Lilliesleaf Golf Course - course no 288

I played at Lilliesleaf after my 26 April 2010 rounds at Galashiels and Melrose. The somewhat quirky course was deserted when I arrived apart from 2 lady members having a refreshment outside the modest clubhouse. I'd noticed a small and tired looking platform of the kind normally used as a winter tee, but there was no sign of a men's first tee. My apologies to the ladies for asking where the men's tee was. The said platform was indeed a communal tee, but my timing could have been better, as one of the ladies was about to choke on her crisps such was the apparent daftness of my question.

Lilliesleaf is a 9 hole par 34 course of 2545 yards off the yellow tees. The scorecard shows a medal course of 2735 yards, but I couldn't find any white tees, or space for them. I didn't check with my laser range finder, but given some of the club selection issues I faced, I suspect that the yellow tees had been laid out over the medal course. That oddity aside, Lilliesleaf was great fun to play. Scoring was tricky, as the greens were lightning fast and being so early in the season, the greenkeeper had put all of the flags near the edges of the greens (and on slopes!). For example, here's the pin position on the 8th. I can't recall ever seeing a pin position within a putter's length of the edge of a green before. Nor can I recall seeing anything quite like the Local Rule relating to dogs on the course "Poops must be scooped off fairways, tees & greens (sand wedge)." I didn't need to take this action, nor did the Local Rule define the penalty for using a different club. The best hole at Lilliesleaf was the 3rd, a 185 yard par 3 played over a wall requiring absolute accuracy. My 7 wood went through the back, just short of the burn and a bogey followed. A good hole, though. I also enjoyed this, the 7th hole. This is a tricky 160 yard uphill par 3 with a viciously sloping green. I'd been concerned that my car was also within range behind the modest clubhouse, had I sliced anything off the tee. I even holed this putt for my first birdie of the day. Trickiest hole was the 9th, a 325 yard par 4. Although there's ample space for the drive, the last 100 yard or so of the hole is about 20 yards wide, with the green nestling at the top of a hill between 2 dense pine tree plantations. My second shot was just off line and was never found, so a disappointing 7 meant I'd gone round in 41 strokes, with only 13 putts (despite the greenkeeper's pin positioning).

Lilliesleaf is an enjoyable course, well worth the effort to find it!

Melrose Golf Club - course no 287

This was a super little 9 hole course of 2628 yards, par 35 off the yellow tees, full of character and challenges, which I really enjoyed playing on 26 April 2010 after my morning round at nearby Galashiels. Although Melrose is a bit hilly, it is quite easy walking, with accuracy more than length being the basic requirement. For example, here is the somewhat intimidating view from the 3rd tee. The 3rd is a 149 yard par 3. There's actually tons of room on both sides of the green, but for the visitor, this is a scary hole. I thought the 5th was the best hole, a short downhill 254 yard par 4, with a pond to the left and a stream and bunkers in front of the green. Here's the view from the tee. I'd played a 3 wood to lay up short of the stream, but a hard first bounce took the ball into the water hazard, a few inches short of the stream as shown below. My only shot was to stand with my back to the hole and play a lob wedge back handed with my right hand onto the bank to the right of the bunker and hope the ball would trickle onto the green . Miraculously, this shot came off exactly as planned, impressing a local member who had been practising his short game nearby. I just missed the 20 foot putt for a lifetime birdie, but a par was pretty good from that lie. Being realistic, I could have stood there all day and not bettered that back-handed shot!

Accuracy is also essential on the 9th, a short 259 yard downhill par 4 as the clubhouse and car park look to be within range for anything mishit off the tee or from the second shot. Here's a view from halfway down the fairway. My 3 wood had finished 20 yards short of a pond in front of the green and the pin was right at the front of the green. A lob wedge over the pond to a narrow strip of rough in front of the green was the obvious choice. However, I must have used all of my Melrose luck on the 5th hole, since although my ball landed where I'd planned, it hit a clod of earth and bounced back into the pond. A double bogey followed for a round of 42, but I didn't mind. Melrose is one of the best 9 hole courses I've played in recent months, with great views and a really interesting lay out. It was also in great condition, with true and fast running greens (as I found out on the 2nd, after putting right off the green and down a hill!)

Galashiels Golf Club - course no 286

I played the Galashiels course on 26 April 2010. Galashiels now has 16 different tees to 9 greens so is really an 18 hole course in disguise, and at 5412 yards par 68, off the white tees, is a pretty good test of golf. I'd played off the medal course by mistake, since the men's tees were blue rather than the more normal yellow (I'd mistakenly assumed that the blue ones were the junior tees!) The course was in excellent condition and for the most part was really great fun to play. The course is hilly in parts and I'd noticed that some members missed out the first 3 holes for that reason. This is a view from halfway down the 2nd fairway, giving some impression of the hill involved in playing the 1st, 2nd, 10th and 11th holes. Although it would be tempting to miss the climbs involved in playing those holes, it would be a pity to miss the 3rd/12th a difficult blind uphill par 3 requiring accuracy (or at least avoiding a hook) off the tee, given the proximity of a large house to the playing line. I was glad to play away from the house, but doing so cost me 3 strokes over the round. Some locals I met on the 4th tee told me that the course had originally had 18 separate holes and had gone far higher up the hills than at present. The views had been great but the upper holes had not been popular or easy walking. Best holes on the course were the 4th/13th, par 5's of around 520 yards to a small plateau green.

This is a view from the 5th medal tee, giving some impression of the slopes to be found at Galashiels. Generally, the fairway grass had been kept moderately long to hold the ball on such slopes. Even so, there were some pretty unusual lies, reminding me of my former playing days at Lothianburn. Below is a view from the 17th tee, a formidable 208 yard par 3 that plays longer than it looks due to the prevailing wind. I took a bogey there and also had trouble up the 9th/18th as the second shot is longer than it looks and is played semi-blind uphill to a small green. A difficult finishing hole that cost me 3 strokes on my round in total. I managed to get round Galashiels in 86, net 75, which wasn't bad under the circumstances. I enjoyed the course and was thankful that it was not too windy, as I can imagine that the course would be an even more stern physical test when there's a gale blowing.

Rutherford Castle Golf Club - course no 285

I played this excellent parkland/moorland course on 21 April 2010, a cold and sunny day with a strong northerly wind. Rutherford Castle is a relatively new course, but it has recently been bought by a major property developer and in addition to some large houses already under construction, a major luxury hotel is planned. Indeed, I was advised by a couple of members in the car park that the course was about to close for a couple of years to enable the hotel to be built. They and other members were currently considering options to join other clubs. Although there was cold wind blowing, I'd expected the course to be busier and apart from those 2 members and a greenkeeper (doing a great job, as the course was in super condition), the only other people I saw were a couple of guys teeing off at the first as I finished my round. I thought that this was a seriously good and interesting course, so it was disappointing that for whatever reasons, the course was almost deserted. Accordingly, there were no witnesses to one of the steadier rounds I've played recently. Rutherford Castle is a par 72 of 6199 yards off the yellow tees and has some really goods holes. After a quiet start with an easy par 4 and a modest par 3, the course opens out and the 3rd hole is a downhill par 5 of 479 yards, with a generously wide fairway. A good drive, solid 3 wood and a short pitch to 15 feet was followed by a single putt for (of late!) a rare birdie. Here's the view from the fairway.

Rutherford Castle already has the flavour of a good resort course. Modern design, water, wide fairways, excellent greens, interesting holes and great views of the Pentland Hills and surrounding countryside. I don't know whether the hotel construction will take land from the course and require some redesign. There is certainly enough spare land in the middle of the course if that proved to be necessary, but I hope the developers can leave the course relatively untouched, as it's a pretty good test already. It is, however, very exposed to the elements and is likely to be wet under foot and prone to frost damage (if not snow-covered) in the winter months. This is a view back down the 11th, an uphill par 5 of 509 yards, with a hidden bunker (as I found!) in front of the green. That cost me a bogey, but there's a nice bench beside the next tee and that seemed a good spot for my packed lunch! I certainly can't imagine that the bench takes much traffic, since at the time I was the only golfer on the course (the other 2 having done only 9 holes).

Water comes into play on several holes, not least the 383 yard 14th. Although the fairway is generously wide, the northerly wind pushed anything remotely wayward into a water hazard on the right. I know this since that's where my drive ended up, but another single putt meant I'd only dropped one shot. The 15th was even more tricky. The greenkeeper was cutting the fairway so I baled out to the left into the short semi-rough. A wiser choice would have been to go right, since I'd left myself stymied by trees. Even my pitch back to the middle of the fairway, avoiding the greenkeeper once again, left me with a stream crossing (twice!) in front of the green. I limped off with my second double bogey of the round (the other being at the very difficult 4th hole, an uphill 398 yard par 4 played straight into the wind).

Rutherford Castle finishes with a couple of good par 4s, with the last finishing in front of the clubhouse still being built. Here's a view up the last fairway. Perhaps I'm wrong, but the building's design does not appear to offer very good views of the course. Maybe I'll get back to find out one day. I went round the course in 83, net 72, so not bad. I'd taken only 29 putts so there were still a few unforced errors from tee to green, but thankfully nothing on the scale of recent rounds.

Aigas Golf Course - course no 284

Aigas Golf Course is primarily a pay as you play 9 hole course that forms part of a country estate with holiday cottages etc. near Beauly. The course had been developed in 1993 as a land management diversification project and is now a quality and profitable commercial development within the Mains of Aigas estate. We'd not been sure what to expect at Aigas. We'd heard that the course was a "hidden gem" but we're always wary on that over-used phrase, which more often than not indicates a marketing strategy rather than an objective assessment of course quality. However, Aigas really was a lovely little course, nestling on a valley floor between a forest and the River Beauly. This is a view from the 1st tee, somewhat unusually at the highest point on the course. The 1st was a 515 yards downhill par 5, so with the whole of the course to aim at going left wasn't the clever option. I just about stayed on the course, but since the hole developed into a dog leg left, a dodgy double bogey followed. A 139 yard par 3 followed, with the tee shot having to clear a wall in front of the green and stop pretty quickly before the out of bounds fence. An impressive 7 iron, pin high to 20 feet and a couple of good putts and I'd parred the hole, much to Stu's surprise, who I suspect had predicted another sh--- (see my Ullapool and Stornoway blog entries in particular!). I did hit a few dodgy shots, but I wasn't going to let that spoil such a good course.

Here's the 6th hole, a 323 yard par 4 dog leg right, with the river along the full length of the hole. I played safely out to the left, found the front of the green with an easy 7 wood (well, my ball was pretty new and with the river so close, it was the conservative shot). An easy 4 followed, but this was a dangerous hole. I can't remember what the other guys scored, but Craig did hit an old practice ball (not his ball in play) to just short of the green - a great shot. however, we're still not sure where young Craig's ball went on this, the 9th hole. To be fair, the small clubhouse is well within range off the tee (as was my car, parked behind the clubhouse!). Craig's 3-wood soared away in the general direction of the clubhouse. The somewhat metallic dull thud which followed was not reassuring so it was with some relief that we found no damage in the car park. We didn't find the ball either, but we concluded that the ball may have hit the clubhouse roof. I scrambled a final hole par for a 42, which was 9 over the course par of 33. Not impressive, but Aigas was a fittingly enjoyable end to our West Highlands and Western Isles trip. We'd played 11 good courses in 5 days, enjoyed each other's company and had a great laugh. I was only £2 down on our 3 putt challenge over the trip (a 50p penalty for each 3 putt, the penalty to be cancelled out by a birdie scored on the same day as the 3 putt). Some of the shots I'd played were poor, but many others were either very lucky, imaginative or skilfully played. We'd enjoyed the golf and we'd raised some further cash for our charity, so a successful trip all round!

As a final postscript to the trip itself, my 9 iron has been successfully repaired by Jim Affleck, a local club maker, with his £10 fee being added to the Justgiving website. Thanks Jim!

Gairloch Golf Club - course no 283

We played this lovely little course on the morning of 15 April 2010 on our way home from Ullapool. Gairloch is pretty remote as Scottish golf courses go, but it is surely one of the prettiest 9-hole courses in the country, with outstanding sea views from all of the holes and not a weak hole on the whole course. Indeed, each hole was memorable in its own right and this was clearly a course that could be played and enjoyed again and again. This is the outstanding 6th hole, a demanding 194 yard par 3. We'd filmed play on the hole with our camcorder, so look out on You Tube for yours truly driving the green and hitting a couple of solid putts for a par. A bogey at the short 91 yard par 3 7th followed and I was level 4s for the first 7 holes. I'd really wanted to play a punched 9 iron at the 7th, but my 9 iron was still in bits following the Taynuilt incident, and the punched 8 iron was clearly too much and only just stayed on the golf course.

This is my drive at the 8th, a tricky 488 yard par 5, played to a narrow ridged fairway atop an old sand dune, with out of bounds all the way down the beach to the left. This was actually one of my best drives all week, but things went downhill thereafter and I ended up with an 8. The last hole is a 139 yard par 3. We'd been asked not to play to a green if the flag was not in place and the greenkeeping staff were working on the green. When we reached the 9th, 4 guys were spreading sand onto the green but we had come a long way to play the course and we really didn't think we could afford to return to play the whole course since no 9 was closed temporarily. We asked the greenkeeper for permission to play the hole and he readily agreed, but this left me with a problem. I'd been having difficulty with my irons and feared another sh--- in front of the greenkeeping audience and there was also a ladies' 3-ball within range to my right. Having seen me in action all week, Craig and Stu were lurking behind me, doubtless guessing where my (new) ball might end up and whether I would scatter the ladies' 3-ball. We didn't want to delay the greenkeepers, so I played first. Unusually, I actually felt comfortable over the ball and my easy 7 iron sailed majestically (well, you had to be there!) straight over the flag, finishing 20 feet or so behind the hole. Craig hit a wedge to a similar distance and Stu also played a good shot. Our audience were suitably impressed and the ladies played on, oblivious to the situation. The 9th green was by now dressed with unbrushed sand so was slower than the other greens and my 20 foot putt stopped an agonising inch short in the jaws of the hole. Craig got his birdie, Stu finished strongly and to the greenkeeping staff we must have passed as pretty competent golfers. I'm just glad they hadn't been around at Ullapool, or Stornoway, for that matter.

I hope to play at Gairloch again, but in the meantime, thanks to all at the club for their friendly welcome and generous support for our golfing challenge.

Ullapool Golf Club

We played this excellent course on the afternoon of 14 April 2010 after coming over from Stornoway after our trip to play all of the Western Isles courses. I'd played the Ullapool course during a downpour in March 2006, when some of the fairways were almost under water, so it was a real pleasure to play it again in warm sunshine and little wind. Ullapool is a 9 hole course of 2699 yards off the yellow tees and is great fun to play, with several really interesting and testing holes. This is the second hole, a 181 yard par 3 played from an elevated tee, with a typical cross wind from the right. We filmed this hole with our camcorder, so my bogey 4 might one day be on You Tube. At least a bogey here is a decent score! Thankfully, we didn't film play at the 3rd hole, a fiendishly difficult par 4 of 338 yards, with surely one of the narrowest fairways anywhere in Scotland, with gorse to the right and Loch Broom to the left. The only sure way to play this hole appeared to be to aim at the narrow shingle beach with a fade, but since I struggle enough to hit the ball straight, moving the ball like that is not something I practice, so I was happy enough with another bogey as this hole is a genuine card wrecker.

I was also delighted to chip in for a birdie at this, the 5th hole, a short 251 yard par 4. However, my tee shot had been just short of the green and an sh--- with my lob wedge took the ball perilously close to gorse on the right of the hole, narrowly missing Stu in the process, so a chip in was barely what my play had warranted. Tiredness had clearly set in again and I was level 8's for the next 3 holes, leading my playing partners to position themselves behind me whenever an iron came out of my bag. Stu actually became quite good at predicting where my next iron shot would go, but as anyone who has ever hit successive sh---s will know, the player has no idea where the ball will go, or how to remedy the fault. I was keen not to practice the fault, so contented myself with 9 holes round the course, despite the fact that Ullapool has 18 tees played to 9 greens and is therefore an 18 hole course. As I remember it, when the played the course in 2006, only the yellow tees were in play for bounce games. However, on this latest visit, holes 1-9 were played off the white tees, so I guess I've now finally played from all 18 of the tees. This is a view of the 8th hole, a good 486 yard par 5, where a bogey would have been acceptable. I'll spare you the gory details of my 9, en route to a score of 50 for 9 holes. Not my finest round of golf, but enjoyable nevertheless, since Ullapool is a fine course. I just wish my golf had done it justice. Another time, perhaps!