Lesser Known Scottish Holes - An Ideal 18

[Mark Pearce]

-- I really like Crail Balcomie's 5th and 6th holes, shoreline-hugging par 4s, one short and one long, and the 7th is a fun hole, similar to Prestwick's 1st, with an ancient wall lining the righrt-side fairway and a blind approach to a sunken green.

I think it is the 4th and 5th to which you are referring.  The 5th being the harder of the two as I recall and having "Hell" in the name.

How about the 4th at Lundin.  A brute with a good carry over a small burn right in front of the green.

Phil is referring to the current 4th, 5th and 7th.  However, I understand this part of the course was re-routed relatively recently and that the 5th used to play to what is now the 6th green and was then extended further round the corner to the current green, with what is now the par 3 6th inserted, with what was the 5th green playing as the 6th green.  The 5th (Hell's Hole) is thus longer and more of a dog-leg.  It is comfotably the hardest hole on the course.

[Brian_Ewen]

-- Any of the ravine-crossing, clifftop-hugging holes at Stonehaven; 5 and 15 stand out for me.

Phil
I think you mean 7 , not 5 ?

5 is where you get lost , cant find the tee , and then when you do find it , you realise you have to hit over two other fairways   

[Andrew Mitchell]

Believe it or not St Olaf's has a couple world class holes; somewhere around the 4 or 5 or 6th there is a terrific par four with a plateau green ; almost a knole hole and just thereafter a sporting par three dished out of an elavated dune.
Now can anyone tell me where St O's is?

Ward
I assume you are referring to the nine hole course within the boundaries of the main course at Cruden Bay.  I played with a CB member at one of their open events pre Buda last year and he spoke highly of a number of the holes on St Olaf's.  Sadly I didn't have the time to experience them for myself.

[Ian Andrew]

Two great par threes:

Castlerock's 9th
Montrose 3rd

By the way, I would recomend both courses in a heartbeat.

[Phil McDade]

-- Any of the ravine-crossing, clifftop-hugging holes at Stonehaven; 5 and 15 stand out for me.

Phil
I think you mean 7 , not 5 ?

5 is where you get lost , cant find the tee , and then when you do find it , you realise you have to hit over two other fairways   

Brian:

Poor writing on my part! The clifftop/ravine holes are a lot of fun; 15 is the best, I think. I love 5, because it's so strange, named after my son (!), and it just feels like you can hit that tee ball a mile into the North Sea.

I did mean 4 and 5 at Crail; has the routing been changed since 1999? 7 was a fun hole -- the ancient wall hugging the right side of the fairway is pretty intimidating, and the terrain just drops off to the greensite.

[Sean_A]

Two great par threes:

Castlerock's 9th
Montrose 3rd

By the way, I would recomend both courses in a heartbeat.

Gentleman, we have a geography alert and here I thought Canucks were a breed apart from Yanks!

Ciao

[Mark Pearce]

Believe it or not St Olaf's has a couple world class holes; somewhere around the 4 or 5 or 6th there is a terrific par four with a plateau green ; almost a knole hole and just thereafter a sporting par three dished out of an elavated dune.
Now can anyone tell me where St O's is?

Ward
I assume you are referring to the nine hole course within the boundaries of the main course at Cruden Bay.  I played with a CB member at one of their open events pre Buda last year and he spoke highly of a number of the holes on St Olaf's.  Sadly I didn't have the time to experience them for myself.

I did play the St Olaf's and agree about that hole, which I think is the 4th.  You drive uphill to a saddle fairway and when you get to the top the whole doglegs left to a plateau green.  A superb hole.

[Mitch Hantman]

David,

Imagine how much fun we had playing it as a par 4!

[Tom]

#18 at Moray Old...very tough and long uphill second shot.

I've logged in for the first time in years to contribute to this thread (I have been lurking in the meantime!)

Totally agree about Moray - for me one of the greatest courses in Scotland and for too long overlooked - even by those on this website!

The eighteenth is indeed a very great golf hole - my preferred strategy being to go well left of the tee to avoid the OOB but this of course leaves you with a long second shot over an absolute pit of a bunker.

However, I would also point out the 3rd with its false front green and the 12 with its green nestling in the sandhills.  I also love the 2nd with its punchbowl green!

[ward peyronnin]

You are correct Andrew and Mark; Anyone going to cb ought to make time to play St Olaf's as you are so far from anywhere one might as well hang around and go 27 before heading on; you can't make it anywhere decent to play in the same day unless its summer solstice

[Mark Pearce]

It's true that there are holes on the St Olaf's far stronger than some of the holes (1, 10, 15 at least, others may disagree or add to the list as I know 2, 9 and 14 are controversial) on the main course at CB.

[Tom Huckaby]

Two great par threes:

Castlerock's 9th
Montrose 3rd

By the way, I would recomend both courses in a heartbeat.

Gentleman, we have a geography alert and here I thought Canucks were a breed apart from Yanks!

Ciao

Paraphrased from the significant wisdom to be found in the semi-recurring old Saturday Night Live skit "All Things Scottish"...

Young lady looking for gift:  Oh just find me a leprechaun or something.
Younger Scot store clerk:  Oh ma'am, leprechauns are Irish.
Young lady:  Irish, Scottish, what's the difference?
IRATE Older (father) store owner, pulling out map:

HERE'S SCOTLAND, HERE'S IRELAND, HERE'S THE BLOODY SEA.  THEY'RE DIFFERENT!!!! NOW GET OUT!!!!!


I think you need to watch this episode, Ian.

 

[Mickey Boland]

-- I really like Crail Balcomie's 5th and 6th holes, shoreline-hugging par 4s, one short and one long, and the 7th is a fun hole, similar to Prestwick's 1st, with an ancient wall lining the righrt-side fairway and a blind approach to a sunken green.

I think it is the 4th and 5th to which you are referring.  The 5th being the harder of the two as I recall and having "Hell" in the name.

How about the 4th at Lundin.  A brute with a good carry over a small burn right in front of the green.

Phil is referring to the current 4th, 5th and 7th.  However, I understand this part of the course was re-routed relatively recently and that the 5th used to play to what is now the 6th green and was then extended further round the corner to the current green, with what is now the par 3 6th inserted, with what was the 5th green playing as the 6th green.  The 5th (Hell's Hole) is thus longer and more of a dog-leg.  It is comfotably the hardest hole on the course.

The routing I played is as you have described it Mark.

[Niall C]

Ally,

I'm going to ignore your exclusion of Gleneagles for the list and assume that you were talking about the Kings, or Centenary/Monarchs/National or whatever its called this week, and therefore holes from the Queens could be listed. That being the case I would nominate the downhill par 5 on the way out, and the two long par 3's and the short par 4 on the way in. Possibly the best holes on the estate.

Prestwick St Nicholas - this course seems to get overlooked on this site and for the life of me can't think why. Actually I can, the proximity of Old Prestwick tends to overshadow what is a better course. The first is a shortish par 4 (c.350 yds ?) played through a couple of dunes, the second is a mid iron par 3 over a sea of gorse to a plateau green and finally the 16th (I think) is a par 4 that defies description, it just needs to be seen.

Darley, Troon there are a couple of realy good strong par 4's but for the life of me I can't remember the numbers.

Monifieth - lovely wee par 3 on the way in. Pines trees, heather, gorse. Picture postcard stuff.

Rich, agree with your comments on the Serpentine at Murcar (7th ?).

Sorry I'm rubbish with the numbering.

Niall

[jeffwarne]

Niall,
Prestwick St. Nicholas is good-I thought better than prestwick also.
How about #6 is it ?the blind downhill dogleg right down to the water.
I think the course suffers a bit popularitywise from the back and forth stretch i the middle.

Lots of cool short par 4's  at Dunaverty, Carradale

[Chris Haspell]

I agree with Moray in fact there are several holes, also Hopemans original 9 has some great links holes, as does Spey Bay on the original 12 holes.

A lesser known new course is Spey Valley which has some great holes, and if you can play it Skibo has made some fantastic changes in the last few years .
all of these courses are often overlooked, they are off the beaten track but are inexpensive to play and great golf challenges with both sea and mountain views, well worth the trip in all cases

[Ian Andrew]

Gentleman, we have a geography alert and here I thought Canucks were a breed apart from Yanks!

Ciao

I'm embarrassed...

[Tom Roewer]

#18 @ LADYBANK G.C.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Boat of Garten 6th, 12th or 18th?

[Phil McDade]

Mark:

For my money, 6 at the Boat is the best on the front nine, and one of the better holes on the course. A real tough par 4.

I think the variety of par 4s on the back nine at the Boat are terrific. You can make a case for any of them, in my view, for inclusion on this list. I actually like 11 moreso than 12; a very tight par 4 where it's very tough to hold the fairway. 18 is a very good closer, and 15 earned a spot in Doak's Confidential guide for its quirkiness -- a 307-yd par 4 that involves a strong carry over a deep gully.

[Bill_McBride]

Gentleman, we have a geography alert and here I thought Canucks were a breed apart from Yanks!

Ciao

I'm embarrassed...

No need, you're obviously too busy keeping up with all that new work to keep up with details like geography!

[Mitch Hantman]

#15 at Boat is a very nice hole, although controversial, as it is two blind shots!  I like the hole, but others differ considerably.

[Marty Bonnar]

The 5th at Alyth is one of my all-world favourite golf holes. A drive over a lateral hazard (a ditch!) then an approach over a diagonal hazard (another ditch!) and a tiered green perched, fortress-like, atop one of those wonderful post-glacial features so numerous in Perthshire and Tayside. Splendid!

cheers,
FBD.

[Carl Johnson]

I'd have to include the 13th, Sea Hole, at the Glen Golf Club in North Berwick.  It's a short, blind par 3 from an elevated tee down toward the water.  I thought it was fun.  The Glen Club's website features the hole on its opening page -- looking from behind the green toward the tees on the hill in the background.

[Marty Bonnar]

On the otherwise unremarkable golf course at Eyemouth, near Berwick-Upon-Tweed, the 6th "A-Still-No-Ken" (I still don't know)!, is as close to CPC 15 as you'll see in Scotland.

2nd one down on the right hand side:
http://www.eyemouthgolfclub.co.uk/Photos.aspx

It IS a hoot to play (even with the mother of all hangovers... )

FBD.