice had been put up beside the first tee about our trip and that the tee had been reserved for us, interrupting a club medal competition (and there are many clubs where that simply would not happen!) Highland hospitality at its best!
I'd had a poor drive at the 303 yard 5th, so out came the 9 iron for a pitch to the green. I hit the ball cleanly without taking much of a divot, but the shaft broke and the club head went almost as far as the ball itself. I can probably get a new shaft fitted in due course, but this incident was to plague the rest of the trip, given my heavy reliance of the 9 iron for chipping around greens. The greens had some severe slopes, as shown here at the 6th, so the loss of that club was annoying to put it mildly. We all thought that the best hole on the course was the 9th, a devilishly tricky 337 yard par 4, with a severe dog leg to the left and a very narrow entrance to the green, with out of bounds to the right, left and behind the green
, as this photo shows. I managed a bogey after duffing a short chip and run that I would normally have played with my 9 iron. I went round Taynuilt in 39, but on reading the Local Rules after the round I saw that "any shot hitting overhead cables must be retaken." My tee shot at the 1st was deflected by overhead cables but I played the ball as it lay, so a rules decision would have been necessary had we been playing in a competition. I must look up the rules again to remind myself what the decision should be! Thanks again to the club for their generous help to ensure we could play the course, which we all thought was in superb condition, given the harsh winter now thankfully behind us (we hope!!)
