Quirk Trip Logistics

[Anthony Gray]

   How do I do it and 7-10 courses is a max for my body.So far these are the suggestions.Maybe I'll write a book.I need logistics.May break it up into two trips.How would you rate these courses on the quirk scale with Cruden Bay being a 5.

  Machrihanish
  Machrihanish Dunes
  Brora
  Dunaverty
  Askernish
  Machrie
  Shiskine
  Gleneruitten
  Cullander
  Kingussie
  Strathpeffer Spa
  Shiskine
  Currie
 Lamlash
  Whiting Bay
  Carradale-9 holes
  Machrie


 Anthony

[Tom_Doak]

Anthony,

Cullen, which is about an hour from Cruden Bay on the way to Inverness, is a 9 for quirk.  You should not miss it.

You could do Cullen, Kingussie, Strathpeffer, Brora and Boat of Garten (which I can't believe has not got a mention) in a highlands swing with your beloved Cruden Bay.

Or you could land in Glasgow, drive around the Mull of Kintyre hitting Carradale and Machrie (by ferry) on the way down, do the two Machrihanish courses, take the ferry to Arran for Shiskine, continue across Arran and hop back over to Glasgow by ferry, and then fly up to Askernish for a day or two before heading home.  I am sure the rive and ferry hops to Askernish are gorgeous, but it is a long way with few other golf courses en route ... Perhaps someone knows another gem or two up that way.

You could also look for an old book by David Hamilton called the Good Golf Guide to Scotland ... He was a big fan of quirk and wrote about many of the smaller courses.

[David_Tepper]

Anthony -

Of the courses on your list, I have only played Brora. It is a wonderful links in a very natural setting. The sheep & cattle that occasionally roam the course (and the droppings they leave behind) and the electric wires that surround the greens (to keep the livestock off them) do give the place a unique atmosphere.

Despite 3 or 4 blind shots and a Spion Kop-ish green site (#16), I have never thought of the course as being especially quirky. If Cruden Bay is a 5, Brora is a 2 or 3.

DT      

[Ulrich Mayring]

Maybe Fortrose & Rosemarkie should take its place on the Highlands quirk trip?

Ulrich

[David_Tepper]

Ulrich -

F&R is well worth seeing (at least once) for its remarkable setting. It is the closest you can come to playing a golf course that is floating at sea.

Yet does the course itself contain much quirk? I sure don't recall much. I don't think there is one blind shot on the whole course (not that blind shots are an absolute requirement for quirk). The only hole that had me wondering how to play it was the par-5 on the front-9 (#4?) going out to the point.

DT   

[Norbert P]

   Anthony, always great to see interest in the golf courses of western side of Scotland.  My introduction to golf was Shiskine for two pleasant Match Play rounds with the proud member Graeme Scott.  Unforgettable setting and novel safety gadgets of levers and bells and painted rocks, etc.  Shiskine actually had 18 holes but hardly anybody played the drab six and maintenance shifted.  All the better for a quick round or three.   My gal and I stayed in a B&B just up the road.  

  http://www.calmac.co.uk/destinations/route-map.htm

 

  If you fly in to Glasgow and rent a car, head straight west to Ardrossan.  Take notice of the old oak groves on the way.  There's something right about getting on a boat in Scotland and heading out to the islands - in this case Arran. I had imagined getting sleep on the ride but it's too short of a trip and the moment was energizing.

Carradale is a quirky quicky.  I believe it's in some publication as "most sporty".  
   Honesty Box for greens fee
   1st hole is a par 3 to a skyline green up a hill.
   2nd hole big giant drive down into flattish pasture but most interesting green approach.
   3rd hole par 3 drive riding dune ridge with a fade.
   4th thru 6th is zig zag across pasture to hillside greens.
   7th to necked down green heading out to sea.
   8th par 3?  
   9th par 4 dunes right with barbed wire fence left.

 We only walked Dunaverty. Tremendous views.  Cattle, friendly, on course.

 Machrihanish is not to be missed.  Good luck on Battery.   Springbank Scotch whisky in the clubhouse.

Machrihanish Dunes Did not exist when I was there.

Cullen is a giant pinball machine with its odd geology.  Wear a hardhat.  Coolest raised railway above town.  Eat the Cullen Skink.

Brora is a natural treat.
  
    If you go that far, step back in time about 400 years and play The "Other" Gleneagles.  It's free and naturally made.  Though it has routing, you can pick your own holes if you wish - like Sheep Ranch.  

   Give Traigh a try, as Bob Huntley will attest, but it is quite a drive up toward Skye (near Mallaig)



Other remotes I'd like to see next time are Tobermory, Askernish, Machrie (Peter Pittock advises that a caddy is a must hire), Boat of Garten, Strathpeffer Spa, Lanark, Aberdour (Hello Richard Goodale!) etc. etc. etc.  And, of course, Painswick.

[Phil McDade]

Well, if Doak says Cullen is a 9 on the quirk scale, Shiskine is a 10, and better links turf to boot. Cullen is odd, playing amongst all those sea stacks, and has a lot of quirk, including a legitimate Dell hole, but about half the holes are somewhat conventional on land that's pretty flat. But worth it for the post-round Cullen skink as mentioned.

Boat of Garten isn't quirky (well, it has a couple of quirky holes), but just a real, solid test of ball-striking, a course that at @ 6,000 yards proves length is over-rated when it comes to how tough a course can play. An original Braid. It's better than Kingussie, an original Vardon. Kingussie is good, with a terrific old clubhouse, but the Boat is the superior course. I wouldn't call Kingussie quirky.

If you Glencruitten, might as well do Traigh -- in a relative sense, it's just a short hop between the two. You're really not near anything else, which may be part of the appeal. Traigh has some terrific quirk, starting with a blind uphill par 3 opener, two sub-300 yard par 4s with a blind approach to the green, and a fine par 5 second hole that goes dune-top to dune-top on the drive. A real, real long slog to get there.

Of the Arran courses mentioned (Shiskine, Lamlash, Whiting Bay, Currie), all are quirky, because they sit on "pinched" land, with Shiskine being the best overall experience of the four. Dunaverty approaches Shiskine in the quirk factor, and the scenery is good, save the trailer park on one end. If you're down that way, Machrihanish is a must-play.

[Norbert P]

Phil, you forgot to mention your offer for Traigh.

""All of the holes offer something to test the game, although the two short par 4's (No. 4, Jimmy's Choice, 257 yards, and No. 6, McEachen's Leap, 283 yards) stand out. I'll buy two pints of your favorite ale for anyone who pars both of them on the first go-around. Fun stuff."   Phil McDade       from the Traigh Golf Club website.


BTW, the dune to dune #2 that you describe is my favorite hole there. 

OT.  Some of the movie "Local Hero" was filmed on the nearby beach.

[Adam Lawrence]

Unless you've got a lot of spare time you would be nuts to go to Askernish by road and ferry. It's a five-six hour crossing, and that after a two hour drive to get to Oban from Glasgow. A beautiful trip, but if you're here for golf you would be surrendering a lot of time on the links. The plane to Benbecula is 45 minutes from Glasgow, and you could be on the first tee half an hour after getting off the plane.

It will be three years in the spring since I was last there. Must get back soon.

[Phil McDade]

Phil, you forgot to mention your offer for Traigh.

""All of the holes offer something to test the game, although the two short par 4's (No. 4, Jimmy's Choice, 257 yards, and No. 6, McEachen's Leap, 283 yards) stand out. I'll buy two pints of your favorite ale for anyone who pars both of them on the first go-around. Fun stuff."   Phil McDade       from the Traigh Golf Club website.


BTW, the dune to dune #2 that you describe is my favorite hole there. 

OT.  Some of the movie "Local Hero" was filmed on the nearby beach.

Slag:

What goes around comes around -- that quote was originally posted on the old JerseyGolfer website, which I believe none other than Matt Ward had a hand in (if recollection is correct).

It's been more than 10 years, and I have yet to have to pay out on that bet.

[Dave McCollum]

Anthony,
By far the most quirky course I played in Scotland was Gairlock on the west coast northwest from Dornoch.  A nine hole links about 100 years old with 4 or 5 crossover holes, a blind par 3, a tee box for a another hole in the LZ on the lone par five,  a green on ridgeline with about a 80 foot deep drop-off  just behind and so on and so forth.  My wife visited with friends of a friend while I played.  When I was telling them about the great time I had, the barman in the pub came over and proudly told me about the town tournament every year.  The image of hard hats and body armor came to mind.  Nothing like the pride locals have for their course.  And if you live there, you’re tough enough to play it.

Not much help on the logistics.  We drove there from Dornoch, played, and then on down to Fort Williams.  Lovely drive through the Highlands.   Of the other courses you mentioned, I’ve played only Brora and Machrihanish.  Loved both, but neither as quirky as CB.  Wife, who doesn’t play, loved Brora the best, no doubt for the spring lambs.

Later in that trip, I met my son in Edinburgh and drove all the way out to Mallaig just because I loved the look of the place (and all the country along the way) 20 years before when on a photo shoot.  We discovered Traigh, investigated a bit, but didn’t play.  I’d bet Phil is right about the quirk.  Beautiful area.

I should add the disclaimer:  I live in the Western US where we think nothing about driving hours to go see something.  I think I put 1,800 miles on the rental car in about a week.   

[David_Tepper]

Dave McCollum -

Thanks for posting on Gairloch. I was thinking of mentioning it myself, but I thought it might be just a little too quirky! If the course is crowded, you might want to think about wearing a hard hat.

Gairloch is on the west coast of Scotland, south of Ullapool, although there is no direct route from one to the other. The botantical gardens in Inverewe (a bit north of Gairloch) are certainly worth a visit.

DT

[Dave McCollum]

Yeah, it’s a doozey.  Probably the best example that I saw of a course built by hand by locals with shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, and a mower, instead of a bulldozer or any modern apparatus.