Shiskine is a wonderful course, true links, on the western course of the Isle of Arran, with true links turf and a quiet, serene air about it. It's unique, in that it has 12 true holes (not a doubled 9-hole course where two sets of tees are played to a common green). It's been described here and elsewhere as quirky, and that's probably fair. It's mostly par 3s and shortish par 4s, with one par 5 in the mix. Plays to par 42 at about 2,800 yards. The most famous hole is the par 3 3rd, the Crow's Nest, played from down low to a blind green atop a shelf. Hit, and hope, and the a climb up the hill to find the fall. The par 3 4th, the Shelf, is equally good, teeing from the shelf to a green sited right along the beach. I also recall one other hole well (11?) -- another blind shot to a green sitting down below in a hollow. Arran has several, what might be described as "holiday" courses, and Shiskine is generally regarded as the best of the bunch.
My interest in Shiskine stems almost entirely from a book called the "Complete Guide to the Golf Courses of Scotland," written by a Cincinnati dentist (I think he's a dentist) named Robert Kroeger, who had made annual pilgrammages to Scotland and finally wrote a book about it. Kroeger was a big fan of the unconventional, the out-of-the-way, the scenic vs. the championship course, and he was so smitten by Shiskine that he used the green of the 4th hole, and its dramatic backdrop, as the cover photo of the book.
My few pictures taken during a trip there hardly do the course justice, and unfortunately are not in a digital format. The course has a good history section, including reference to work there by Willie Park, at
www.shiskinegolf.com.
A neat, little slice of Scottish golf.