Hazlehead Pitch and Putt Course - Course no 635

Hazlehead Park also has a 9 hole Pitch and Putt Course useful either as a starter course for young children or for sharpening your short game skills.  I played this little course immediately after Polly and I had finished playing the famous old Hazlehead No1 Course in Aberdeen on 30 April 2014. 

With holes ranging between around 60 -100 Yards, this course has tiny greens only a few yards across.  Although my short game is reasonably good these days, it was very difficult to hit and hold these surfaces, particularly on the holes with plateau greens.  I went round in a pretty reasonable 31 strokes, 4 over the par of 27, with 14 putts.  I'd play it again as a warm-up if I ever visited Hazelhead Park's other courses again.

Here are a few photos of the course. Note the plateau green on the final photo.  This green is about 5 yards wide and a yard above the surrounding fairway.  I shudder to think how that hole plays in really dry conditions! Not for the faint hearted.  And there are still some who don't think that pitch and putt courses should be counted as golf courses?

Hazlehead No 1 Course - Course No 634

Hazlehead is a large public park in west central Aberdeen with 3 golf courses, rather unimaginatively named No 1, No 2, the 9 Hole Course and a 9 hole pitch and putt course, in addition to acres of open greenfield space and mature woodland walks etc.  I'd played the 9 Hole course a couple of years ago (see Blog entry 551) and enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to playing the challenging No 1 course reputedly one of the finest parkland courses in North East Scotland. The park and its golf courses are all owned and operated by Aberdeen City Council.  

Regular readers of the blog will know from my entries about other local authority-owned golf courses that in general, there tends to be poor investment in course maintenance and upkeep and that playing such courses can be a pretty underwhelming experience. I wondered whether Hazlehead No1 would be any different. The Council's website says that "Course 1 provides even the most experienced golfer a true test of their abilities.  Designed by Alistair Mackenzie, the head architect behind Augusta National which has been at the forefront of some of golf's greatest triumphs in the masters, this course is specifically laid out to make the player think. Narrow fairways surrounded by trees and gorse can be unforgiving for wayward shots, however the reward for correct club selection and a bit of bravery can outweigh any fears in approaching the challenge.  Hazlehead No 1 course will allow any golfer to mark how they have progressed and is a must for golf enthusiasts.  The tranquil surroundings offer you a great escape and will allow you to become fully engaged in your game." Inspiring stuff if true.  David, our great friend from the Glen GC, played his childhood golf at Hazlehead and remembers it as one of his all-time favourite courses, so Polly and I were really looking forward to playing it.  29 April 2014 was the date, the day after our excellent time at Westhill GC.

Sadly, 29 April was one of those dull, grey Scottish days, with a cool easterly breeze blowing in off the North Sea. No rain, but very damp underfoot and occasionally misty.  I'd heard various negative reports about Hazlehead No 1, mainly that the Council had let it deteriorate through poor maintenance and neglect to the point that it had become an embarrassment, unworthy of its history and fame. There were certainly signs of this, but I was delighted to see that whatever state the course had been in, the Council was taking positive action to address problems. Indeed, the course had recently been closed for a while to allow major harvesting and management of mature pine forest throughout the course, tees had been rebuilt, and worn out/damaged sections of fairway had been re-turfed.  Weed growth on greens etc had been addressed and overall, the course looked to be pretty good condition for early season.  Being built on largely peaty soil and weaving its way through mature pine forest, heather and gorse, Hazlehead No 1 is not an early season course so I'd not expect it to be in great condition until later in the year, when forestry work may be more complete and patching etc on fairways has blended in more fully. It's clearly been in a fragile condition of late, but  there were enough signs there when we played it suggest that No 1 is on its way back.

Overnight rain meant that underfoot conditions were pretty soggy and there was no run on any of the fairways.  The greens were smooth-running but desperately slow to the point that for a long uphill putt on the Par 3 9th, my putter was completely the wrong club.  A rescue club or 3 Wood might have got the ball up to the hole.  Here are some photos from our round on No 1. As can be plainly seen, the course was wet, but picture, if you will, a dry warm Summer's day and a fast-running No 1 before you.  Looks pretty good to me!

For me, one of the bests tests the of a quality golf course is that in even the worst of weathers it can still look beguiling and attractive.  No 1 is still all of that, in spades.  Mackenzie's basic design is still there and despite it still being "work in progress" No 1 is well worth a visit and superb value at £20.70.

Polly and I enjoyed its twists and turns, the variety of holes and the sheer tranquillity of the place, which in parts reminded us of Blairgowrie Rosemount/Landsdowne, and some of the other excellent heathland/forest courses we've played together over the years.  But perhaps the most amazing aspect of this course is that with the No 2 Course and the other golfing facilities at Hazlehead, this major public park is within a few miles of the city centre.  I hope the Council continues to invest in this famous old course and that its fully restored soon.  Most of all, though, I hope that David gets the chance to revisit his childhood memories soon, playing this old course again.  We usually play for a Pound in our bounce games at the Glen, so David, your challenge is to beat my gross 85, net 74, with 35 putts, as played off the Yellow Tees, from where the course now plays to 5957 Yards, Par 70.  The usual Pound says you don't - challenge accepted?

  

Westhill GC - Course no 633

Polly and I had planned to play this 18 hole heathland/parkland course in the western suburbs of Aberdeen a couple of years ago at the start of a trip to the area, but the weather was awful, we knew there would be another opportunity and getting soaked wasn't the most attractive option. So, when I was planning my latest trip to Aberdeen, Westhill was a priority.  Even when we first visited the course in the pouring rain it looked pretty interesting so we were really looking forward to this one.  28 April 2014 dawned bright and sunny so Polly and I set off on what would be a 3 day trip to play another 5 courses.  The forecast for days 2 and 3 was pretty poor but as we reached Aberdeen, the temperature was close to 20C, the sun was out and there was no wind.  Better still, we pretty much had the course to ourselves.  As the name suggests, this course is built on a hill.  The first 4 holes are particularly hilly, but after that the course is relatively easy walking and mostly reasonably flat.  The fairways are a mixture of heathland with tight lies and parkland with more lush and softer turf.  The greens were faster than they looked, flat and true running, so no excuses.

Westhill is a 5482 Yard Par 69 course and starts with a blind tee shot over the crest of a hill, with pine trees to the left and OOB to the right and a cambered fairway that demands an accurate tee shot. Get that right and it's a flick to the green on this very short 259 yard Par 4. Sounds simple enough, but the green is very tricky and runs away from you, front to back, with various humps and hollows to add to the confusion.  I was only 20 feet away in 2, but my 20 foot putt went 30+, hence the opening bogey.  Your next hole is a 193 Yard Par 3. improbably steeply downhill.  Polly had waited for the greenkeeper to finish looking for small weeds on the green, to no avail. He stepped aside eventually, satisfied he had sprayed any offending invaders, much to Polly's relief.  After we'd said hello to the man after playing the hole, he told us that the safest place to stand on that hole was often in the middle of the green - and he was right.  Had he been anywhere near the pine trees to the left of the green, he'd have been in real danger!  Sad but true.  This is a view of the 2nd green.  The hole plays a lot shorter than you might think, so be warned - and say hello to the Greenkeeper.  A lovely man who obviously loves his course.

The 3rd hole is uphill again and blind. This Par 4 is only 315 Yards, but get past the marker and the fairway slopes steeply downhill, falling away to the right. The green is tucked away on a little shelf, as shown here (top photo), so again, accuracy is key. The 4th is even shorter, at 271 Yards and is easily driveable, being steeply downhill. However, your tee shot will be blind and you need to go down the narrow left side of the fairway.  The 4th green falls away at the back, so do not be long. Trouble awaits back there, so unless you're entirely sure where you're going and can hit your drive deadly straight, this little hole may punish you.  The photo below is a view of the 4th from half way down the fairway.  Note the bunker to the front right of the green, ready to trap the unwary.

I'd started bogey, par, bogey, par and since accuracy off the tee can be an erratic aspect of my game at best, I was becoming concerned that if the rest of the course was as tight, scoring would not be easy.  The long walk to the 5th tee is through a leafy glade, so it comes as a pleasant surprise to find that what had been a tight hilly heathland course had become far more open and parkland in nature.  The 5th itself had been re-modelled over the winter with new tees and a large pond added to this gently downhill 504 Yard Par 5, the longest hole on the course. This is a really good hole and to the left of the 5th green you get a sneak preview of the 6th, as pretty a little Par 3 as you'll find, as shown below. This hole is only 124 Yards, with a lateral water hazard running in front and to the left of the green - if you avoid the pond, that is!

I'd add a few colourful plants and make this the signature hole, given the chance.  The next few holes are also good, with the 8th being far more testing than I'd expected.  This is a slightly downhill 417 Yard Par 4 and it's easy enough to avoid the stream that cuts across the fairway. However, for your second shot you might not see the depth of the green which rises to a second tier at the back, where the flag was positioned when we played it.  If the flag is at the back, your second shot will be a lot longer than you might think.  Only a 20 foot putt saved my par!

I've been lucky enough to play hundreds of rounds with Polly over the years, so I tend to know what's coming in particular circumstances and the 10th at Westhill was certainly a good example of that sixth sense. For starters, the Ladies Red Tee was 48 Yards further back than my Yellow Tee and was steeply uphill and blind, looking alarmingly narrow.  I was just hoping the Yellow Tee would be more forgiving.  I should have known better than point out that she was getting a stroke and that the Men's Medal Tee was even further into the depths of the gully we were standing in.  Her dark look forecast trouble ahead for yours truly if Polly's drive didn't split the fairway and sure enough, her dead right drive appeared to be just that - dead.  From the Men's Yellow Tee this Par 4 is all of 222 Yards, if you can find it.  As this photo suggests, there's a broad path of sorts turning sharp dog leg left from the tee to the green, rough on the steep banking to the leftt, higher rough and a downward slope to the right.  This "path" is actually the fairway and only a complete idiot or someone with a masterfully stright drive would try to cut the corner of the dog leg.  In conversation with Westhill's Pro after the round, it seemed the sensible player/visitor should take a 7 iron or such, try to keep it reasonably straight and hit a short pitch to the green, hoping to avoid the bunkers either side of the green.  Idiot that I am, I walked off with a dodgy double bogey.  Polly fared even worse.  She doesn't swear as a rule, but my sixth sense told me that "ridiculous" "stupid" etc. meant something far more extreme and that if I had any sense I'd pray something good would happen, and quickly.

No such luck.  The 11th was the Stroke Index 18 Hole for the Ladies and looked to be a simple enough 150 Yard poke with an iron to a green protected by a single bunker short right.  Polly doesn't hook as a rule either and as her ball careered wildly left into rarely trodden territory, my suggestion of a Mulligan did at least soften the blow of a lost ball and her dented pride.  I was happy enough for us both to walk off with bogey 4s - the 11th green is 2-tiered and difficult to read.  Well, that's my excuse!

The Par 12th runs parallel to a road, so be careful not to hook your drive.  This hole is only 336 Yards, but the green is narrow and slightly raised up from the fairway so accuracy is again important.  The green also slopes uphill front to back so there's little forward run on second shots.  I was happy enough with a tap in 4.  Westhill then hits you with a couple of really testing holes, the 13th being an awkward 492 Yard Par 5 that plays far longer than that and narrows the further you go.  The 14th  is a meaty 431 Yard Par 4 and justifiably the Stroke Index 1 hole on the men's scorecard.  I played this hole very well and just missed par from around 15 feet.  The 15th is an uphill 160 Yard Par 3 with another 2-tiered plateau green, playing at least 190, so don't be short.

The 16th is another blind hole, this time a 405 Yard Par 4, played over the crest of a small hill, down to a tricky green. The 17th didn't appeal to me much. Maybe it was just the yappie dog in a neighbouring house, but this 181 Yard Par 3 was just too flat and featureless for my taste.

And so to the 18th, a terrific uphill 369 Yard Par 4 that felt more like 400+.  This hole is a Par 5 off the White Tee and at 478 Yards looks to be a gem of a closing hole. For readers not familiar with Scotland in the Spring, the yellow bushes to the right of the fairway are gorse, horribly prickly plant that is completely impenetrable.  The only negative to this hole is the climb back up to the clubhouse.  If you ever get the chance to visit Westhill don't leave your car in the top car park, as we did. The climb from the 18th green to there is pretty testing!

We'd caught Westhill on a lovely Spring day and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  This is a serious challenging and interesting course, well worth seeking out.  OK, there are flatter courses in the area, but I strongly recommend you give it a try.  I went round in a 83, net 72, against the par of 69 off the Yellow Tees, with 33 putts.  Not bad, but see how you do and take care on the 10th!

   

Fisherrow Links Pitch and Putt Course - Course no 632

Well, it's officially early Spring in Scotland and a few nights ago I was thinking that with a bit of luck and lots of miles, I might finish playing every course in Scotland this year. I'd done 629 out of the 656 on our master list, so unless we found some more, I'd only 27 courses left, ranging from small pitch and putt courses to the Championship Course at Royal Troon.  That sense of satisfaction was a bit premature, since at 21:33 on 21 April  2014 an e-mail arrived from Graeme, one of the regular readers of my blog.  It seems that Graeme has also been doing the "all courses in Scotland challenge" and has played 525 so far.  He'd also been comparing his list of courses with those that I've done so far and had come up with another 30 or so that he suggested I might need to add in.  

If that wasn't news enough, some quick internet research revealed that most of Graeme's suggestions were either 9 hole or pitch and putt courses in far flung parts of the country e.g. Auchendean Lodge Pitch and Putt Course, in the gardens of a small Highland hotel (see www.auchendean.com).  This was certainly the mother and father of hospital passes Good luck with that one, Google's Translate app - this idiom simply means unwelcome news in these circumstances!  I'm grateful to Graeme in that with his help, at least we've identified more courses that when played, will take us closer to our final goal than we'd otherwise have been able to do on our own. I'm still researching Graeme's suggestions -and some may be wide of the mark e.g. Innellan GC members play their course backwards, but only one day a year in an end of golfing season novelty competition for club members only, so I don't think that counts. a further couple of his suggestions had actually closed some years ago, so it remains to be seen just how many more courses need to be added to the list that Craig Stu and I are tackling.

Anyway, Graeme had also suggested the pitch and putt course at Fisherrow Links in Musselburgh, only a few miles along the coast from where I live in East Lothian.  I'd heard about this course a while ago but hadn't got round to finding and playing it.  I'm playing 6 new courses in Aberdeenshire in a few days' time, but with a couple of free hours on 24 April 2014, I set off to play Fisherrow Links, a 9 hole pitch and putt course, with holes ranging from 60 to around 100 yards.  The course only opened for 2014 a couple of days previously, so I was lucky in that there were new flags, direction arrows and all of the flags and tees were numbered. The fairways were neatly cut and although the greens didn't look great, they were reasonably smooth and true running.  I'd taken my wedge, an old putter and a couple of balls and for my £1.40 green fee, I'd a quick spin around the course.  The Fisherrow course is flat and unremarkable, but is a reasonably good practice facility.  It was disappointing that I was the only golfer on the course. Either that, or others had seen the weather forecast, as the rain came pouring down a few minutes after I'd finished. Here are some random photos of the course.

The greens were reasonably quick-paced, making them tricky to hit and hold from the tees.  I've been in reasonable form of late, so 26 shots in total, with a birdie on the approximately 60 Yard 4th and a total of 12 putts wasn't too bad.  I doubt I'd want to play the course again, though.

Menzies Hotel Par 3 Course - Course no 631

Tuesday 8 April 2014 was dry and bright in East Lothian and the day seemed set fair, so I started out on a 220 mile round trip to play a couple of short 9 hole courses, in Ayr and Irvine, in Ayrshire, in the south west of the country.  Ayrshire turned out to be windy, with sunny intervals and heavy showers.  My first course was to be the 9 Hole Par 3 course at Craig Tara, a caravan park and holiday centre just south of Ayr.  I found the course easily enough but it was closed for maintenance (and drying out, if the pools of standing water were anything to go by). So, it would be 220 miles to play the 1277 Yard Par 27 course within the grounds of the Menzies Hotel, in nearby Irvine.  

The hotel is quite impressive looking inside, and doubtless attracts many golfers keen to play on the many famous links courses nearby, but the hotel's golf course is pretty underwhelming. The fairways were soaking wet and boggy in parts and needed a good cut.  The greens were full of moss and other less identifiable growing things, bumpy, slow and uninviting, with several of the flagsticks missing.  The 5 flagsticks that were still in place were old broken plastic affairs with torn and faded flags.  This course urgently needs proper maintenance and investment in some basic golf course equipment.  As it stands, it doesn't offer an inviting surrounding to what appears to be a pretty good quality hotel.  This is a view of the 1st Hole.

Were we not trying to play absolutely every course in Scotland, from the internationally famous right down to the most basic and humble, I'd not have stopped to play this Par 3 course.  For the record, I went round in 31 strokes with 14 putts, counting a maximum of 2 putts per green, given the awful state of the putting surfaces and the overgrown holes, which looked as though they'd been in service for a year or more.  At least I didn't get wet, dodging the rain that threatened for a while during my 40 minutes on the course.

Here are some other photos of this rather dismal little track.  I've played it once and I'm afraid that'll do for me.  I'll try Craig Tara later in the year, when it's drier!

Maverston GC - Course no 630

At long last, after a long hard Winter, it's back on the road again, pursuing our quest to play every golf course in Scotland.  We'd been searching the internet a while ago and came across rumours of a new course being developed in the Morayshire countryside, a few miles east of Elgin.  The original idea had been to create an exclusive development around some luxury housing, with an 18 hole course and a shorter 9 hole par 3 course, serving largely the corprorate market and residents, but nothing on the internet suggested that anything had been built.  Over the Winter, we discovered that  the recession had limited the housing side of things and led to the owner's business plan being modified to establish a members' club open to visitors, alongside some future housing.  Indeed, we discovered that the 18 hole course had been built and although there had been limited play last year, this new parkland course would formally open to the public on 1 April 2014.  See www.maverstongolf.com for further details.

Craig, Stu and were due to play the new Maverston course at 0930 hrs on 1 April.  I'd picked up a bug of some sort during my recent golfing trip to Marrakech and was still way short of my normal fitness, so I just took it easy beforehand, staying overnight in nearby Elgin.  Craig and Stu are both pretty busy work-wise so I wasn't surprised to hear they'd crammed in some play on the 31st - but 72 holes over 4 hilly courses is a bit much guys!  My intrepid buddies had played Dunkeld & Birnam, Alyth, Glenisla and Pitlochry, stayed overnight at Craig's house in Carnoustie, got up at 0400 hrs and played the equally hilly course at Rothes before meeting me at Maverston.  Little wonder if the Maverston staff thought we were not your normal golfing visitors!

But before we get into this new course, a little about golf in Marrakech.  Polly and I hadn't known what to expect, aside from some late Winter heat and a culture shock, way outside our normal comfort zone.  Marrakech itself was fascinating from start to finish, from bartering in the souks, getting away from the tourist tracks to seeing how the locals really live, seeing some of the history and culture of the place and some of the street food (barbecued sheep's head or fried lambs' brains were available, but chicken tagine with almonds and lemons was more our style).  

The golf was disappointing overall.  We played El   Maaden, Palmerie, Samannah and Amelkis.  El Maaden was pretty good.  We’d hired a buggy for the standard 400 dirhams, the course was pretty quiet and in great condition, so a good start to the golfing side of the trip.  We weren’t so keen on Palmerie.  We’d been asked to play holes 10-27, but although holes 10-18 were pretty good, the signage wasn’t the best and we struggled to avoid getting lost.  Indeed, we were pretty staggered at the mile+ gap between holes 18 and 19, so thank goodness we had a buggy.  Samannah was by far the best course we played, with fast true running greens and overall, in great condition.

And so to Amelkis.  Oh deary, deary, dear.  When we arrived there seemed to be around 50 golfers hanging about, either on the practice range, the practice putting green or in the queue at the pro shop.  When we eventually got served by a rather surly character, I was told I couldn’t play as only my wife was named on the booking form.  The fact that the form clearly stated there were 2 golfers didn’t register.  We then asked about hiring one of the 10 or so buggies parked nearby, but none of these were available.  We’d need to take a pull trolley, so we hired a couple at 100 dirhams each and got a couple of receipts to give to the caddymaster, clearly marked 50 dirhams each.  A modest little earner for our man?  Next, we asked for a couple of scorecards.  I guess I’ve played around 700 courses world-wide, but I really can’t recall ever being told that I can’t have a card and that if we still needed one after the round our man might be able to help.  We eventually got one scorecard between the 2 of us, but others weren’t so lucky and only got a sheet of paper.  Now there’s 3 loops of 9 holes at Amelkis, the red, blue and green courses.  The map on the back of the card helps if you have very good eyesight, but at least we eventually found our way to the start of the green course.  We’d been paired up with a charming French couple who were more able than us to ask for directions to our 1^st tee, but the thrill of pulling a trolley around Amelkis in 26 degree heat soon wore off, particularly when we noticed the couple behind us had somehow been able to rent a buggy, as had others behind them. We managed to complete 9 holes in around 2.5 hours before retiring to the bar. Golf in Marrakech was certainly different and at least my new putter did well enough to stay in the bag for the foreseeable future.

But back to Maverston and this is me, by the 1st tee, on a cold and overcast morning. Maverston turned out to be a good and interesting parkland course, measuring 6284 yards from the White medal tees and 6118 Yards from the Yellows, Par 70. Craig and I opted for the Whites and since the course had only opened to the public that day, I'd been winding Craig up about setting a new course record.  I needn't have bothered, since Craig was pretty knackered after 81 holes in little over 24 hours and any hopes I had of a really decent score didn't last long either. Maverston is built on rolling farmland, with trees coming into play here and there.  The fairways are generously wide and were in pretty good condition for the time of year.  We'd not been sure about how the greens would play.  They looked pretty good and were smooth running but were a lot slower than we'd expected, hence my 3 putt on the 1st, from all of 20 feet.  Indeed, we struggled to get the pace right all the way round and only some decent approach shots and some "gimmies" kept the scores down.

Scoring at Maverston was also tricky because the course is quite challenging, particularly from the back tees.  The Par 4 1st was pretty short, at only 286 Yards, but the second shot was semi-blind, uphill to a well-protected green.  A scrambled double bogey to start. Best holes on the front 9 are probably from 6-9.  The 6th is a monster 575 Yard Par 5, played to a small plateau green with a bunker greenside right that sits ready to collect anything remotely near it.  This is rightly the Stroke Index 1 hole.  OOB comes into play on the right, just to make it even more testing.  I'd mis-hit a 3 Wood 2nd shot so a bogey 6 wasn't too bad.  This is the 7th, a 174 Yard Par 3 played to another plateau green.  I'd hooked a rescue club drive wide of the green and my lob wedge found the back fringe.  Another couple of putts and another bogey.  The 8th is another Par 5, played from an elevated tee, quickly followed by a dog leg right Par 4 with yet another slightly elevated green, as shown here.

With the course being so new and Winter not that far behind us, the course was playing pretty slow generally, but by the turn we'd seen enough to suspect that once the course matures and gets quicker (including the greens) Maverston will be a really good test.

The front 9 is barely 3300 yards, but felt longer due to the various elevation changes (this is not

a flat course by any means), so we were pleased to find the 10th was a short Par 4, at only 293 Yards, as shown here.  Craig had been doing OK, but as he found out, go left off the tee at your peril, so that was the end of his bid for a great score.  Stu and I had been pretty poor on the Front 9 (I was a remarkable 8 over on the 10th tee!) so it could only get better.   I'd hit a good drive and had only a short pitch to the green, for an easy par.  A couple of decent shots on the 379 Yard Par 4 11th set up a rare birdie and steadier play on the Back 9 led to a respectable 39 gross for a total of 83, net 72, with 31 putts.  Not bad overall and an enjoyable round on Scotland's newest golf course.

We particularly liked the stretch of holes from 14-18.  This is the view from the 14th fairway on this long 434 Yard Par 4, the Stroke Index 2 hole.  A drive up the left side avoids the large fairway bunker, but you'll still have a long second shot, slightly uphill, to anothger plateau green, weel defended by 2 large bunkers, as shown here.  The green slopes from back to front so don't be short on your approach!  The 15th is another really strong hole, this time a 354 Yard Par 4 sharp dog leg right.  Your second shot will be completely blind, so you won't see the bunkering that protects the green or the proximity of whin and gorse bushes to the left of the green.  Ideally, the flagstick should be taller or the course managers should consider inserting a marker pole behind the green and as with any new course, there will doubtless be tweaks here and there as the course matures.

This is the 16th a 211 Yard Par 3.  The gulley in front of the green that hosts a couple of bunkers is far deeper than it looks from the tee, so don't be short!  The 17th is an innocent looking 359 Yard Par 4. Just go over the marker pole and you'll have a medium iron, downhill to a wickedly sloping green.  Go left, as I did, and you'll have a blind shot through mature trees, with the prospect of  a seriously high score.  I managed a bogey taking the direct route but I got lucky.  This is not the hole to hit a hook!


The last at Maverston is another fine hole, a 443 Yard undulating Par 4 a really good drive will clear the bunker to the right of the fairway, leaving an iron to the green.  If like me you finish just short of the bunker, do not top your 3 Wood into the back of the bunker, leaving yourself a 6 or 7 iron escape.  The bunker sand is currently soft and quite deep, making bunker shots quite tricky.  I hit a good 7 iron to within 30 yards of the green, followed by a lob wedge to a foot, as shown here.  This is Craig trying to get inside my 4th shot with his own 3rd.  He got his par, I got my bogey, and Stu? Well, his energy levels were gone long before we finished, as were his chances of a decent score.  I'd done not too bad, despite my Moroccan bug, but was pretty tired when we finished. We'd really enjoyed the Maverston course, a bold venture to compete with the many other well-established courses in the area.  We wish it well and it will be interesting to see the course again later this year, when we plan to return to play the little 9 hole Par 3 course that's currently under construction within the Front 9 holes of the "big" course.

With the weather remaining cold and overcast and  energy levels pretty low, you'd have thought Craig and Stu would have finished for the day, particularly with a long journey back down the road still to come.  No, they were keen to squeeze in another course, so I took them a few miles up the road to Covesea Links, the excellent short 9 hole links course just west of Lossiemouth. For them, that made it 108 holes in well under 36 hours.  Well done guys!  I was happy enough to play another new course as our epic journey continues.  Next stop for me will probably be somewhere around Aberdeen, later in the month.

Scottish golf podcast

I've been interviewed recently about the background to our golfing challenge and more generally about the diversity of golf in Scotland, for a podcast that tries to promote golf in Scotland. 

So, for anyone who wants to hear me droning on for ages about what we're up to and what I think about particular aspects of golf in Scotland, please visit www.scottishgolfpodcast.com and click on Episodes 11 and 12.  

It's been a long cold and wet Winter here in Scotland but I'm keeping busy, having been elected to serve as the new Match Secretary at my home course in North Berwick.   Caddying at Renaissance GC is also getting back into gear and in the next few days I'm off to sunny Marrakech for a week's golfing before getting back to our all-courses challenge. With any luck our first new Scottish course this year will be one that very few people will have heard of or played. Maverston GC near Elgin opens officially on 1 April and we're planning to play it at 0930 that day. Craig will have his eyes on the course record! Check out www.maverstongolf.com.

For those who have read past blog entries about what's in my golf bag, there's a replacement putter, as of today. I went to a putting clinic last night, courtesy of the teaching pro attached to our club, to find that although my putting fundamentals were pretty good, my putter wasn't ideally suited to me.  I can't remember when I bought my Ping Anser 4, but it must have been 20+ years ago.  Since then we've got on OK, with the odd falling out - sometimes my fault, I must admit!  Still, buying a new putter was a big step, not to be taken lightly, particularly since around 40% of my shots are putts.  I don't remember concerning myself with face balancing, loft and lie angles or reverse weighting etc. when me and my Anser 4 got together all those years ago. Ping was just a name to trust (and still is!) and I could just about afford the £46. Today, with the baffling pseudo-science of golf product advertising in full swing, as it were, I headed off to the pro shop at North Berwick GC, my Ping and credit card in hand.  

I'd been told that my putter was slightly too long and suspected that as a result my eyes weren't directly over the ball at address.  Alignment was good, but I could either shorten the shaft or increase the lie angle.  My old Ping has probably had enough batterings over the years without inflicting further pain via a saw or a mallet.  It deserves a more peaceful total retirement so it'll be joining the bag of old clubs in the garage, alongside my really ancient Ping Pal brass-headed putter and some other odds and sods of lesser vintage, all with only sentimental value. 

So, I wanted something with a softer face and reverse weighting sounded just the thing to add some much needed stability to my occasionally erratic putting stroke.  Step forward the Taylormade Spider Blade, surely one of the uglier putters on the market, complete with its long  and heavy fat-sized grip.  As the advertising blurb says - "Spider Blade’s head construction consists of 11 parts made of 8 materials -- 304 stainless steel, 17-4 stainless steel, aluminum, 3M Foam, tungsten, polycarbonate, Surlyn and TPU – which allowed us to take more weight out of the center of the head than with any blade we’ve ever made and ever before and  move it to the heel and toe. That’s where Spider Blade’s high MOI comes from.

Spider Blade’s head is counterbalanced with a 130-gram grip that’s twice as heavy as a typical putter grip. Counterbalancing increases the MOI of the entire club, making it 50% more stable than a traditional putter. Our Tour Staff pros who helped to develop say counterbalancing makes it easier to keep the head moving on your intended path."

  

I've no idea what TPU means nor do I know why a putter head apparently needs 11 parts made from 8 different materials, but for some reason I liked the feel of the Spider Blade and £149 seemed not too bad.  Holing 2 out of 3 from 12 feet in the pro shop was impressive and I was instantly hooked.  Lumping a bag around Renaissance from 0800hrs on Friday this week will cover most of the costs anyway, so I now have a shiny new putter for the first time in 20+ years. I'll let you know how we get on together on our trip to Marrakech and whether the Spider makes the flight home!