Pumpherston GC - Course no 246

I played this course on 8 February 2010. I'd originally tried Bathgate GC, but it was badly flooded, with temporary greens. Pumpherston was wet underfoot, but perfectly playable and the mat provided for fairway play not only helped the course but avoided any risk of standing water affecting the ball. Pumpherston is 5716 yards off the yellow tees, par 70, but was playing slightly shorter due to the use of forward winter tees. The normal greens were in really good condition considering the wet weather and although the greens were slow, my putts ran pretty true.

I was really impressed by Pumpherston. It had originally been a 9 hole course, first laid out in 1895, but more recently an extension to 18 holes with interesting water features and excellent sand based greens has made this an excellent course. I really liked the second hole, a tricky par 4 of 408 yards downhill dog leg to the right. A good drive left me too far back to attempt the green safely, so a lay up with a 9 and a wedge to the green seemed wiser. A bogey on this Stroke Index 1 hole was OK. Above is a view up the third hole.

Water also comes into play on the 9th, a short par 4 of only 314 yards. If anyone finds an almost new Titleist 4 in the pond in front of the green, it was mine. A disappointing 6 and I was out in 42. The back 9 was great fun, with 3 par 5s, 3 par 4s and 3 par 3s. This is a view of the 13th, a 132 yard par 3, with another pond in front of the green. A super little hole. Indeed, all of the back 9 holes were good, with 2 tricky par 5s to finish. Below is the last, a 456 yard par 5 with yet another pond. I managed a 5 to go round in 81, net 69. Note the dark cloud to the right of the photo. That was the blizzard that started on the way back to the car park. Excellent timing! I'd love to play here again and will be encouraging my friends to try it out as well. An excellent course.