Gleddoch Hotel - Academy Course - Course no 663

The Gleddoch Hotel and Golf Club sits high above the village of Langbank on the south side of the River Clyde. west of Glasgow.  I'd stayed there a few times on business and played the excellent 18 hole heathland course there one evening after a long day's work.  The main course is quite hilly in parts and is perhaps the best of the heathland/moorland courses along the Clyde estuary.  Try it if you're in the area.  It's a really good test and looked to be in great condition again when I played the Hotel's 4-hole Golf Academy course on 21 April 2015.  This little course is laid out in the grounds of the Hotel itself and you'll drive through the middle of it on your way up to the Hotel.

The first things I noticed about this course is that it needs some upgraded signage and better maintenance.  I measured the 1st hole, as shown here, at 112 Yards.  There was no sign at all, but this was clearly the logical start to the course, being closest to the Hotel, car parks and the main golf course.  This hole is steeply downhill, with excellent views north to Dumbarton and west to Ben Lomond and other nearby mountains.  A simple enough starter and an easy wedge to the green.  As I'd expected the green was slow and bumpy. Polly and have just joined Dunbar GC and its greens are fast and smooth running, so it was no surprise when I 3-putted this Par 3 hole.

The next hole, rather confusingly, was the Par 3 Hole 1 according to a sign on the tee and at 154 Yards, was steeply uphill towards the tee of the previous hole, starting almost at the entrance to the hotel grounds.  I'd only taken a few short irons and my putter, hence my bogey 4 at this hole.  Next and on the other side of the driveway to the Hotel, was the 3rd (signed as the 2nd, at 330 Yards). This hole is blind and downhill with a dog leg right after around 250 Yards to a small green, protected by a hole in the ground that many years ago was presumably a bunker, but is now just overgrown with weeds and moss.  

There's a path of sorts to the right of the green that takes you to a 4th tee and another blind tee shot, this time steeply uphill.  No tee signage, but the hole was around 395 Yards, with a dog leg sharp right after around 280 Yards, where a stream cuts across the narrow fairway. Another bogey there meant I'd dropped a shot on every hole, to go round in 18 strokes, with 8 putts.  This was not a great round, but the course isn't  a great test either. Indeed, my round was a rather dismal and under-whelming experience, despite the warm Spring sunshine.  

This 4-hole course is labelled as the Academy Course and whilst it might be useful for basic teaching, I doubt whether it would be particularly useful as a  warm-up for the main course, which I know is far better and a fitting partner to the excellence of the Hotel itself.  With some basic signage and more intensive green keeping this course could be real asset to the business. At present, it looks rather neglected.  A pity, because the setting is pretty good, as this final photo shows, with views to Ben Lomond and beyond. 

Pitlochry GC - Lettoch Links Course - Course no 662

I'd played the fantastic Pitlochry GC course a few times in past years.  A real treat for anyone to visit, really friendly and a great test of your game.  Don't take my word for it, though, try it yourself and if that's not immediately possible, explore the club's excellent website, at http://www.pitlochrygolf.co.uk/visitors. I'd read somewhere recently that the club had developed a golf academy, driving range and a 6-hole Par 3 course and the website confirmed that, so a stop at Pitlochry on the way back from Auchendean Lodge on 14 April 2015 was an obvious opportunity to play the new Lettoch Links course.

This is not a links course, being laid out near the geographical centre of Scotland and about as far away from the sea as it's possible to get. Having said that, the name is pretty unimportant, as this is a really good and imaginative development that looks set to promote golf in the area and help the members to improve their game. I'd called in on a quiet Tuesday afternoon, but the course was impressively busy, with a large party of Norwegian golfers just leaving, having clearly enjoyed the course and the 19th. 

The holes on the Lettoch Links range from 35 to 89 Yards and are absolutely ideal for beginners or for general practice/warming up for more experienced golfers.  Indeed, as I made my way onto the course, a lady who must have been well into her 80s stopped me, just  to say hello and talk about the new course. She'd been playing with a young lad who looked barely of school age.  That's another thing I like about golf.  Had we passed in the street, I doubt if anything would have been said between us.  

This is the downhill 4th, an 86 Yard hole with a small green and a nasty looking bunker which I was pleased to avoid.  There was some light rough to the left and I was glad that the course was playing relatively slow, as this hole looked as though it could get pretty fiery on a hot summer's day. I was playing OK, and after an opening birdie on the 35 yard 1st hole, I was still 1 under, after finding the light rough here and escaping with a par. I almost came to grief on the 5th, as shown below, after missing the green to the left. This is the longest hole on the course, at 89 Yards and was played into a strong head wind, requiring a full wedge.

This is the last hole, a 43 Yard hole with a wickedly sloping 2 tier green and a little bank at the back of the green covered in tough rough.  I'd just missed the green and had an awkward pitch from the rough to a flag no more than 15 feet away.  Anything even slightly strong would leave a very testing long uphill putt, but I managed to pitch my ball dead for a closing par and a 1-under total of 26, with 8 putts.  £10 for a day ticket was good value and if id had the time I'd gladly have gone round a few more times.  However, it was still the thick end of a 3 hour drive home so I reluctantly made do with one round.  The Lettoch Links is a great addition to the facilities at Pitlochry GC, one of my favourite inland courses.  I certainly hope to play the main course there again sometime and when I get the chance to do so, I'll also try to beat my gross 26 on the Lettoch Links.

Auchendean Lodge Pitch and Putt Course - Course no 661

We'd had Auchendean Lodge on our list of courses for a couple of years thanks to Graeme, who'd somehow found it on the internet, together with a whole bundle of other obscure courses we'd not known about.  We'd just not got round to contacting Auchendean's owners and it was only when I was reading the Scotsman's property supplement on 9 April 2015 about a large country house and former hotel being up for sale (and more of that later) that I realised it was the same place.  A couple of e-mails and a phone call later and Ian and Eric had very kindly agreed to let me play their little course, normally only accessible to friends and hotel guests.

14 April 2015 looked pretty unpromising weather-wise and heading up the A9 to Aviemore before turning off to reach Auchendean, just south of Grantown on Spey, the rain was enough to dampen my spirits, despite this being my first new course in 2015.  I needn't have worried, as the rain finally stopped just as I approached the Lodge.  Ian and Eric were busy in the garden so I was delighted that they took a break and generously provided morning coffee and biscuits, much needed after my almost 4 hour drive.  Ian had a sore back but was keen to join me on the course, keeping me right on how to tackle what he modestly described as a "tricky" course.  Auchendean apparently has its own micro-climate, being sheltered between mountain ranges. It's also a lovely part of the world, with fine views across Strathspey and the Cairngorms, Abernethy Forest, the River Spey and the Cromdale Hills.  Ian and Eric had operated Auchendean as a hotel but with that business now closed, their next stop is a move to New Zealand.  I've never been there, but they'll be hard pushed to find a setting as grand as that at Auchendean.

The course is certainly "tricky" having been designed by Ian and laid out in 1989, meandering through their 1.5 acre garden.  An artist friend and had kindly designed their unique scorecard but the course had never been fully measured, so the guys were keen to see my laser range finder in operation.  The 1st hole is all of 31 Yards, as shown below. "All" you need to do is thread your ball between the witch hazel and birch trees, avoid a little stream in front of the green and stop short of the bush behind the green.  The course was still awaiting its first cut of the year, so the greens were a bit hairy.  This was actually helpful, as Ian and I found it difficult enough to  find and hold the small greens with our tee shots.

This is the 4th and the longest hole, at 48 Yards, with Eric on his way down to the green to capture the moment on camera. The trick here is to hit along the line of the OOB and hope you get a lucky first bounce. My luck was in, but Ian's wasn't and the gate to the adjacent forest came in handy. The photo below is Ian trying his luck at  the 7th, a 28 Yard long downhill hole that looked fiendishly fast, even this early in the Spring. The ideal line here is the tall green tree in the background, landing your ball just beyond the bush in the middle of the picture. We both found  that bush, hence my 6! 

This is the 8th, all 34 Yards of it.  The line here is over the stump, playing for the 6 foot gap between the birch trees, on the line of the chimney in the background.  Easy really, but I'd obviously used all of my remaining luck on that hole, as my tee shot at the 27 Yard 9th, as shown below was at least 10 yards too long, ending up on a path that was OOB. A closing double bogey 5 was disappointing, but my round here wasn't about the score (a gross 36, or 9 over par, with 15 putts by the way). It was about enjoying this little course and the generous hospitality of a couple of really great guys who went out of their way for a stranger. That's one of the things I love most about golf. It brings people together that wouldn't otherwise meet and my travels around the country have been enriched by meeting the likes of Ian and Eric.  I hope they really enjoy their retirement years in New Zealand and find a good golf course nearby or perhaps build their own Auchendean South Course.

It will of course be for the new owners to decide, but it would be a shame if whoever buys Auchendean Lodge decides against keeping Ian and Eric's little course.  The guys used to invite friends around for an annual Mid Summer's Night golf match - now that's my kind of house party!   

For more details of the sale see -

http://search.struttandparker.com/residential/dulnain-bridge-grantown-on-spey-morayshire-ph26/42012.  

Offers over £600,000 for the course also gets you a great house in an amazing country setting! 

Thanks again guys, it was my pleasure meeting you both and playing your little course.  

Dalmeny Estate GC - Winter Course

When I played the Dalmeny Estate GC Course in July 2014, I learnt that the course layout changed each winter, with separate tees and greens, making the winter course an entirely different course from the summer layout.  Accordingly, I'd have to return one day, courtesy of Martin the local member who'd very kindly invited Graham, Douglas and I last July.  I've been playing quite a bit over the winter but since most of the courses that I've still to play are not easily accessible or are only open during the summer months, I've not managed to play any new courses since my round at Hamilton, way back in October 2014.  As it turned out, the only date that suited us was Sunday 15 March 2015, so Graham and I joined Martin for what we'd thought would be a game on the winter layout, counting towards my own target of playing every Scottish course.

Martin hadn't had time to play at all over the winter, so it was as much a surprise for him to find that the winter layout is no more.  In previous years the course owner had found it advantageous for a number of reasons to change the course layout, but this hadn't been done this winter and it seems that in future years the summer course will be retained throughout the year.  So, that's one less course to do, I suppose, so if I have succeeded in identifying all of the courses, including practice courses, pitch and putt courses, those with less than 9 holes and all of the private courses on country estates etc., I now have 31 courses still to play.  That is of course a moving target as Scottish courses are currently closing at a faster rate than they are opening and that trend seems set to continue.  Maybe my target of 691 will change again if any courses close before I play them or if I find any more new ones to add to the list.  I'll try my best to play towards that target and see what happens, but with any luck 2015 will see me finish the long journey that's taken me many years and thousands of miles to complete.

Anyway, back to Dalmeny.  I said in my blog entry 642 that the Dalmeny Estate course was difficult. That was a significant under-estimation. The par of 31 is actually hugely challenging.  I'd met Martin and Graham on the 3rd tee.  They were going round this little 9 hole course twice.  I was planning to play only 9 holes, as I'd only got back from a holiday in Madeira very late on the Saturday night.  I was a bit tired, but after hacking may way round on holes 3-9, I decided to see if I could beat the 38 I'd scored last July over the same course layout.  I played pretty well and with more luck on greens that were considerably slower and less consistent than they'd been last July, the best I could do was another 38, or 7 over par, with 15 putts.  There's maybe 2-3 strokes I could shave off that total, but I doubt if I could consistently play to 10 here, given the general slowness of the fairways and the small size of the greens.  Indeed, some of the holes are just too long for me to hit in regulation. For example, the 6th, at 245 Yards is one of the longest Par 3's I've seen in my travels.  I'd move the tee forward a bit to make the challenge more realistic, given the chance!

A final comment on Dalmeny.  As might be expected of a course owned by an old aristocratic Scottish family, the Dalmeny course has had some famous visitors over the years.  This is a photo an old plaque by a large tree beside the 8th tee, showing that the tree was planted by General Eisenhower on 3 October 1946. I gather that Eisenhower only planted 2 trees on golf courses, the other being at Augusta and that as a result there is still a link between the 2 clubs.  Another tree behind the 8th tee was planted by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh in November 1953, but that's the end of my trivia about this particular course. Thanks again to Martin for inviting me to play the course again.  Polly and I have recently joined Dunbar GC, so I'll probably do a blog entry on it in due course.  But for now, that's me officially out of hibernation so with any luck my blogs will soon be more regular, as my travels around the country get back into full swing. 

Hamilton GC - Academy Course - Course no 660

Polly and I played the 18 Hole parkland course at Hamilton GC a few years ago.  Since then the club have added a 5 Hole Par 3 Academy Course and driving range, with the new Academy Course being intended primarily for juniors and beginners. The Hamilton Golf Club has one of the best 18 Hole parkland courses in the Greater Glasgow area and is well worth playing. The new facilities complete the package for members and visitors alike.  When I left East Lothian early on 7 October 2014, it was pretty damp, but by the time I'd reached Edinburgh the sun had broken through and a good morning's golf seemed in prospect. However, I was soon in heavy fog on the motorway heading west, travelling at a snail's pace due to the fog and a bad accident blocking the eastward carriageway and other major roads in the surrounding area.  I'd been planning to play the 18 Hole Course as well as the Academy Course, but by the time I got to the club, still in heavy fog and a 4 Degree C temperature, it seemed more sensible just to play the Academy Course and find a quieter way home.

There's no scorecard for the Academy Course, but this is what I scored

Hole   Yardage         Par   Score    Putts

1           155                3        3            1

2             92                3        2            1

3             89                3        3            2

4           106                3        3            2

5           132                3        3            1

Totals   574               15      14           7      

As the yardages suggest, this is a pretty easy layout, made even simpler by the use of 6 inch wide holes, presumably to encourage juniors and complete beginners.  Bunkers protect most of the holes, but these shouldn't come into play if you're reasonably careful off the tees.  The Academy Course is an excellent facility for beginners and would be a good warm up facility before tackling the main course, which if memory serves, is pretty testing off the back tees.  Here are some random photos of the Academy course, starting with a view from the 2nd Tee to the 1st Green, with the Driving Range in the background -

 This is a view of the 2nd Hole -

 This is the 4th Hole, backed by a new housing development under construction.

Heads of Ayr Golf Course - Course no 659

This is a 9 hole Par 3 course within the grounds of the Craig Tara holiday park in Ayr.  UK-based readers of a certain age who remember the former Butlin's holiday camps may wish to note that Craig Tara now operate the former Butlin's at Ayr.  I'm told that this little Par 3 course has been part of the facilities at this holiday camp for generations.  I tried to play the course earlier in the year during a dry spell of spring weather, only to find that the course was still closed after the winter and that it was still partially flooded, so clearly, it's only open for part of the year.  That was a wasted journey, but when I turned up on 17 September 2014 it was a warm sunny day so I was confident that I might finally get to play the course. The car park was deserted and the only signs of life were a couple of greenkeepers.  A sign on a closed down building nearby directed me to another part of the site (which is huge!) for the payment of green fees and appeared to assume that any potential golfers would know where to find the building in question.  When I eventually found where to pay my £9, the guy on the counter had no clue where to find a scorecard (one of the main ways we have of verifying that we've actually played all of the courses).  His first reaction was to suggest I'd get one down at the building beside the course car park.  That'll be the closed building with the sign directing you vaguely to the distant part of the site that I was stood in at the time! Hardly a welcoming first impression and I was glad that the greenkeepers were still around, since finding the 1st Tee was a challenge in itself.

Was it all worth the effort?  Yes, since this is a decent quality Par 3 course, well-maintained and laid out.  It's just a shame that it's tucked away in a remote corner of the park and access isn't obvious or easy. The course is parkland in nature and is laid out in 2 separate sections amongst trees and shrubbery at the west side of the park, close to the sea shore. At 1226 Yards, Par 27, it's not very demanding, but the greens are very small and although generally in very good condition, were on the slow side. That worked to my advantage, since any tee shot that missed the green left a simple chip that I knew wouldn't run too far, even if slightly wayward. The course starts with an uphill 80 Yard hole and an easy par. Next, there's a slightly more tricky 128 Yard Par 3 that's quite narrow, set amongst trees. The 3rd, as shown here, is only 105 Yards but there's not much room if you miss the green.  The course appeared to be getting trickier as it went on.

The 4th is a 132 Yard Par 3 with trees behind the green and a slight slope in front that killed my 9 iron tee shot stone dead.  I needed an 8, but I'd only taken a few clubs and that one was still at home in the garage. This is the 5th, a downhill 100 Yard hole.  I found the green with a very easy wedge and just missed the 20 foot birdie putt.  The 6th is a 158 Yard Par 3 played over a stream to a small plateau green.  I missed the green pin high left, fluffed a chip out of light rough and took a bogey, but this is a pretty difficult hole, and a timely reminder that I could drop shots on any course if I got too casual. 

Next, the Stroke Index 1, a 210 Yard  Par 3 with a narrowing fairway and tiny green, as shown here.  I needed a full 3 Wood to get to the front of the green for another easy par. The 8th is a 160 Yard hole. The scorecard gives different yardages for some holes between the Front and Back 9's but confusingly, there was definitely only one set of tees set out. It's only a Par 3 course intended for casual and family play, but it would have been nice if the course as laid out bore more resemblance to the scorecard!  That annoyance was even more apparent at the 9th, an uphill 155 Yard hole that was little more than 90 (take my word for it, I don't hit 155 Yards with a half-swung wedge!)  

I went round in 29 shots, 2 over par, with 13 putts, but I doubt whether I'd go back to try to beat that score.  The Heads of Ayr course is enjoyable and well worth the £9 green fee, but it needs better signage and a decent scorecard.  With a bit more effort, the holiday camp management could do a lot more with the course.  I was the only golfer playing the course on a bright and sunny morning, when the camp was otherwise pretty busy with late-season tourists.  It's worth seeking out for an undemanding stroll but if you want a more significant challenge, there are many other and far better courses in the area.  

Arbroath Pitch and Putt Course - Course no 658

I played this pitch and putt course in hot and sunny conditions after my excellent round with Craig at nearby Kelly Castle.  With 9 holes ranging from 32 to 65 yards and a total length of around 420 Yards, this little course wasn't much of a challenge, nor was it much fun. Although most leisure facilities on the beach frontage at Arbroath were open and relatively busy, the pitch and putt course was deserted, the booth for hiring clubs and paying green fees was closed and there were no flags in any of the holes.  I'd visited the course a few weeks earlier after playing at nearby Guthrie Castle and had the same impression i.e. the pitch and putt course was closed. However, Craig subsequently told me that there are never any flags in the holes. Maybe petty vandalism is a problem, or more likely the local Council that runs the pitch and putt course can't afford to pay anyone to collect the green fees, hire out equipment and put out the flags each day during the summer months, when apparently this little course is supposed to be open.

With no sign of anyone ready to tell me otherwise when I re-visted the course on 11 September 2014, I just assumed that the course was open, took my lob wedge and putter and got on with playing.  The course was generally very well maintained, making it easy to see where the greens were and the hole signage was good too, but the absence of flags made me feel as though I was tresspassing rather than enjoying one of Arbroath's beach-front leisure facilities.

Anyway, I managed to par all of the holes, apart from the 65 Yard 5th and the 58 Yard 7th, which I birdied after decent tee shots to within a few feet of the holes.  25 shots in total, with 11 putts wasn't bad but this was one round I was happy to get finished as quickly as possible.  It's a long time since I've been chased by the Parkie, and I'm not quite as fast on my pins as I used to be!

It's a pity that this course isn't at all welcoming, as it could be fun for families to play on a casual basis.  Here are a couple of photos, for the record, but I definitely wouldn't want to play this course again.