Alyth GC Pee Wee Course - Course no 677

Alyth GC's 18 hole course has for many years been one of my favourite heathland courses in Scotland, with a great layout that's always been in excellent condition any time I've played it.  I'd known for a while that the club also had a 6 hole Par 3 layout, the "Pee Wee Course"  but I'd never had the opportunity (or inclination) to play it on my previous visits to the club. One of the other guys I know who's trying to play every course in Scotland, Paul Connor, reminded me about the Pee Wee a couple of weeks ago so with the weather set to be fair, warm and sunny, I set out on 28 October 2024 to play this little course.  I knew the route quite well, but I thought I'd test the sat nav on my recently bought Toyota Rav 4. I keyed in Alyth GC OK, but for reasons that may be best known to Toyota, their name for Alyth GC was Benbecula (Alyth) Golf Club.  For any readers not familiar with Scottish geography, Benbecula is part of the chain of west coast islands known as the Outer Hebrides, a long, long way away from my planned destination.  Indeed, I've played the Benbecula course and can testify that it's nowhere near Alyth!. Since I knew the way anyway, I let the sat nav run, so it was quite amusing to be told, as I pulled into the Alyth GC car park, "you have now arrived at Benbecula Golf Club, the route guidance is now finished." 

I'd also played the former Glenisla GC's 18 hole course many years ago, a course that lay on the other side of the road from Alyth GC's clubhouse. I also knew that when the Glenisla GC ceased trading a few years ago, Alyth had taken over Glenisla's back 9 holes (with the front 9 of that course going to new housing). I'd not played Glenisla since that change so my visit on 28 October was also an opportunity to see what had become of the former Glenisla course.  There are 9 greens on the revised Glenisla layout, but it can be played as an 18 holer, with the front 9 played from the yellow tees and the back 9 played from the whites.  Although the design of the 9 holes looked to be unchanged, the running order was different, since the hole I remembered as Glenisla's 18th is now the 4th/13th. Since I played the "new" Glenisla layout before tackling the 6 hole Pee Wee, I'll cover Glenisla first.

I only played from the Yellow tees, so Glenisla's "front 9" course now starts with a 365 yard Par 4, requiring a slightly uphill and blind tee shot.  This is a view of the green.
 

This was a simple enough hole but I'd been driving for a couple of hours to get there, didn't warm up properly and bogeyed the hole as a result.

Next, a slightly downhill 146 Yard Par 3, with a stream to the back right of the small green, as shown here, with the white building in the background being Glenisla's former clubhouse (and more about that shortly). 

I'd just missed the green to the left side but a good pitch left an easy tap in for a first par. 

The 3rd hole was a very tricky 383 Yard dog leg right Par 4.  The tee shot was slightly uphill and didn't go far enough to get past trees at the corner of the dog leg, so I'd a double bogey.  This is an even more difficult hole off the white tees, a further 11 yards back!  This is a view of the approach to the elevated green.

I thought that the 4th was the best hole on Glenisla, a 342 Yard Par 4, with the Alyth Burn cutting deeply across in front of the green, as shown here. 

The fairway was a bit soggy so my drive didn't get much run and I had around 140 yards to the flag, with OOB close behind the green. I understand that after the Glenisla club closed, someone ran the clubhouse as a restaurant before that business also failed. The still vacant building looked as though it would make a fabulous country house, particularly for someone interested in golf, but I digress. I missed the green long and left with my approach shot.  The green slopes quite steeply from back to front so another bogey was reasonable result.

The 5th was a very flat 351 Yard Par 4 that I imagine will in time be overlooked by the new housing being built on the former front 9 of the old Glenisla layout.  A pond short and left of the green comes into play for approach shots but I was on in regulation for an easy par. The 6th fairway was particularly soggy so this dog leg right 405 Yard Par 4 played longer than it looked.  I'd forgotten that there was a deep bunker just short left of the green, so another double bogey on the card.  

The 7th hole is named "The Monster" and at 587 Yards from the Yellow tee and 612 from the White, (and a meaty 563 from the Ladies' red tee) this hole is aptly named!  Although I suspect that the hole is unchanged in length since Alyth took over Glenisla's back 9, this hole really doesn't fit well alongside the others.  I managed to get within a few yards of the green in 3 blows and make bogey from there, but I didn't really like the hole.  The Glenisla course is otherwise very playable but the 7th seemed to be far more difficult. This is a view of the approach to the green, with the Alyth clubhouse in the background. 

The 8th was a 90 degree dog leg right Par 4 of 359 yards. For me at least, the corner of the dog leg was well beyond my driver's landing zone, and with mature pine trees to contend with on the inside of the dog leg, this was very tricky hole.  It might have been easier if my drive had not been so close to the right of the fairway!  This is a view from where my drive would have been if I'd hit it 280 Yards down the middle! I was happy enough with a bogey here.

The 9th was a 140 Yard Par 3, with a large pond coming into play front left of the green.  Another bogey and I was round the course in an unremarkable 44 shots, with 17 putts.  Glenisla was in generally very good condition, with smooth running greens that were faster than I'd expected.  Some the fairways were soggy but that's what you tend to get inland at this time of the year after recent rain. It's a flat and easy walking course and apart from the 7th, is probably slightly easier than Alyth's 18 hole main course.  I enjoyed it anyway and had an absolute bargain at a mere £18 for the 9 holes. 

I'd taken around 80 minutes to play Glenisla and it looked though it wouldn't take much time to play the Pee Wee course, a mere 643 Yards total Par 18 for 6 holes, ranging from 70-155 Yards.  Some readers might wonder whether such a short layout should count as a self-standing golf course and be included in my target to play every Scottish course.  For me, a golf course can have any number of holes i.e. 2 or more and be whatever length suits the owners, as long as it has fixed tees and greens.  Others might think that there should be at least 9 holes with a minimum length e.g. 100 yards, but I disagree.  Indeed, the Asta GC course (as recognised by Scottish Golf with an official slope rating etc for handicap purposes) includes a Par 3 that is significantly shorter than even the shortest of the Pee Wee course.  I'd need to do some research but I'm pretty sure a few other registered courses have such oddities. 

Anyway, here are a few photos of the Pee Wee course.

For the record, I went round in 19 strokes, with 8 putts and a tap in birdie at the 70 Yard 2nd Hole.  Please don't ask whether a hole in one at a course like Pee Wee should count! I suppose it should but I suspect some might disagree. As I'd expected, Pee Wee was pretty basic in terms of difficulty, but for beginners and young children it's a decent test and was in remarkably good condition. It certainly counted as my Course no 677. Not hugely memorable but I'm afraid I could also say that about certain other courses I'd gladly not revisit. 

Old Milton - Course No 676

Regular readers of the blog will know that the challenge that Craig, Stu and I set ourselves was to play anywhere with fixed tees and greens, maintained for the purpose of playing golf, irrespective of whether the course was private or public., and whether or not it had Scottish Golf affiliation, an official scorecard, course rating or slope index. It would have been far simpler to aim at courses that had been officially recognised by Scottish Golf and had been officially rated for handicap purposes, as a few others have done. However, we opted for the far more difficult task of playing everywhere we could find where golf was played, meaning we also tried to play private courses, children's courses pitch and putt courses and even practice courses that had fixed tees and greens. That of course led us to searching out locations that simply weren't listed anywhere and the more we played the more difficult it became to find new courses that we should try to play.

I've known for some time about a small handful of unofficial courses that I still need to play and I've been monitoring the progress of new developments under construction such as the second course at Cabot Highlands (Castle Stuart in former times) and the new 9 hole Par 3 course that will be built at Dunbar GC, one of the clubs where I'm a member (the other being Glen GC in North Berwick). Some months ago now, my close friend Douglas Mill (who earlier this year completed his own "every Scottish golf course" challenge) told me about a very private course he'd come across at Old Milton, near Kingussie that I'd not played and that, if I got lucky, he might be able to get me access to play.  I'll spare you the details but the way was cleared for me to play this course on 16 July 2024.

Some of the private courses I've played are relatively basic and since the owners clearly know their own layouts, its pretty unusual for their courses to have clear signage, numbered tee markers and professional looking scorecards. And at some places I've been, it was pretty hard to get excited about the design, condition or playability of the layouts.  Not so at Old Milton, where the course is just excellent and was in outstanding condition, forming part of a former country sporting estate.  My host Drew, who was renting the entire place for a family holiday, thought the owner had designed and built the golf course around 10 years ago. The layout has 8 Par 3s and a single Par 4, total yardage 1310 Yards, Par 28. 

Drew had advised me against assuming that the course would be easy, since although it was clearly in great condition, the greens were tiny and severely sloping, that anything off line might be lost in high rough and that the holes tended to play longer than they looked. He'd heard the course record was a remarkable 29. His own score earlier on the day I played it was 37 and that sounded to me like a more realistic target.  This is me on the tee of the 91 Yard downhill 1st hole, looking as though my retirement from caddying earlier in 2024 isn't doing much for my waistline. 

An easy lob wedge and a couple of putts and I'd got my first (and only!) par at Old Milton. That was the easiest hole on the course, and greater challenges were to follow! The 2nd hole is the single Par 4, at a very modest 209 Yards, played blind over a ridge in the fairway. I'd taken a half set of clubs so my 3 wood left just a short pitch to the green, which was shared with the 8th hole. Sounds easy enough, but the green had something like a 10% slope from front left to back right, hence the bogey 5.

Next, the tricky looking 130 Yard Par 3, 3rd hole, as shown below. I got away with a lucky bogey after just missing the really heavy rough to the right of the green (even more steeply sloped).

The 4th was slightly uphill and at a mere 98 yards didn't look too demanding, but there was a false front to the green, making the green play even smaller than it looked. This is a view back down the 4th, from beside the 5th tee. That was the first of several climbs on the course.

This next photo is a view from the elevated 5th tee. The 5th is called Traigh (Harder) the joke being that Traigh is pronounced "Try" and at 171 Yards is a pretty meaty Par 3, given the small size and slope on the green. It's just too easy to stick with a local landmark or call the last hole "Home" etc, but I liked the humour in the name of this hole.  

The 6th at Old Milton is significantly more difficult than the others, at a meaty 178 Yards, played steeply downhill, as shown below. I don't think I've mentioned this in the blog to date but for the past 7 years or so I've been working for Scottish Golf as a course rater, meaning I lead teams that assess the difficulty of golf courses for handicapping purposes by reviewing course rating and slope index numbers.  We look at a wide range of factors that influence the playability of each hole, such as effective playing lengths, topography, the visibility of greens, recovery and rough, the severity of bunkers, crossing and lateral obstacles, trees, green sizes and green surfaces. All of the data collected on course surveys feeds into a matrix that potentially generates adjustments to rating and slope indexes.  The 6th would score as an extremely difficult challenge, even for those lucky enough to play Old Milton regularly. 

The small green lies behind the mound to the left left of the first photo below. I'd noticed on my way up the 5th that a stream runs right in front of the 6th green, meaning that the shot from the 6th tee had to fly that mound and the stream behind it. I'd only 3 golf balls in my bag (a potentially serious omission there!) so I chickened out of that severe challenge by laying up, leaving a short chip under tree branches and hopefully clearing the stream. A double bogey there was pretty feeble but this was a tight course and I'd little margin for error ball-wise!

The 7th was a steeply uphill 141 Yard Par 3. This a view of the 7th green from the 8th tee, with the main estate house in the background. I'd missed the green with my drive and a fluffed chip from the rough led to another double bogey.  There was a note inside the cup, reading "almost there, only 2 holes to go, and some crisps and a soft drink if you're lucky." I suspect that the message was meant to be shared by the family on holiday there and playing behind me, but I couldn't complain, I was just very lucky indeed to have the chance to play the course.

I'd need a couple of pars to beat my target score of 37, but it wasn't to be.  The 8th Hole is called MacPherson's Rant, presumably since the course is located in ancestral Clan MacPherson country, but I was just enjoying myself on a quality course. "MacPherson's relaxing stroll" doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Anyway, the 8th is a steeply downhill 154 Yard Par 3, with a green shared with the 2nd., as shown here. Another predictable bogey was the best I could manage but it didn't bother me, I was just enjoying the walk and surely I couldn't lose 3 balls on the last hole.

The 9th is a final steep hill at a mercifully short 138 yards, with a band of ball losing rough right in front of the green. I'd hit a 6 Hybrid that normally flies 160 or so, but that drive finished just short of the rough leaving just a short pitch to the elevated green.  However, the green is tiny and my short pitch found some of the heaviest rough on the course immediately behind the green, just short of mature pine trees. A closing double bogey was a bit disappointing but I REALLY DIDN'T MIND, HONEST! I'd gone round in 39 with 17 putts, so that wasn't a great score, 2 over my target. Thank you again to Drew, my generous and kindly host. It was also a thrill to meet his son in law, a former Scottish rugby internationalist.

I'd only heard about Old Milton pretty recently but I'm really glad I did, because this is one of the best private courses I've played on my travels around Scotland. Play it if you get the chance, but take more than 3 balls - you may need them!

Golf-It! Glasgow - Course No 675

If you know where to look, Facebook has been awash with comments, all positive, about the R&A's new initiative to promote family orientated golf in Glasgow, including a new 9 hole golf course.  The new course is a combination of re-modelled holes from the former Lethamhill Golf Course (see Blog entry No 544) and completely new holes. After I'd played the old Lethamhill layout in October 2012, I commented in the Blog that the course and related buildings needed serious investment and that since Glasgow City Council were strapped for cash, it seemed highly unlikely that that would ever happen. In other words, I thought that the course had little going for it and faced a bleak future.  

I'm glad I got that completely wrong and now that I've played the course, I'm equally pleased to agree with the many Facebook comments that have been made. As the R&A have described it -

Golf It! is the R&A's new community-based golf and entertainment facility located on the south bank of Hogganfield Loch, following the redevelopment of Lethamhill golf course. The vast new indoor and outdoor attraction is a new innovation and marks a significant financial investment by The R&A towards its purpose of making golf more accessible and inclusive. The new facility  features a range of introductory golf formats including a twist on pitch and putt, adventure golf and community putting greens plus a double decker floodlit driving range and a new look 9 hole course for all the family to play.  These  sit alongside other attractions and activities such as padel tennis courts, nature trails, bike hire and a street food-style dining and drinks area.

The state-of-the-art development is creating more than 100 jobs and offer a range of apprenticeships that will boost employment opportunities for those living locally.  The facility includes something for everyone new to the sport as well as those golfers who already play. The new nine hole golf course incorporates four sets of tees and an integrated ‘Go Golf It!’ par 3 tee position on each hole to encourage people of all abilities to play. Other features include:

• A short game area with three adventure golf courses, Park Golf pitch and putt and a family putting green for people of all ages to enjoy.
• A 55-bay floodlit double-decker Top Tracer driving range, including bespoke family bays and simulators.
• A golf equipment library with easy access to hire equipment for anyone who wants to try before they buy.
• Seven Lochs Visitor Centre with nature trails that link to Scotland’s largest urban nature park.
• Street Food by The Big Feed. 
• Fit, Build, Play retail area by Scottsdale Golf. 
• Three Padel tennis courts by Game4Padel.
• Early Years Nursery operated by Lullaby Lane.
• A long-term education programme across Glasgow with the aim of providing in-curriculum golf experiences to 42,000 children across the city.
• A community orchard and gardens.
• Free bike access in partnership with St Paul’s Youth Forum.

Golf It! opened officially on 5 August 2023 so I'd arranged with Douglas and his son Stuart to play the new 9 hole course on 15 August 2023.  As regular readers of the blog will know, Douglas is still trying to play every course in Scotland and only had one course to go before Golf It! was added to his target.  Anyway, we were booked to play at 1600 hrs  but the weather forecast had been for occasional showers - not the monsoon that began around 1530 that threatened to flood the whole development! The course was still playable by the time the deluge abated but with more ominous towering clouds on the horizon, we'd have to play quickly and be very lucky if we were to get round without a real soaking. 

Facebook comments had highlighted the outstanding quality and smoothness of the greens and the imagination shown in providing 4 sets of tees for golfers of differing abilities. This is a view of the 1st tee, showing the different yardages that were available. I'm still just about hanging on to my 8.6 handicap index, so we chose to play off the pink tee markers, making the course play at 2431 Yards, Par 33. The former Lethamhill layout had poor drainage and would have been completely flooded by the deluge. The new course was very wet underfoot but had stood up remarkably well, the only real difference being that the greens were slower than we'd expected from Facebook comments.

Our 1st hole was an uphill 335 Yard Par 4, with green surface not visible for second shots.  We'd rushed on, had no warm up and agreed to play ready (and speedy!) golf in an effort to beat the next downpour.  Predictably, my drive only went as far as the trees to the right of the photo above.  I've had a foot injury for a while that's only now clearing up so that's my second excuse for an opening double bogey.

The 2nd hole is a really good downhill 141 Yard Par 3, as shown below, complete with background rain.

I'd hit my tee shot to within 15 feet dead on line for an easy 2-putt par, only to be beaten by Douglas's tee shot to 3 feet for our only  birdie of the evening. A good hole though!

The 3rd hole is an uphill 381 Yard Par 4, and the Gents' Stroke Index 1, parts of which  I recognised from the former Lethamhill layout. I'd hit a decent enough drive but I was playing too quickly and after missing the green and 3 putting, it was a poor 7 on the card.  Much the same story unfolded on the 4th, a 517 Yard Par 5 played steeply downhill from the tee.  The fairway dog legs sharp left after that and heavy rough on the inside of the dog leg adds to the difficulty.  

The 5th is a 162 Yard Par 3 that played longer than it looked, so a bogey for me on that one.  The 6th is a 288 Yard Par 4 played from an elevated tee with ball losing rough and trees to the right.  The second shot is uphill to an awkward highly contoured green, as shown below. Readers with good eyesight may be able to spot my ball in the bunker!  Another bogey but we were making decent progress in under an hour for 6 holes and staying dry!

Our 7th was a short 102 Yard Par 3.  It looked easy enough but there's steep fall off slope on the right so my par was decent in the circumstances. 

And so to the 8th, which for me was the best looking hole on the course, as shown below. This is a 303 Yard Par 4 played from an elevated tee with an uphill semi-blind second shot to a green well protected by trees.

I just missed the green, played a poor pitch and run and ended up with another bogey.

This is a view of the 9th green , with the double decker driving range in the background.

The 9th is a 202 Yard Par 3 that looked likely to play longer than it looked, despite being downhill. And so it proved and my final bogey of the round meant I was round in a poor 44, with 20 putts. Still. it was new course for me and one that I really enjoyed, despite the conditions and the threat of further heavy rain.  Our only negative comment was that there were no bunker rakes (yet?) and that the greenside bunker by the 9th looked to have  particularly well-visited, given the many footprints on show.

Congratulations to the R&A and all concerned at Golf It! I really liked the course layout and in time I hope this becomes a model for the future promotion of golf to all ages in local communities. 

We'd all played pretty poorly but for my buddy Douglas this was his second last new course in Scotland, with only the Castle Course in St Andrews remaining. As I know only too well, it takes stamina, determination and a peculiar form of madness to even attempt to play every course in Scotland, from the world famous championship courses to the really obscure ones, tucked away, seemingly miles from anywhere familiar.  Paths less well trodden for both of us, but an unforgettabe journey.  My first round with Douglas was at Glenburn Golf Course (where's that, you might wonder!) in August 2013, (Blog entry 614) and since then we've been on some real adventures, helping each other find new courses and experiencing their unique challenges.  He's a fine man, great company and story teller, and the only St Mirren supporter I know.  Douglas once told me I'm the most sane person he knows.  I'm not sure about that, having just played my 675th course in Scotland, but although his journey is nearing it's end, we two pals will doubtless be back together soon, playing our own interpretations of the sport we love so dearly.  We may even have a beer or two afterwards - stranger things have happened, believe me.

Here's to you Buddie! (a rare Paisley joke)

Royal Musselburgh GC

The Royal Musselburgh Golf Club is the 6th oldest in the World and has the distinction of owning the oldest trophy still played for in the World, the Old Club Cup, dating back to 1744.  The club moved to its present site close to Musselburgfh and Prestonpans in East Lothian in 1926, to a new parkland course designed by James Braid.  The clubhouse building is also one of the oldest, if not THE oldest in Scotland, with parts dating back to the 12th Century.  I'd played the Royal Musselburgh course a few times before, and certainly years before I started writing this blog, which explains why the course is listed in my Blog entry No 1. I'd have been content to leave it at that, as nowadays I much prefer links courses and I have no current connections to the Royal Musselburgh club.  However, the course is one of the venues for the 2023 US Kids Golf European Championships.  The American kid that I've been caddying for over several years in US Kids Tournaments is playing there in this year's 13 age group competition, so I played the course again on 18 May 2023 to remind myself about the layout and check out the condition of the course and any issues that young Ayush might have to face.

The course layout is pretty flat on the Front 9 and relatively straightforward, but is far more demanding and undulating on the Back 9.  Overall, it's a modest 5880 Yards, Par 70 off the Yellow Tees and a far more tricky challenge of 6254 Yards, Par 70 from the Whites.  The 1st Hole is a modest 309 Yard Par 4 opener.  Avoid a couple of fairway bunkers on the right and it's just an easy short iron to the green.  Greenside bunkering is fairly strong throughout the course although I have to say the depth of sand was poor, as I was to find out later in the round.  However, I'd an easy opening par.  The 2nd was even shorter, at a mere 280 Yards, but there are 4 fairway bunkers to avoid.  I took a 3 wood off the tee to ensure I landed short of that trouble and another easy pitch set up a 6 foot birdie putt, which I made, just!

The Tee for 349 Yard Par 4 3rd Hole offers this good view of the old Clubhouse, though I'm not sure about how the (1970's?) flat roofed  extension ever got planning permission.  I 3-putted the 3rd green from under 30 feet for a bogey.  The next couple of holes are of similar length and difficulty so even par after 5 holes wasn't too shabby.

The 6th is the first Par 3 at Royal Musselburgh, as shown here.  The green is small and well protected by bunkering that makes the hole look shorter than it really is.  I took the Course Guide's advice to take one club more and another comfortable par was on the scorecard.

The 7th is a really good hole and a sign that the course is about to become a more serious challenge.  At 363 Yards, fairway dog leg lef and the green is well defended by good bunkering.  A further par was really encouraging.  I'd remembered from years back that scoring was easier on the Front 9, so level par after 7 would certainly do for me. The 8th is a dog leg right Par 4 of 410 Yards with a generously wide fairway, which I missed quite comfortably, finding my first bunker of the day off the tee.  A double bogey 6 was disappointing though.  Next came the 465 Yard Par 5 9th, named after the course designer, James Braid.  The front of the green is well defended by strong bunkering.  I found a narrow gap but found heavy rough at the back of the green, so another bogey followed and I was out in 39, in barely 90 minutes of easy walking.

The course was about to get more challenging and I was glad to have had that decent start.  The 10th is blind off the tee and is a dog leg left 351 Yard Par 4.  I'd sclaffed my drive barely 170 Yards and was left with a long downhill second to a narrow well-defended green.  A bogey was about the best I could do and bunker trouble on the 11th led to a double.  The Course Guide warns that you "cannot go left off the tee" on the 12th.  Well, that's wrong for a start, as my hooked drive was to prove!  Trees on the left meant I'd almost no shot but  a low running 7 iron at least got me back into play.  Bogey there and my 3 over par after 9 was now 7 over after 12.  My playing handicap off the Yellows was 9 so I needed a run of pars to keep the round going my way. The 13th is the Stroke Index 1 hole at Royal Musselburgh, and at 435 Yards this Par 4 is a formidable test.  The tee shot is blind and from the landing zone the fairway runs significantly downhill to another well protected green.  More bunker issues and another bogey. 

The 14th Hole had stuck in my mind over the years, so I knew what to expect.  As the photo immediately below shows, there's nothing to suggest that this 127 Yard Par 3 hole is particularly tricky.  As the subsequent photo shows, there's a deep and steep-sided gulley right in front of the green.  Anything short risks a bogey or far worse.  I was barely a yard short and faced an awkward lie just to be able to hit the ball at all, so yet another bogey and I'd used all of my 9 handicap strokes, with 4 of the most difficult holes on the course still to come.

The 15th is easily the most difficult of the closing holes and although its a meaty 419 Yards off the Yellow tee, deep gulleys running across the fairway mean that you can have 2 or more blind shots and a Par 4 hole playing nearer to 500 yards, uphill. The Course Guide states "be happy to make 5."  I was, but I was now 10 over and mindful that young Ayush might also be happy to make 5 when the tournament starts.

The 16th is a downhill 148 Yard Par 3 that offers some relief and would be my sole par on the Back 9. 17 is a blind Par 4 of 334 Yards running in the opposite direction to the 15th, with similarly tricky fairway gulleys to contend with.  I'd hit a really good drive, blind over a ridge,  but my  approach shot was also blind and as it turned out, really overhit into heavy rough at the back of the green.  Bogey again.  The 18th is an uphill 377 Yard Par 4 that plays longer than it looks.  I'd found this bunker 50 yards short of the green but there was almost no sand in it, which was disappointing.  I got the bunker shot onto the green and 2 putted for yet another bogey.

I'd played the Back 9 in 43 for 82 overall, a net 73 with 33 putts. Not bad I suppose, but 8 bogeys out of 9 holes on the Back 9 was poor.  However, at least I'd gathered a better understanding of how this course should be managed.  I'll be trying to keep young Ayush out of the bunkers and making sure he takes enough club on particular holes.  He's a talented lad, so I don't think my 82 will be much of a target for him.

Royal Musselburgh was good test and I'd recommend you give it a try and good value for money.  The fairways were in really good condition, the  greens were medium paced and smooth and the lack of bunker sand is easily remedied  If you've played Newbattle or Ratho Park, some of the holes here might look very familiar!

Muirfield - The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers

Muirfield.  Golfers all over the world will know the home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers in Gullane, East Lothian as one of the finest links courses in the world.  I'd played it a few times and had never got remotely near playing to my handicap.  That didn't really matter since the experience of walking and playing such a prestigious layout was what it was all about.  The golf society (SEDGC) I'm still a member of used to go there every year until around the mid 1980s and if memory serves I first played Muirfield in 1981, when my handicap would have been around 18.  I didn't beat 100 net (!) and in particular, was completely beaten up by the severity of the bunkering.  Some years later I managed a gross 89 by avoiding most of the bunkers, hitting straight(ish) and putting reasonably well, but that was my best and over the years I'd harboured ambitions to try to play Muirfield again and beat that score.  

Fast forward to earlier this month when Colin, my buddy at Dunbar GC, asked me whether I wanted to play Muirfield on 24 January 2023.  His son in law Stuart is a member of the Honourable Company and had invited Colin to bring along a couple of friends for a morning fourball, followed by a leisurely lunch and light permitting, a few afternoon foursomes holes.  Suffice to say I jumped at the chance, as did Gordon, one of our other Dunbar buddies.  January in East Lothian has been typically cold, wet and pretty miserable, so much to our delight 24 January was a perfect day for golf, a bit cloudy but otherwise mild, with just a light breeze across the links.  I'll get to the actual golf, but first some history and context.

In 1744, Edinburgh Town Council agreed to present a Silver Club to the winner of an annual golf competition over Leith Links.  The Gentlemen Golfers of Leith, later renamed The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, codified and wrote the original Rules of Golf as a precondition of receiving the Silver Club, which remains the oldest trophy in world golf. From the 1820s onwards HCEG members played more at Musselburgh and by 1836 the club had relocated.  A dedicated clubhouse was built in Golf Place Musselburgh in 1865 and as one of the original subscribers for the Claret Jug, along with Prestwick and the R&A, the HCEG hosted 6 Open Championships between 1874 and 1889.  Due to overcrowding on the Musselburgh Links, the HCEG moved to Muirfield in July 1890. The Muirfield course, designed by old Tom Morris, opened in May 1891 and in 1892 the course hosted the first 72 hole Open Championship. In 1922 the HCEG purchased the existing links and added a further 50 acres of land.  The layout was redesigned by Harry Colt with advice from a past HCEG Captain and since 1892 it has hosted the Open Championship 16 times, together with the Ryder, Walker and Curtis Cups and numerous other international and national competitions.

Muirfield is different from the classic 9 out 9 back links layout, with the opening 9 holes circling clockwise around the perimeter of the course, and the closing 9 holes running anti-clockwise inside the first 9. Although there are fine sea views on some holes the course is separated from the sea by trees and natural dune land and wind can be a significant factor here. We played from the Red (front 9) and Yellow (back 9) markers, meaning the course played to 6457 Yards, Par 71, with a Course Rating of 72.5 and a Slope Rating of 139.  Note that the Red tees aren't "for Ladies'" play.  It's just another of the ways that the ECGC does things- Red out, Yellow back. At Dunbar GC our comparable numbers are 6196 Yards, Par 71, Course Rating 70.4 and a Slope of 124.  My 8.6 Handicap Index converts to a Playing Handicap of 9 at Dunbar and 11 at Muirfield so it was obvious that Muirfield would be a significantly more difficult challenge.  However, I was still hopeful that I'd manage to beat that 89 from many years before.

 

A view from the first tee back to the clubhouse.  The first hole is almost a flat dog leg right 420 Yard Par 4, played directly into the prevailing wind (such as it was).  We'd had coffee in the clubhouse rather than a warm up so I wasn't surprised to find myself still 80 yards short of the green in 2. The greens would prove to be faster than they looked (stimping around 9.5?) and after misjudging the pace my 3 putt double bogey wasn't ideal. 

The second was shorter at 346 Yards, with OOB close to the left side of the green.  Bogey there, but at least I was warming up.  Next, a 370 Yard Par 4.  The last 60 yards of the fairway is squeezed between mounds that reduce it to a narrow strip, with the mounding also restricting visibility of the green itself. Gordon on his way along the 3rd fairway.

A decent drive and a 6 Rescue to within 15 feet set me up for an easy par, but any thoughts of a continued scoring trend were ended at the 4th, a 180 Yard Par 3.  The pin was mid-right on the plateau green close to deep bunkering and grassy hollows.  I missed my "brave" target line by a couple of yards and had a blind shot up a 10 foot bank for my second.  However, a double bogey was poor from there.  

The 5th is slightly uphill and is a short 487 Yard Par 5.  Easy enough if you keep to the fairway.  Stuart's advice was to avoid the 5 bunkers to the right of the fairway and target my tee shot short of the second of 3 bunkers on the left. Unfortunately my drive went right of the right side bunkering, leaving a hugely awkward stance. I was happy enough with a bogey in the circumstances.  Next came the 419 Yard Par 4 6th, which the Course Guide describes as "probably the most demanding hole on the course." Flying the 4 bunkers on the inside of the bend in dog left left fairway wasn't deliberate but somehow I managed what for me was a long drive, setting up a 4 Rescue to the green, a mere 44 Yards long!  Bogey again but I suspect I've scored worse there. 

This is the 7th, a slightly uphill 147 Yard Par 3, played to a plateau green with heavy bunkering and grassy hollows waiting to gobble up anything remotely wayward e.g. my tee shot. I was only a few feet offline to the right but ended up 20 yards right and 15 feet below the green.  My lob wedge to 6 feet was given rightful applause by my playing partners but any hopes of a stunning par didn't last long and a tap in bogey was scant consolation.

The 8th is the Stroke Index 1 hole, for good reasons.  It's a daunting 430 Yard Par 4, requiring a good long drive, left of the 5 bunkers that hug the inside of the dog leg right fairway.  I got that bit right but I still had around 190 to the green.  Three bunkers protect the approach to the green from 58 to 17 yards out, so I tried to steer a 3 wood left to avoid them.  I hit a reasonable shot but at Muirfield the catchment areas for bunkers are often quite considerable and my approach shot rolled sideways into the biggest and deepest of those bunkers, as seen below. 

I'd a hugely tricky shot just to get out, but it was disappointing that I ended up in another bunker on my way to a snowman 8.  That meant I was now 12 over after 8 holes!  The 9th offers no relief and for me, is probably the most tricky hole on the course.  This is a 474 Yard Par 5 that plays directly into the prevailing wind.  I'd hit a decent drive but had an awkward stance in light rough.  My weakest shot of the day dribbled into a fairway bunker (again!) and after 4 shots I still had  to avoid another 5 bunkers protecting the green.  Another 8 for a poor outward 51.  This is a view of the 9th green, clubhouse in the background.

The Back 9 starts with a whopping 446 Yard Par 4 with, for me at least, a blind second shot over deep twin fairway bunkers.  I'd come up just short of the green in 2 and just missed my par.  The 11th has the only completely blind tee shot on the course and is a short 332 Yard Par 4. Thankfully the pin was at the front of the green and an easy wedge helped me avoid the 6  deep bunkers that almost surround the green.  A rare par!  The 12th is a downhill 366 Yard Par 4 that looked deceptively easy.  Avoid  fairway bunkering and it's a simple hole, if you also avoid the 6 deep bunkers around the green.  I managed to miss the fairway entirely on this hole and had the rough been at "Summer" length, my bogey would have been considerably higher. 

This is the 13th, a tricky 156 Yard Par 3.  The Course Guiide says " The green should be an easy target but but is never more than 15 paces wide and angles off to the left in a hollow in the dunes.  On top of that, it is severely bunkered on both sides, drops sharply from back to front and falls away to the right.  You just have to stay out of the sand."  And that's an easy target?

I tried a 7 iron, which thankfully stuck on the bank just short of the green, leaving around a 100 foot putt.  Aye, right, a bogey 4 would have to do, and I know I've scored far higher on this hole.  The 14th is a 432 Yard Par 4, slightly downhill and played into the prevailing wind, this is another daunting hole.  Only 8 bunkers to avoid this time.  The Par 4 15th is almost equally formidable, at 393 Yards, with a remarkable 13 bunkers and significantly sloping green.  I double bogeyed both of those holes!  16 is the final Par 3 and at 179 Yards and almost totally surrounded by 7 bunkers and grassy hollows is a severe test.  The pin was on the right side of the green and after just missing  the green, I'd yet another bogey. 

And so to the 17th, a 478 Yard Par 5 that normally plays downwind and should be fair;ly straightforward.  I'd hit a reasonable drive down the right avoid the 4 bunkers but leaving a semi blind second over another 4.  I just found this bunker, had a poor lie and was daft enough to try to play over the bunker just beyond it as shown here.  I then had an almost impossible lie and had to play back down the fairway. Another double bogey was on the card! 

The last hole at Muirfield is one of my favourite closing holes in golf.  402 Yards for club amateurs like me but a formidable 471 Yards from the tournament tees.  2 bunkers to the left of the fairway were out of range but the one on the right was worryingly well within range.  By this time I'd  seen enough of Muirfield's bunkers to last me a while.  The next challenge was to avoid another couple of fairway bunkers and 2 greenside ones, in an effort to close the round under 100.  I opted to lay up and hit a short pitch to the green.  I'd forgotten just how steep the slopes were on that green and my 12 foot putt for par was quicker than I'd really want, but I was happy with a closing bogey and delighted with the morning's golf. Great company, some really good and bad shots by all 4 of us, no lost balls in my 97 gross, 86 net, with 37 putts. A very poor 26 over par, so my personal record score of 89 remains intact for another round at least.  This a view of the 18th green.

No visit to Muirfield would be complete without their truly sumptuous lunch and a tour of the iconic clubhouse and its priceless golfing artefacts.  Although the course is open to visitors on Tuesdays and Thursdays, only 3 fourballs were booked for the hole of the day, including ours and Stuart was the only member among all 12 of us. A round at Muirfield is not cheap but is an experience that goes far beyond "18 holes and there's the door" which I'm afraid I've experienced elsewhere at other major tournament courses I'd better not mention.  From start to finish this was an unforgettable experience so if you ever get an invite to play here, jump at it.  Failing that, just make a tee time reservation for the low season rate if the peak rate is a bit steep for your wallet.  Be prepared to book well in advance and remember, every hole will be challenging and you will need to be extremely skillful to miss all of the bunkers and avoid 3 putting on the huge greens. The course was in truly remarkable condition for late Winter, with full tees and greens and no matts, firm fairways and fast running smooth greens.  Even our weather was kind.  We even went out again at 1545 to play the 10th and 18th and with few lights remaining in the clubhouse and daylight fading fast, I took this final photo of our day at Muirfield.  

Thank you again Stuart for your hospitality and  kindness in making our day so very special.