I played the nearby Polmont course after my round at Bridgend and District on 2 March 2011. Polmont is (definitely) a 9 hole course of the Yellow tees and although only 6 miles from Bridgend is more heathland in nature, with faster and drier fairways and speedier greens. Indeed, the greens here were surprising fast and smooth for the time of year and after our tough Winter. The small clubhouse was closed and the car park almost empty, but thankfully a lady coming off the course had an old scorecard and gave me directions to the 1st tee, so I didn't get lost. This is the view from the 1st tee and not the prettiest opening hole I've seen. However, this is only a modest little course built in a former mining village, hence some of the hole names e.g. "Fit o' the Bing" (foot of the shale waste hill) and it's great that such small clubs still have their place.
My "new" Pal was on better form here and I had 6 single putts (12 in total) in my round of 38. Polmont is only 2895 yards, Par 35 off the Yellow tees and despite being moderately hilly, was an easy enough walk. If you hit the ball straight and made allowance for side slopes that make some holes tricky, there wasn't really not much real trouble to be found when I played it (a windless day in benign dry conditions). That said, the greens are small and I suspect that when the course is really dry and the wind is blowing, this wee course might have some teeth!
Anyway, I went round in 38, or 3 over par. I thought the 9th was the best hole, a 308 yard par 4. This is the view from the tee. I'd hit my drive up the left side and had an easy wedge to the green. However, it turned out that the green was even smaller than I'd thought and I'd found a nasty bunker behind the green, invisible from the fairway. To be fair, the bunker probably stops balls from running down to the 1st tee. I also mention that bunker since that's where my second shot ended up, for a closing bogey. This is the green itself, with the Grangemouth oil refinery in the distance.
I enjoyed the round at Polmont, but with so many excellent courses in East Lothian where I live, I doubt I would play this course again.
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