Brancumhall Pitch and Putt Course - Course no 523

I played here after my earlier round at Langlands on 27 July 2012.  To give this little parkland course its full title, the Brancumhall, Adult and Junior Golf Development Centre and 9 Hole Mini Golf Course is a pitch and putt course in East Kilbride that caters primarily for beginners and those wishing to sharpen their short game.  The 9 holes vary between 33 and 82 yards, with the Adult Par being 28.  The greens are tiny but were actually considerably faster and more even than I'd found earlier in the day at Langlands.  This is the 2nd, a downhill 73 Yard Par 3.  For me, the challenge was to hit and hold the greens with 9 iron pitches and make some decent putts.  With the greens running so fast and being so small, I only made 4 greens in regulation.  However, I made a 3 on each of the holes to go round in 27 with 13 putts. 

This is the 5th, a slightly uphill 82 Yard 4 (yes, a Par 4!).  This is a really good community facility offering an ideal opportunity for youngsters to develop an interest in golf and for more experienced players to develop their short game skills.  Brancumhall was in great condition and although it was still pretty windy, the earlier rain showers had been replaced by warm sunshine.  It was therefore disappointing that I had the course to myself - where were all of the local kids on their school holidays?

Langlands Golf Course - Course no 522

This is an 18 hole parkland course in East Kilbride a largely industrial and commuter town south of Glasgow.  The course is owned and operated by South Lanarkshire Council and is the home of Langlands GC, a non-course owning private club. Langlands is 5957 Yards, Par 70 off the Yellow tees.  I'd not booked ahead and just turned up on spec on 27 July 2012.  The car park was alarmingly busy and there was a substantial queue waiting to tee off.  Luckily, there had been a late cancellation and if I could be on the tee in 5 minutes....  That, sadly, was the only time I was able to move at anything more than a snail's pace.   It's difficult to identify precisely what the problem was, but from what I saw of the many golfers ahead of me, few could play to even a modest standard.  It would have been easy to get impatient and I do sometimes find slow play deeply frustrating to the point that it affects my game, but on this occasion I managed to keep my cool, since I was really lucky to get on in the first place. Four hours+ for a single player on a tight course of less than 6000 yards is not good and on the basis of the number of groups behind me who gave up and walked in, I reckon I spent over an hour hanging around between shots waiting to play.  Normally I'd have expected to be invited to play through, but it looked as though there were 2 or more groups on every hole, with queues forming on the par 3 tees, so it was just a case of accepting that this would be a slow round.  if you ever want to play here, I suggest you book in advance.

Langlands is a decent enough course and was in pretty good condition overall, despite some greens being slow and bumpy, with others running faster and smoother, but I didn't think the design was particularly challenging.  For example, this is the 6th, a downhill 463 Yard Par 5.  By the time I'd reached that hole, some squally showers were blowing through on a strong gusting wind that would increase to almost gale force by the end of the round.  This wind helped me to maintain my interest and keeping control of the ball became the main challenge.  The 6th is a modest Par 5, the main difficulty being to hit a couple of reasonably straight shots and decide whether to lay up short of a cross bunker 90 yards out, or take it on. Being downhill and downwind, it would have been a far better hole as a Par 4, albeit way beyond the limitations of the folk playing ahead of me, the best of whom took something like an 8. 

The back 9 is probably the better half, with some modest slopes, the odd blind shot and water hazards adding to the interest.  This is the 12th, a 466 Yard Par 5 requiring a long drive over water hazards to find the fairway, with the second shot being played blind over a small hill. I'd hit a good drive and 3 Wood and was just short of the green, leading me to think that on some other parkland courses this would probably be a very strong Par 4 (note the 6 golfers still waiting to play on the next tee!).  The back 9 is also slightly more exposed to the wind, with downwind holes being a Driver and short iron and even some of the shorter Par 4s into the wind needing Driver and 3 Wood/Rescue clubs.

I'd gone out in 7 over par after a double bogey on the 2nd, the Stroke Index 1 hole, played directly into the wind, but I birdied the 10th, a 357 Yard Par 4 played into the wind (and rain) and then parred the next 5 holes in some of the toughest conditions of the whole round.  The rain stopped completely for the last 3 holes and I was safely back in 36 strokes, only 1 over.  I'd gone round in 78 gross, 67 net, with 32 putts.  Three strokes under net par was a great score in the conditions, especially as the pace of play was so desperately slow.  This is the 18th green, with Langlands GC's clubhouse in the background.  There are some really good courses in the area, notably East Kilbride GC and the excellent pay as you play course at Playsport.  I'd prefer to play them again, given the choice.

Port Glasgow GC - Course no 521

I played here on 24 July 2012 on a dry and mainly cloudy day that became increasingly humid at the round progressed.  After what seems like weeks of almost constant rain the course was pretty wet underfoot, with the greens in excellent condition but far slower than I'd prefer.  Port Glasgow is a hilly moorland course measuring 5567 yards, Par 67 from the Yellow tees.  After an easy looking Par 3 opener, this course then hits you smack in the face with its Stroke Index 1 hole, a formidable 342 Yard Par 4 that's as steep as you'll play without the ball running back to you.  I'd hit a good Driver and 3 Wood but was still slightly short of the green.  If you ever play here, remember to leave your clubs 100 yards short of the green as the 3rd tee is to your left from there.  Your second shot on the 3rd will be blind, so have a good look at this hole on your way down from the 2nd green.  Thankfully, most of the remaining holes on the front 9 are relatively flat and easy walking.  The 4th is a good 505 Yard Par 5, but there's dead ground in front of the raised green so this hole plays considerably longer than it looks.  This is the 5th, a slightly downhill 427 Yard Par 4 and my favourite hole on the front 9.  The front 9 is 360 yards longer than the back 9 and I was out in7 over the Par of 35.

The 10th is a short Par 5 at only 460 Yards with OOB all the way down the right of the fairway.  The green sits in a dip beyond a slight rise in the fairway.  It's an easy enough hole if you lay up short of a bunker at the top of that rise in front of the green and hit a short pitch and run down to the hole.  I just missed the birdie putt.  The 11th is a 124 Yard Par 3 and supposedly the easiest hole on the course.  Easy, that is, if you avoid the OOB to the right and the 2 deep bunkers in front of the raised green.  I managed an unconvincing par after just missing the green off the tee.

The 12th is a testing 391 Yard Par 4 played downhill, as shown here, to a flattish section of the fairway, before the hole sweeps even more steeply downhill and slightly to the left.  My second shot had finished left of the green in heavy rough and double bogey was disappointing on such a good hole.  I really didn't rate the 13th, a steeply uphill Par 3.  Only the top half of the flag was visible from the tee, poking its head above a hill covered by gorse, heather, long rough and rock.  I guessed that the green lay immediately beyond the hill that was visible, but the green was actually 50 or so yards beyond that hill.  I'd only looked at the scorecard briefly and yardage markers at Port Glasgow are only provided on the white Medal tees, so I'd understood the scorecard to show this hole as 136 yards.  The correct yardage is actually 186, hence me being 50 yards short with my 27 Degree Rescue club off the tee!  Thank goodness I can putt, as I saved an unlikely par with an outrageous 25 footer with 2 feet of break!

I thought the best hole at Port Glasgow was this, the 16th, a 440 Yard Par 4.  The second shot is blind over an infinity edge on the fairway.  I hit a good 3 wood, my ball running down the hill to just short of the green.  A good par after another decent putt.  I'm not sure about the 17th, a 247 Yard Par 3.  This hole is steeply downhill, but a wide band of heather protects the front of the green, so unless you can fly the ball over that obstacle the wise tactic would be to lay up (on a Par 3!).  I really wasn't sure what to do, and my weak Driver ended up in the heather, costing me a bogey. The 18th is another downhill Par 3 this time a "mere" 210 Yards.  I'd mis-hit my 3 Wood right, leaving a copse of mature pine trees between my ball and the green.  Luckily there was a small gap under the lowest branches, but my low dunt with a 7 iron was poorly played and the resultant double bogey 5 was not the climax to the round I'd been looking for. 

I'd gone round in 80, net 69 with 29 putts.  2 over net par wasn't bad on a course that rewards local knowledge.  I'd hit some decent shots and some not so great, but I'd enjoyed the round.  The Port Glasgow course reminded me in parts of other local moorland courses such as Paisley, Greenock, Gourock and Skelmorlie.  I'm not a great fan of hilly moorland courses, though, preferring the vagaries of links golf on dry, warm and even windy days.

McDonald GC - Course no 520

This is an 18 hole parkland course in Ellon a few miles from where we were staying for the week in rural Aberdeenshire.  The course is pretty flat and easy walking and at a modest 5600 Yards Par 70, shouldn't have taken me long to go round  (Polly was still not feeling great and sat this one out) .  However, a Seniors Match with umpteen 4 balls involved was on the course and I was behind it amongst an increasingly frustrated queue of local members.  The front 9 at McDonald is almost 800 yards longer than the back 9 and is the newer addition to what used to be a 9 hole course.  The design overall is reasonably good, but there's a clear contrast between the 2 parts.  The front 9 is more open and tricky, with longer holes, changes in elevation and water hazards, the back 9 being shorter with some almost driveable Par 4s, finishing with the best 2 holes on the whole course.  This is the 7th, a 170 Yard Par 3 with OOB to the left and trees to the right and behind the green.  A good hole.  The 8th is a 374 Yard Par 4 and the 9th is a 523 yard Par 5.  A drainage ditch about 2 feet wide crosses the adjoining 8th and 9th fairways just where decent drives might finish.  What are the odds of landing in such a narrow ditch both times? Pretty long, I imagine and I wish I'd had a bet on doing just that!

The pace of play slowed to a crawl on the back 9, reflecting the shortness of some of the holes.  I'd played with a local member on the front 9, but he gave up (the Clubhouse car park being between the 9th green and 10th tee) and I was soon joined by another couple of members for the rest of the round.  A birdie at the short 242 Yard Par 4 13th was perhaps the highlight of my round in terms of scoring, but the best hole on the course was definitely the 17th, as shown here from the tee.  This is a 428 Yard Par 4 played between stands of mature trees before the fairway sweeps steeply downhill dog leg left to a sloping green.  This hole is rated Stroke Index 4, but appeared to be far more testing than the 5th a shortish uphill 346 Yard Par 4 that somehow attracts Stroke Index 1.  It's simply a question of balancing the scorecard, but I thought the 5th was one of the easier holes at McDonald.

The last hole is a dog leg 404 Yard Par 4 aptly named "Twister" requiring a couple of really good strikes, particularly a fade off the tee to maximise the driving distance.  This is a view of the 18th green with Polly waiting (still), having finished her excellent book (Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith) and like me, in sore need of some late lunch.  I'd gone round in 84, net 73, with 32 putts, but I'd not really enjoyed my round much.  The pace of play was  certainly too slow, but I didn't find the course offered much of a distraction.  There some good holes and it was in great condition despite being almost as soggy underfoot as the other parkland courses I'd played in recent days.  Let's just say that there are better courses in the area that I'd play before giving this course another try.

Longside GC - Course no 519

This is an 18 hole parkland course a few miles inland from Peterhead in rural Aberdeenshire.  The course measures only 4708 Yards, Par 66 off the Yellow Tees and is one of the flattest courses I've played in a long time, with the only slope of any significance being a modest and short climb up to the 18th green.  I'd played a few holes in the rain at Cruden Bay in the morning but the afternoon looked more promising (fat chance!), so Polly and I started our round at Longside in high spirits.  We'd both looked at the scorecard and thought that as the course was so short, we'd both score well.  But to score on this course you need to be accurate and avoid tangly soaking rough, water hazards and lots and lots of trees.  The Longside course was also saturated after all of the rain it had taken in recent weeks and is quite low-lying, so with no run on the fairways and slowish greens, Longside was playing far longer than we'd expected.  Casual water and plugged lies were a problem, but that unavoidable factor aside, the course was in great condition.

Longside was formerly a 9 hole course (what are now holes 1-3 and 12-18) with the newer holes located on top of the former village dump site "over the road" in a low lying section with the River Ugie meandering through it.  Best hole on the front 9 is probably this, the 185 Yard Par 3 5th.  Played over the river and slightly uphill, this hole plays longer than it looks! With the underfoot conditions being so difficult, I was finding it easier to bogey holes than par them and the harder I tried the worse it got.  The front 9 is just over 2700 Yards Par 35, playing nearer to 3000 in the conditions, but even so, I was out in a feeble 43.  The back 9 is only 2001 Yards, Par 31, so maybe my scoring would be better.  Aye, right.

The 10th is a flat 339 Yard Par 4.  I'd found the lateral water hazard that runs up the right of the fairway with my drive and generally footered my way to a treble bogey.  Level 5s after 10 holes!  The next 4 holes are all Par 3s, the best being this, the excellent 131 Yard Par 3 14th, which demands you hit a straight tee shot between impressive stands of mature pines.  I was only a few feet wide to the right and clipped the top of the last tree, so yet another bogey.  the 15th is another good hole, this time a 333 Yard dog leg right Par 4.  Stay well clear of the trees to your right and you should be OK.

This is the 18th, a 286 Yard Par 4 that also plays slightly longer than it looks, with the clubhouse in the background.   I scored a poor 83 overall, net 72, with 32 putts, with Polly winning on the day by a considerable margin, to take our Summer Trophy score back to 5-4.5 in my favour.  Longside is a modest wee course, but you'll still need to play well to score and don't go thinking that just because it's short you'll murder it.  You won't, unless you take your A game and hole some decent putts.  Hopefully, you'll not be playing it in anything like the soggy ground conditions we faced, but I recommend you give it a try.  You'll also find the welcome as warm and genuine as you'd ever wish for, and thanks again to the ladies who donated so generously to our Cancer Research UK fund-raising efforts.  It's really appreciated.

There's 2 other unique things about Longside that I must mention.  I've now been in many a men's locker room/toilet on my travels, from the humblest shack (with the sign "please clean up any mess you make as we can no longer afford a cleaner") to more salubrious places with separate members and visitors toilet doors (that go to exactly the same communal place!) but Longside is unique in having a baby changing mat in the gents' locker room - unique that is, unless you tell me different!  Some ladies that we met in the clubhouse after our round did tell us the background to this gnomes grotto located in the trees to the right of the 15th fairway, but you'll have to go yourself and ask.  Longside is a great wee village course, well worth a visit and if you've a spare gnome....

Cruden Bay GC St Olaf Course - Course no 518

Polly and I had played the championship course at Cruden Bay before, most memorably when we managed to win the club's Mixed Foursomes Open a few years ago.  Cruden Bay is of course one of the best links courses in Scotland, consistently rated as one of the top 100 courses in the World and in the top 40 British courses.  However, there's also a 9 hole links course at Cruden Bay, the St Olaf Course, measuring  a modest 2463 yards, Par 32 and I played the St Olaf on 12 July 2012, on a cold, overcast and largely dry morning.  The St Olaf sits inside the loop of holes 1-7 and 18 on the Championship course and is an excellent test of links golf in its own right.  OK, the holes are shorter and don't have the majesty of some of the truly great holes on the main course, but the St Olaf still makes demands of your strategy, course management and ball striking skills.

The 1st is a flat 365 Yard Par 4.  The drive was downwind for me and easy enough as it's a wide fairway, but your second shot needs to be pretty accurate as the green is small and anything wide, short or even slightly overhit will leave you an awkward pitch to an undulating green.  I'd just missed the green to the left and needed a good pitch and a couple of putts to open with a bogey.  The 2nd is a 163 Yard Par 3 with a little hollow in front of the green and bunkers on both sides.  I missed the green and a bunker by a yard and was only 20 feet or so from the hole.  My decision to chip rather than putt was wrong, costing me another bogey.  Pars at the next 3 holes were good, particularly on the 3rd, a 375 yard Par 4 played directly into a strengthening wind and a shower of rain. 

The 6th is by far the best hole on the course and one that would grace many an 18 hole links course.  This is a dog leg 383 Yard Par 4 played over a dune before turning left to a small green nestling between grassy hillocks, with a deep steeply rivetted bunker to the left of the green adding to the challenge.  Your drive is uphill and needs to be long enough (240+) to give you a sight of the green.  This is a view from the highest point of the fairway as it dog legs left.  With the wind and rain coming almost straight into me on the tee, my drive was barely 200 yards, meaning I had a completely blind second shot over the sand dune to the left of the photo.  The safe shot would have been something like an 8 iron, leaving a short pitch to the plateau green.  Fool that I am, I went for a 23 Degree Rescue played down the grip and punched to keep it down under the wind.  Being pretty fit, I managed to hit the shot and run up the fairway in time to see the ball land on the very front right of the green, only to trickle slowly back down the steep slope, leaving me a completely blind 3rd shot.  There were no witnesses, but I heard my sand iron 3rd hit the flag, stopping only inches away for an easy tap in par.   A great hole.

The 7th is a tricky 123 Yard Par 3, as shown here.  I'd waited a couple of minutes for the tee just behind the green to clear (the 3rd hole on the Championship Course).  Anything short leaves a difficult pitch up a steep bank.  Anything long and you're either apologising profusely or exploring the gorse bushes.  With the wind still a problem, I'd punched a 7 iron to the left of the green, my ball then running off to the side, leaving a long pitch and run.  Bogey there, but this is another good hole.  The 8th, a 417 yard Par 4, is the longest and the Stroke Index 1 hole.  The green sits on a plateau with steep run offs on 3 sides and gorse bushes on the other.  I was just short in 2 in light rough but bogey was OK given the difficulty of my 3rd shot, since the flag was close to the front of the green.

This is the 9th, a 125 Yard Par 3, downwind  and for me, an easy 8 iron.  Gorse on both sides with severe bunkering protecting the raised green makes it essential to hit and hold the green.  I'd hit a good tee shot and a couple of putts secured the closing par.  I'd gone round in 36, only 4 over par, with 15 putts.  This is a great little course and was almost deserted when I played it in contrast to the steady stream of 4 balls with caddies on the Championship Course.  I strongly recommend you play St Olaf before you test yourself to the extreme over the main Cruden Bay course.  You can zip round here in just over an hour and if you par the 6th, well done!

Insch GC - Course no 517

We'd looked in at Insch GC on our way back to the cottage from Turriff, to find the course was still open but with puddles of standing water clearly evident between the clubhouse and the 1st tee it didn't look hopeful for the next day, (11 July 2012) when I was due to play in the Insch Men's Seniors Open.  It had also rained all night, but the forecast for the 11th was relatively dry, so against all the odds the Open went ahead.  However, when one of my playing partners reported that the water had gone over his golf shoes on the practice ground and we were splashing our way from there to the 1st tee, the prospects for our round didn't look great.  Indeed, one of the local members commented to me afterwards that the course would normally have been closed in such conditions and he thought that only the difficulties of rescheduling and the distances that some competitors had come to play had persuaded the Match Committee to go ahead.  Preferred lies on the fairways were in operation and with casual water in abundance, lift clean and place was essential.  This is the 5th fairway where conditions were particularly difficult and taking full relief was almost impossible.

Insch is an easy walking 18 hole parkland course and is also pretty short at 5350 Yards, Par 69 of the White Medal tees.  With no run on the fairways and some alarmingly tight holes, accuracy off the tee was essential, not my strongest point that day.  Insch is short, but there are 6 dog leg holes, some elevation changes, water hazards and OOB to contend with, so scoring here is not as easy as you might think.  For example, the guy whose card I was marking (a 6 handicapper) was going great guns until this, the innocent looking 8th, a 175 Yard Par 3.  Its name "Shevock Pond" says it all, as there's a lateral water hazard to the right of the fairway.  Having shanked his tee shot into the pond, the guy dropped his ball within 2 club lengths, keeping the pond between him and the hole.  Knowing the rules, I'd have dropped it on the far side, leaving a clear shot to the green and it was no great surprise when his next shot also went into the pond and he made quadruple bogey (ouch!)  A run of solid pars and birdies meant the guy had got himself back into contention by the 16th, a tight looking 487 Yard Par 5 with OOB on the left and a water hazard on the right.  His eventual 10 (with a good putt!) was another reminder that Insch cannot to be taken lightly.

There are some really good holes on this course, my favourites being the 11th and the 15th.  The 11th is a steeply downhill 90 degree dog leg left 285 yard Par 4.  the corner of the dog leg looks far closer than it actually is and a row of deep bunkers beyond the dog leg encourages you to be cautious in club selection.  I'd opted for an easy 27 Degree Rescue off the tee, but this was too short, leaving me blocked out by a stand of mature silver birch trees (all OOB).  A wedge over the trees looked good, but left me with a hanging lie above a plateau green that sloped away from me.  A double bogey was disappointing as I'd not hit a bad shot.  I'd just under-clubbed at the wrong time.  This is the 15th, a narrow and flat 278 Yard Par 4.  Your drive must find the fairway or you'll be blocked out by trees and your second needs to avoid water hazards to the right and in front of the green. 

Insch closes with a couple of good Par 3s.  The 17th is only 129 Yards and I should have made my birdie from under 6 feet, but sadly not.  This is the 18th, a more formidable 162 Yards between stands of mature pine trees.  Just hit the ball very, very straight and try not to 3 putt in front of the ghouls watching from the clubhouse windows to your left!  I pinballed my way through the trees on the right for a closing 6, but at least I didn't 3 putt.  I'd played Insch in almost unplayable conditions and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  It hadn't rained, but I'd still got soaked from the knees down after ploughing through casual water and saturated high rough.  I scored a poor 91, net 80, with 33 putts and well adrift of the leaderboard (24th place when I left!)  Thankfully, no-one else had played really well and the competition standard scratch was +3, Reductions Only, so I'm still at 10.7.

Insch was great fun and I recommend it to you.  I'm told that it's even better when it's dry and sunny and one day I hope to play here again in such conditions.