Garland
One thing we have to remember, and Tom has been very consistent with this, The Doak Scale rates courses on how much Tom would recommend them to the general public in terms of how much travel the courses deserve - for the higher rated courses - 5 and above. We can always quibble about that score and this score, but Tom is quite right not to include Shiskine as a travel destination (5 or higher) because many of the general public would be terribly disappointed upon playing the course. Someone mentioned earlier that The Doak Scale can't handle quirk and that is probably true. There is no way his scale can adequately sum up the merits of Shiskine, because "a mediocre golf course... Play it in a scramble, and drink a lot of beer" falls well short of the mark. But in fairness, there isn't a rating system out there which can handle the quirky GB&I courses. Perhaps Tom could have had a category for Funky Favourites which are exempt from The Scale.
Ciao
I have taken 2 groups of golfers to Shiskine.
12 holes is a perfect pace paired with a ferry + 9 at Carradale or if aggressive 18 on the mainland or at Machrihanish/Dunaverty.
I think Tom and many others underestimate the general public, but the general public is really irrelevant when it comes to evaluating Shiskine.
What general public is is going to catch a ferry and play a 12 hole course on the way to a rural peninsula to play another remote course/courses?
So the question is, would a group of golfers be dedicated enough to play a remote course ,less than 18 holes, on the way to a remote, rural golf destination with more eclectic golf?
I'd say most, if not all, would love the course.
I'm not sure how anyone could look at Eric Smith's pictures and not want to book a flight right now.
But that may explain why I have one of the lowest "Doak points per course" average of anyone on the Doak points thread
(that and I played most of my Doak scale courses long before I'd ever heard of Tom Doak)
If Shiskine's a 2, well I just don't get it..........
Of course there are many, many course in Scotland you should play first, but a magical, incredibly scenic, fun 12 hole course on the way to a magical peninsula, well that just can't be a 2, and if the wrong about the general public, that just makes it more attractive.