Fereneze GC - Course no 564

Fereneze GC is a hilly moorland 18 hole course in Barrhead, a small town a few miles South West of Glasgow.  The course measures 5676 Yards Par 71 off the Yellow Tees, but with temporary greens in play after a slight overnight frost, it was playing more like 5400 Yards, Par 68.  I'd lived only a few miles away as a child, and on reflection, I'd have been able to see this course in the distance from my bedroom window.  However, golf wasn't a realistic option for me back then, as I've previously explained, so it's taken me a very long time to play what back then was a local course.  When I finally played Fereneze on 21 March 2013, the very friendly Pro very kindly let me have the courtesy of the course given our charitable objectives.  Thanks again, Scott!   It was clear that this course would be hilly and physically demanding so maybe it wouldn't be wise to test my troublesome right shoulder by carrying my full bag.  Time would tell.

Fereneze starts with a steeply uphill 270 Yard Par 4.  I'd hit a reasonable drive and it should be just a short pitch and a couple of putts at most.  The temporary greens were pretty small with Winter holes around 6 inches wide to compensate for their occasionally uneven surfaces, so putting was pretty easy, once you'd found the greens, that is.  The 2nd is normally a slightly uphill 140 Yard Par 3, but the temporary green located close to the 3rd tee was up a very steep hill, with little margin for error, as seen here. I was through the back of the green with my 27 Degree Rescue effort, so that cost me a bogey.  The 3rd was also uphill, this time a 469 Yard Par 5 and the Stroke Index 1 hole.  I managed a pretty comfortable par and thankfully the 4th was a flattish 157 Yard Par 3 that enabled me to get my breath back after a physically tough start.  Another bogey there but that disappointment was tempered by the outstanding views across Glasgow in the distance and huge lungfuls of fresh (if bitterly cold!) air.

I'd not played much golf since my round at Cochrane Castle GC, from a combination of poor weather and a week long trip to Barcelona (daily average of 20 Degrees C!) so it was a pleasure to play at Fereneze, despite the cold conditions.  The fairways here are pretty generous and the tight moorland turf meant there was some run on the fairways, a refreshing change from the wet conditions I've experienced in recent months.  The 6th, a 484 Yard Par 5 is the longest hole and one of the best.  The drive is blind, with the fairway turning to the right and slightly uphill.  I'd hit Driver, 3 wood and a pitch and run with my 9 iron and had a 20 foot putt for birdie.  The 6 inch wide hole looked bucket-wide and sure enough my first birdie was secured.  A good hole.  The 7th was a downhill Par 3 playing no more than a wedge, so another par was easy enough.  The 468 Yard Par 5 8th is another really good hole downhill to start then steeply uphill.  A stream running across the fairway adds to the difficulty.  The Front 9 closes with an interesting 302 Yard Par 4, which I played into a strengthening Easterly wind.  The tee shot is blind, with the second played to a small green.  I was out in 38, only 3 over, playing well and the shoulder was holding up well.

The Back 9 is slightly longer but since most of the holes are downhill, it's an easier walk.  This is a view of the 10th green, with the Glasgow skyline in the background.  The highest point on the course is well over 500 feet and the course as a whole is very exposed to the elements and I shudder to think what it's like playing here in a real storm.  Thankfully I got it on a reasonably good, if cold, day. I'd started the Back 9 with a bogey and 3 pars and was playing pretty well.  The 14th was a slightly downhill Par 3, playing to little more than an easy wedge.  I'd missed the green to the right and had left myself with an awkward 30 foot putt from the fairway with 4 foot of break.  An "interesting" birdie, eased by the width of the Winter hole! 

I thought the best hole on the Back 9 was the 15th, a downhill 456 Yard Par 4 with a blind drive and OOB to the right.  This is a view of the Glasgow skyline from the 15th fairway.  Note that the long roof in the distance beyond the middle tree to the left of this photo is the Main Stand at Ibrox Stadium, home of the still mighty Rangers FC!  The 16th is a modest 281 Yard Par 4.  I'd hit my best drive of the day and had only a short pitch to the green, which finished 5 feet away.  Another birdie and a good score was in prospect if I could par the last couple of holes.

The 17th is a 307 Yard Par 4.  Anything hit short for your second shot will find a deep ditch and stream in front of the green, so be warned, as you probably won't see this hazard after your drive.  When I played it, the temporary green was short of this ditch, so a careful pitch led to an easy par.  The final hole at Fereneze is steeply downhill with a blind tee shot.  There's a lot of sky to aim at but the fairway is reasonably wide.  I just picked a large building in the distance as my target and trusted my swing.  this is a view from the 18th fairway. The 18th is 377 Yards, Par 4, but plays well short of that.  Indeed, I'd only a short iron for my second having taken a free drop from the pathway that runs across the fairway to set up another easy par.  I'd gone round in 73, net 62, some 9 shots under net par, helped by taking only 26 putts.  With temporary greens in play and 6 inch wide Winter holes, Fereneze wasn't much of a challenge on the day.  However, it was obvious that the course would be far more challenging when played to its full length.  I'm not a great fan of hilly moorland courses at the best of times, but I really enjoyed the course and I'd recommend it.  I'd played pretty well and the shoulder hadn't played up at all.

I'd played Fereneze a couple of days after the Spring Equinox so it was officially Spring.  It was unseasonably cold on 21 March 2013, with a strong Easterly wind blowing in cold air from Eastern Europe.  I mention this because the next day I'd got roped into playing in a pairs competition at Leven GC, an old Championship-standard links course on the Fife coast.  The air temperature that day was a heady 1 Degree C, but with the windchill added in, it felt more like -10C at best.  I'd taken the precaution of wearing 3 layers of thermal clothing plus my wet suit and 2 woolly hats but was still freezing cold all the way round.  A near 5 hour round was pretty tiring in those conditions.  I'd packed some energy bars, but they were quickly frozen solid.  Leven is completely exposed to an Easterly wind and can be a stern test for handicap golfers at the best of times. I did well to break 100, without so much as a single par.  I can't remember ever playing in colder conditions, so roll on the real Spring, please!

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Cochrane Castle GC - Course no 563

Cochrane Castle is an 18 hole parkland/moorland course in the small town of Johnstone, a few miles west of Glasgow.  I played the course on 4 March 2013 on a cool dry and cloudy early Spring day.  The rains of recent months have finally relented and the sunny weather of the past 2 weeks has helped our parkland courses to dry out.  Accordingly, Cochrane Castle was in pretty good condition for this time of year.  I'd been expecting some temporary greens to be in operation, but the full course was open for play, with the normal greens being remarkably flat, if very slow paced.  Frosts are still a risk, so understandably, the greens hadn't been cut particularly close.  It's also quite normal to play off Winter mats at this time of year, so it was no surprise to see mats in operation.  What was really unusual was that apart from on the 14th where the Medal tee is being rebuilt, all of the mats were at the very back of the Medal tees, meaning that Cochrane Castle played to its full Medal tee length of 6194 Yards, Par 71.  This is a view of the clubhouse from the 1st tee.

The first thing I noticed about Cochrane Castle was that it was alarmingly hilly, so I was glad that I'd only put a half set of clubs in my bag.  The downside of this strategy was that I was sometimes caught between clubs for particular shots!  For example, the 1st is a 166 Yard steeply uphill Par 3, played to a small green cut into the side of the hill.  This hole is named after the redoubtable Barclay Howard, winner of the Silver Medal  awarded to the leading amateur in the 1997 Open Championship at Royal Troon.  Tragically, Barclay died of cancer shortly after that triumph.  This is a view from above the green looking back down to the tee.  Ideally, I'd have gone with my 23 Degree Rescue, but the hole played to something like 180 Yards so 3 Wood it had to be.  I'd not swung a club for a couple of weeks after a steroid injection in an injured shoulder and some physio work, so an easy swing and a couple of putts for an opening par was very reassuring.  No pain!

The 2nd was only 327 Yards, but from the very back of the Medal tee the fairway looked pretty narrow and the second shot was semi-blind uphill.  Another good drive and my 27 Degree Rescue just wide of the green set up another encouraging par.  At 455 Yards, the 3rd is the shortest of four Par 5s on the course.  Another straight drive set up a 3 Wood shot towards the green.  I'd not bought a stroke saver, so didn't know that a stream cut across the fairway at the bottom of a steep hill, around 90 yards out from the green.  This hazard isn't visible from the fairway so finding that with my second led to a disappointing double bogey 7.  The 4th is a tricky long Par 4, this time involving a blind second shot (a 3 Wood for me).  I missed the green short and left, so another bogey on the card.  The Par 5 5th is 493 Yards, but plays far longer as the last 150 yards or so are steeply uphill.  I'd gone too far left with my second and took another bogey.

The 6th is a 156 Yard steeply downhill Par 3, played to a small green well defended by bunkers.  I imagine this is a difficult enough hole for members, but for me as a first time visitor, it was very difficult indeed.  From the back of the Medal tee I could just about see the top of the flag, so there was a lot of sky to aim at.  I trusted my 27 Degree Rescue and finished pin high 20 feet left of the hole, for an easy par.  The 7th is a mere 330 Yards, but is steeply uphill.  I nailed a Driver and 3 Wood (!) to set up a good par.  The 8th runs parallel to the the 7th and is a great hole, at 554 Yards from the Medal tee, all steeply downhill.  Have a good look at the 8th fairway on your way up the 7th, since you won't see any of it from the 8th Medal tee.  Thankfully, there's tons of space, but this is one of the most daunting and exciting drives on the course.  I took driver for my second and an easy 7 iron for my third set up an easy par.  This is the 9th, a gently downhill 210 Yard Par 3.  A poor bogey there and I was out in 41, loving the course and just hoping that the Back 9 would be flatter!

The Back 9 is indeed an easier walk, with the uphill 10th providing the last real climb.  Holes 11-12 are pretty flat and relatively short Par 4s.  The remaining holes are on the other side of the car park beyond the clubhouse, but the signage is good so you won't get lost!  The slightly downhill 13th  is a 347 Yard Par 4 that's easy enough if you get your drive away and find the right side of the fairway.  The 14th is a slightly downhill Par 3 playing to around 150 Yards due to works to the Medal tee.  I scrambled another par after missing the green to the left.   Most of the fairways were pretty dry, but holes 13-18 are lower than the rest of the course so there was no run to speak of.  This meant that these holes played longer than I'd expected.  For example, the Par 5 16th was 483 yards playing more like 520 into a strengthening wind and I needed a good single putt from 10 feet to rescue the par.  This is the 17th, an uphill 162 Yard Par 3, playing more like 175.  My 27 Degree Rescue wouldn't reach, so it was the 3 Wood again.  You know that feeling when you've hit a really good shot that's going to be close?  I'd hit to within 6 feet right behind the hole, but I'd left myself a tricky downhill putt with a good 9 inches of break.  A birdie would have been nice, but an easy par was OK in the circumstances.

The last at Cochrane Castle (yet another closing hole unimaginatively named "Home") is a 400 Yard Par 4, as shown here.  I'd need a par to break 80 but it wasn't to be.  Another bogey and I'd gone round in 81, net 70 (1 under par net) with 29 putts, which I was really happy with after my recent shoulder problems and the fact that the course was playing to its longest.  Cochrane Castle is a good test from the back tees and I'd strongly recommend it.  It's quite a physical work out too, particularly on the Front 9.  A final piece of advice about Cochrane Castle GC - you'll probably need a sat nav to find it!

Cathkin Braes GC - Course no 562

I finally got to play this excellent course on 18 February 2013.  The Cathkin Braes GC is a moorland course of 5919 Yards, Par 71 from the Yellow tees, in open moorland between Glasgow and East Kilbride.  I'd heard it was very hilly when talking to some members at the nearby Kirkhill GC a year or so ago, but I have to say it's nowhere near as hilly (or tiring) as that course, so I suspect someone was exaggerating just a tad.  Cathkin Braes is over 600 feet above sea level and although much of the course is tree lined, it's pretty exposed to the weather.  Luckily, I played it in warm sunshine with no wind, a rare combination at this time of year in Scotland.  When I say warm, I mean 8 degrees C, but maybe a sign that Spring is on its way at last.  There had been a frost overnight, so temporary greens were in play, reducing length of the course to something like 5400 Yards. Cathkin Braes is the home course of PGA Professional Scott Jamieson, a rising star on the European Tour.

The course starts with a tricky blind drive over heather and a small hill.  From my good opening drive it was only an easy to the green.  I missed the green left, but hit a side slope that carried my ball to within a foot of the hole, so an easy opening birdie.  The 2nd requires an accurate drive between trees to the right and bushes to the left, followed by a short uphill pitch.  An easy enough par.  This is a view of the 2nd green from the 3rd tee.  The 3rd hole is a downhill 303 Yard Par 4, playing to about 280 Yards.  The fairways were still pretty firm after the overnight frost, so a good drive, a 20 yard pitch and a single putt meant I was 2 under after 3 holes.  Heady stuff.  It couldn't last and sure enough I bogeyed the 4th, a tricky uphill 405 Yard Par 4 and the Stroke Index 1 hole.

This is the 5th, a 112 Yard Par 3 played over a lake.  The temporary green was to the right and behind the green, meaning it played to around 125 Yards.  I'd only taken a half set of clubs, so an easy 7 iron was the play.  My 7 usually goes 140 or so in decent conditions and I failed miserably to take 15 yards off the shot, hence my opening bogey.  Another good hole though.  The 6th is a short downhill Par 5 of only 458 Yards, with a long blind second shot to the green.  The fairway was still frozen solid, being sheltered from the low sun by a line of mature pine trees and I was through the back of the green in 2 - not normally where I'd expect to be on a Par 5.  Three more well-played holes and I'd reached the turn in a level par 37.

The back 9 is almost 200 yards shorter, but is a bit more tricky than the front 9, so be warned.  The 10th is an uphill right dog leg 361 Yard Par 4.  There's tons of room off the tee, so I'm not sure how I hit the big tree 120 yards out, to the left of the fairway.  Not the place to be and that mistake cost me a bogey.  The 11th is a good slightly uphill Par 3, but plays a lot longer than the 155 Yards on the card.  Next is an uphill 381 Yard Par 4 which again plays a lot longer than it looks and is deservedly the Stroke Index 2 hole.  I fluked a par with a long putt.  This is a view from the tee.  I also parred the next 3 holes to stay at 1 over par with 3 holes to go.

The club's website advises that the closing holes are difficult so at least I was forewarned.  The 16th is a stiff 205 Yard Par 3 with bushes and OOB down the right side.  The greenkeeping staff were doing some drainage work to the front right of the tee, well within my sh--king range, so it was no great surprise to see my fluffed tee shot go OOB.  I did well to limit the damage to a double bogey!  This is the view from the fairway on the 17th, a tricky dog leg right 395 Yard Par 4 .  The second shot is uphill and semi-blind, since it's almost impossible to spot the flag amongst the trees and bushes on the horizon.  Another long putt rescued an unlikely par - my ever faithful Ping Anser 4 was back in the bag!

The 18th is a 414 Yard Par 4 with a slightly downhill blind second shot to the green.  I was happy enough with a bogey after my worst drive of the day, barely 180 Yards and 30 yards offline into light rough.  I'd gone round in 75 gross, net 64, with only 29 putts.  That's a  net 7 under the par of 71, but given the reduced yardage due to the Winter greens, the par was probably nearer 69.  Even so, I'd played pretty well.  I really liked the course and I'd strongly recommend it.

Charleton GC - 9 Hole Course - Course no 561

I'd played the 18 Hole course at Charleton in September 2009 (see blog entry for course no 225) before playing at nearby Anstruther.  I saw then that there was also a 9 Hole Par 3 Course at Charleton and I finally got to play that short course on 8 February 2013 on a rare dry and sunny day. 

Most of the courses I've yet to play are a fair distance from my home in East Lothian and those in the west are probably still closed or almost waterlogged after a long period of rain, snow and generally lousy weather.  Some of the courses to the north are probably in the same state but I'll need to wait a while before playing the Lighthouse Keeper's Course on Fair Isle, the remotest course in Scotland.  Fair Isle is a tiny island mid-way between the Orkney and Shetland Islands and was in the news last week after being hit by a huge storm see coverage at  http://fair-isle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/damage-done-south-lighthouse-fair-isle.html which looks as though it's done some damage to the course as well as to the lighthouse and other parts of the island.  Click on the link at the top of this Fair Isle blog for coverage of the storm and on the "golf" link for background on the Lighthousekeeper's Course.  I think I'll wait until the Summer before making the trip and allow time to help as best I can. 

But back to the relative peace and calm of Charleton GC, on the way to St Andrews in the East Neuk of Fife.  The 9 hole course is a modest 934 Yards, Par 27 and like its big brother next door, is a parkland course built on sandy soil, helping it to drain well after what seems to have been almost daily rain over the past several weeks.  There's nothing very difficult looking about this little course and with holes ranging from 50 to 157 Yards it looked quite easy.  However, the greens were tiny and surprisingly fast, with severe slopes adding to the putting interest.  I'd reverted to my "winter" putter recently, a very early Ping Pal brass-headed model that's more stable in windy conditions and certainly better on slow winter greens than my otherwise ever-faithful Ping Anser 4.  Wrong choice for the greens on this course!  Anyway, a gross 29, net 23.5 with 15 putts was OK.  That's a net 3.5 strokes under par.  Here are some photos of the course, starting above with the 3rd green (sharing with the 5th), looking due south to the Firth of Forth.  On a clearer day, I'd have been able to see North Berwick and my home club in the far distance.

This is the 7th, with a slightly clearer view south.  Readers familiar with the area might be able to see North Berwick Law and Bass Rock in the far background.

Below is the 9th green, with the cosy Charleton GC clubhouse in the background. Notice the 10 foot putt, which I duly holed for my only birdie.  This is a good little course, either for a warm up before you play the excellent 18 hole course at Charleton, or a quiet place for beginners to practice without being disturbed.

Have clubs, will travel....to Scotland

As will be apparent to my regular readers, one of the secondary objectives of this blog is to draw attention to the lesser known golf courses in Scotland and more generally to promote visits to such hidden gems.  Golfers the world over have heard about The Old Course, Carnoustie, Turnberry, Muirfield, Royal Troon, Gleneagles etc and many will, rightly, have ambitions to play such famous courses.  Inevitably, green fees at these courses are not cheap.  For example, the Summer 2013 green fees for The Old Course will set you back £155 for a round and at Muirfield you'll be forking out a cool £195.  You could even spend £300 for a round at Skibo Castle (well worth it, by the way), so a trip to Scotland focusing solely on the "trophy" courses could make a very serious dent in your bank balance.

 

However, as I've seen on my travels around Scottish golf courses, there's far more to golf in Scotland than just these world famous courses.  I suppose it's inevitable that some golfers will wish to play these courses, irrespective of the costs, but you won't understand what golf in Scotland is really about by playing only our prestige courses.  Scotland is a pretty small place and it's actually quite difficult to visit one of the prestige courses without passing other courses that could offer a great golfing experience at a fraction of the cost (and be more playable for medium and higher handicappers).  OK, so it's fun to get home after a Scottish golfing trip and share 19th Hole tales about how you almost broke 100 at Muirfield (off the Yellow Tees).  But how much better might it be to boast about how you broke 90 on one of the many wonderful courses almost next door to Muirfield that you discovered and enjoyed playing for a fraction of the Muirfield green fee?

By all means play one or more of our famous "trophy" courses, but have a look at what's available nearby.  For example, let's say you've based yourself in North Berwick, where I live, a 5 minute drive from Muirfield.  You'll find another 30 or so courses within an hour's drive, including a number of courses that are used for Open Championship Final Qualifying and offer outstanding value for money as well as an entertaining round of golf.  Alternatively, take the day off and explore Edinburgh, only 25 miles up the road by road or 30 minutes by train to the city centre.  From my job as a caddie in East Lothian, I remember being asked for advice on whether there was a good course on the way to Edinburgh Airport as my player wanted to squeeze in another quick round before flying home the next day. I was able to help easily enough, but in reality it could have taken him around a week to get to the airport!

 

There are any number of tour operators that will put a Scottish golf package together for you and that's fine by me if that's how you want to organise your Scottish golf trip.  However, you won't experience Scotland by looking out of tourist bus windows and playing only our world famous courses.  For me, one of the greatest joys in playing golf in Scotland is experiencing the diversity of courses that are available across the home of golf, from the great links to the humblest of rough courses laid out for pennies and still maintained by the voluntary efforts of dedicated club members. Equally, it's great to meet local golfers on my travels and learn from them some of the history of their own courses and how best to play particular holes.  As a typically tight-fisted Scot, I appreciate that a really cheap way of playing local courses is to enter open competitions.  All you need is a recognised handicap certificate, the knowledge of where and when these competitions are being held and the foresight to enter in advance.  The best free information source is www.scottishgolf.org, the website of the Scottish Golf Union, the body that administers the amateur game in Scotland.  You'll see a tag for Open Competitions on the Home page of this website, with listings for such competitions.  OK, so you put your handicap on the line, but you'll be playing with local members at a fraction of the normal green fees.  Indeed, most Open Competitions have entry fees well under £20 and the prize money can be worthwhile if you play well enough.

 

It might sound daunting to some, but travelling independently around Scotland following your own itinerary is really easy and will take you nearer to the real Scotland and its people and above all, the full diversity of our golf courses.  One of the "joys" of my challenge to play every course in Scotland is the internet and other research required to identify all of the courses in the first place (and please take my word for it, there is no fully comprehensive commercially available list, despite what various websites and reference books may claim).  Accordingly, I spend quite a time searching around on the internet, finding new courses to play, places to stay and eat, etc for my travels.  Anyone doing their own planning for a Scottish golf trip will of course need to do the same.  I don't get paid for product endorsements on this blog, but if any of my readers is thinking about planning their own golf trip to Scotland, I strongly suggest they start by going to www.golfnook.com, one of the best websites sites for independent golf travellers that I've come across.  Navigation through this site couldn't be easier and there's a huge amount of unbiased and completely reliable information that should give you the confidence to do your own planning.   Even if you don't have any immediate ambitions to come here to explore the diversity of our courses, golfnook.com is an entertaining site to visit, full of unexpected details and some straight-talking course reviews. 

 

I'm often asked what my favourite Scottish golf courses are.  A simple enough question, but I always struggle to provide a reasonably short answer.  It's always tempting to go for the usual suspects such Kingsbarns, Castle Stuart, Turnberry, Loch Lomond, The Old Course, Royal Dornoch and Muirfield, but I suspect that doing so just reinforces peoples' views about golf in Scotland, where the best courses are the ones that everyone has heard of.  A more comprehensive reflection on my favourite courses would also probably include a mixture of lesser known (certainly outside Scotland) courses such as Rosemount, The Renaissance, Glasgow Gailes, Royal Aberdeen and Skibo Castle and some pretty obscure places, such as Boat of Garten, Stroma, Scarista, Durness, Stromness and Gatehouse of Fleet, before droning on about the wonders of my own course, The Glen GC in North Berwick.  Such lists are of course highly subjective, but are great fun to discuss over a beer or three in the warmth of the 19th.  If you ever visit Scotland for a golfing holiday, try asking a local golfer about his/her own favourites, and why, and be prepared for a long night!  Some of the courses mentioned above you might recognise.  Others you will come across on a golfing journey through Scotland you might even struggle to pronounce properly or even remember, but I'd be amazed if the personal memories that give rise to such preferences don't get your golfing juices flowing, big time. 

Now if only it would stop raining/snowing and being thoroughly miserable outside, maybe I'd get back to my travels around the remaining 89 courses on my own list of Scottish courses. Through internet research I recently found a 6 hole course on Fair Isle, a small dot on the map midway between the Orkney and Shetland islands must surely be the remotest course in Scotland, but I'll leave that trip for the coming summer, when at least the rain will be warmer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lochview Family Golf Centre - Course no 560

The Lochview Family Golf Centre is located in Coatbridge, an industrial town east of Glasgow and is a re-branding of the formerCoatbridge Golf Course, by its owner and operator, North Lanarkshire Council.  The centre consists of an 18 hole golf course, driving range and modern clubhouse.  I played the Lochview course on 17 January 2013 a bitterly cold day, with a heavy frost that thankfully had frozen parts of the course that would otherwise have been extremely boggy.  The Starter advised that although all of the course was open, most  members of the local Lochview Golf Club, which is based here, usually miss out holes 2-4, where drainage problems are particularly severe at present.  I'd started behind a couple of local members who were adopting that strategy, but since I was intent on playing every hole, this meant that I'd no one in front of me that I could follow.  I mention this because there were no numbers on any of the tees or flags, making navigation pretty difficult.  Temporary greens were in operation on some holes, reducing the course to something like 5000 Yards, Par 69.  However, the frozen ground meant that scoring was extremely difficult, particularly on the frozen greens.  This is the 5th, a 267 Yard Par 4 playing nearer to 250 Yards, with the driving range immediately beyond the OOB fence.  This is an easy enough hole if you hit your drive dead straight (as I did, thank goodness).  Otherwise, you can run up a double bogey or worse.

From here, advanced navigation skills were necessary to find the 6th tee.  There's a course map on the scorecard, but this measures under 2 square inches and with hole numbering at well under a millimetre high, is almost unreadable.  Indeed, I only noticed the map after I'd gone back to the Starter's Office to seek directions!  Holes 6-12 are on the other side of the busy Townhead Road that runs through the course, but you're then faced with a path that runs off in 3 different directions, with absolutely no signage to offer any guidance.  Nor was there any sign of the 2 locals who had started in front of me on the 1st.  The 6th was supposed to be a 165 Yard Par 3, but the flags on holes 1-5 had been Yellow, but there was a Red flag on the hole that looked to be a possible candidate for the 6th.  I gambled wrongly and ended up playing what turned out to be the 12th and then the 10th (with Yellow flags!), before stumbling upon the 6th, complete with its Red flag.  The North Lanarkshire Council has clearly spent a small fortune on the clubhouse and it's also done well  with extensive road-side signage to encourage public participation.  However, it's a real shame that no effort has been made to ensure that casual Winter visitors like myself can actually navigate their way around the course.  I imagine that signage is better during the Summer months, but there's really no excuse for the complete lack of any signage during the Winter.  Even some rudimentary numbering on tee boxes/litter bins would have helped and I do wonder how many potential newcomers to the sport have been put off by the lack of on-course signage. 

The front 9 holes were pretty short, at something like 2100 Yards in total, so my gross 39 (discounting the extra shots over Holes 12 and 10) was reasonable enough.  The back 9 is significantly longer and more difficult and I was happy with a homeward 42 for a total of 81 gross, net 70, with 35 putts.  This was only net 1 over par in really testing conditions, so not bad at all.  This is the 18th, a 345 Yard Par 4, with the clubhouse and driving range in the background.  The best hole is probably the Stroke Index 1 9th, a 372 Yard Par 4, played from an elevated tee and finishing with a good view of a small loch.  However, it was difficult to get enthusiastic about any of the holes, given my navigation problems.

Overall, Lochview is probably a decent enough parkland course during the Summer months, assuming that signage is improved and that currently boggy areas finally dry out.   I've played it once, but I don't imagine I'll ever want to play it again.

Cambuslang GC - Course no 559

I'd not played much golf at all since the games at Turnberry in November due to a really nasty bout of flu and a long spell of wet weather that led to the flooding of various Scottish courses in recent weeks.  So, it was good to get back to "the all-courses challenge" on 9 January 2013 by playing this good little 9 hole parkland course in the eastern outskirts of Glasgow.  Cambuslang is short at 2881 Yards, Par 35 off the Yellow Tees, and is pretty flat and easy walking, with only a couple of small hills to contend with.  A couple of temporary greens were in play and combined with forward tees on some holes, I guess this shortened the course to something like 2600 Yards overall. The Cambuslang course is laid out over a surprisingly small area, meaning that a 9-hole round shouldn't take long, but the downside of that compactness is that the holes are pretty close together, with quite a few fairways crossing each other.  For example, the 1st and 6th holes are crossed by the 7th and the 2nd is crossed by the 4th, so you need to be mindful of other golfers and the risk of wayward shots.  I just followed the guy in front as best I could and noted when he stopped to give way to other players, but it took me a while to notice all of these potential hazards and I completely missed the fact that the 1st is vulnerable from the right by shots from the 7th. 

The 1st is a 501 Yard Par 5 that played longer than it looked, with the green sitting at the top of a gentle upslope.  I'd hit a decent drive and with Cambuslang having a winter mats policy in place I'd another chance to test my new Mark 3 Rocket Launcher smart mat, from www.divotEND.com.  I've lost count of the number of old offcuts of astroturf etc that I've lost on various courses and I'm a mug for new gadgets of all kinds, but this new mat actually works and is a great improvement on anything I've tried before.  It takes a wee bit of getting used to but I'm sold on it as a Winter game improvement aid to the extent that I'll be using it even on courses that don't have a winter mats policy.  Anyway, a great connection with my 3 Wood left me with a short iron to the green and my opening par was easy enough.  The 2nd is a 306 Yard  Par 4.  Aim at the left of the fairway to avoid a stand of trees front right of the tee that might otherwise catch your drive and leave you looking at bogey or much worse.  Be careful on this hole though, as it might not be immediately obvious that players 2 holes ahead may be playing from the 4th tee, to the left and above the 2nd fairway. I managed a good birdie after a 9 iron to 3 feet, using my new mat.

This is the 3rd hole, a 132 Yard Par 3, with Polly walking ahead to assess the lie I'd left myself in the bunker, short of the green.  Easy enough as it turned out, but a costly bogey nevertheless.  The 4th is an awkward 352 Yard Par 4.  The drive is easy enough to a wide fairway, but the green sits at the top of a steep bank and your second will play far longer than it looks.  I'd 139 yards left according to my range finder but the shot played nearer to 160 and I only barely made the front edge with my 27 Degree Rescue.  The 5th is a 317 Yard Par 4 played from an elevated tee, semi-blind over some high trees.  The right side of the fairway gives a better line into the small green.  I'd hit a good drive and a punched 6 iron to within 15 feet.  The greens were slow and bumpy but still reasonably good for this time of year.  Another birdie after a good putt and I was 1 under par with only 4 holes to go.

The 6th at Cambuslang is a 413 Yard Par 4 and rightly the Stroke Index 1 hole.  The drive is easy looking as the fairway is initially generously wide, but the second shot is longer than it looks and the longer the fairway runs, the narrower it gets.  The fairway also dog legs to the right, so a tee shot favouring the left of the fairway gives a better view of the green. The 6th green is also quite small and has more slopes than most others, so  I was happy enough with a bogey 5.  I'll take level par with 3 to go anytime.  Another bunker to the left of the green and a repositioning of the existing bunker would make this hole even more formidable, but some might say the hole is tough enough already! This is a view of the 6th green and the clubhouse.

The 7th is a 344 Yard Par 4.  The small beech tree in the distance is a good line off the tee.  Another good drive and a 27 Degree Rescue set up another easy par.  The 8th is a 168 Yard Par 3.  A stream to the right of the green lurks ready to swallow a really wayward drive but otherwise, this hole looked to be pretty defenceless and I'd be adding some bunkers given the chance.  Another par.  The 9th is a 348 Yard Par 4.  The green sits in front of the clubhouse windows and a gully in front adds to the difficulty.  Unfortunately for me, a temporary green was in play, reducing the hole to a drive and short pitch, as shown here.  I suspect the 9th would be my favourite hole at Cambuslang and maybe one day I'll get the chance to play it to the normal green.  I hope so, since I liked this little course nestled inconspicuously between factories and housing.  OK, it's crossover holes are quirky and straight hitting is pretty important, but I liked the welcoming feel to the place and the friendliness of its members.

I managed my par at the 9th for a gross 35, even par, or net 29.5, with 13 putts.  A good score and a tough one to beat if I ever play the course again.