Southerness GC: Turnberry’s lesser known older brother

[James Boon]

It was a few months ago now since I was staying up in Dumfries & Galloway, just over the border into Scotland, so I will keep this to quite a simple photo tour of Southerness.

Southerness is a relative newcomer to the collection of fine links courses in Scotland, opening as recently as 1947. It was designed by Philip Mackenzie Ross and originally started closer to Southerness at what is now the 14th until a new clubhouse was built in 1974. The clubs recently updated website lists a hole by hole history:
http://southernessgolfclub.com/history/course-history/
And an interesting article on Mackenzie Ross:
http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/Article/Philip-Mackenzie-Ross/1428/Default.aspx

The course has hosted several top British and Scottish amateur championships and is a stern test. The land is gently undulating and at times feels quite flat, but the subtle contours have been used to great effect. At times with so much gorse and heather to cross and the subtle nature of the of the contours, it did seem tricky to get any definition and an idea of where to go, but I an imagine that on repeated plays this becomes part of the joy of the course as you get to understand the subtlties.

Here is an aerial view of the course showing its early routing around the field and also the constant change of direction that will test your prowess in the wind...


All yardages from the yellow tees

Hole 1
372 yards
Par 4
The first doglegs to the right and the mountains in the background make a beautiful backdrop. The white board on a post in the distance beyond the fairway is to give an idea of the ideal line.


Many of the greens have subtle undulations both within and around the edges. The bunker short left is a little way away from the edge of the green with a hollow between them, so can make judging the approach tricky. Here is a closer look at the green, and you get a slight hint of the more agricultural land adjoining the course at this point with the farm buildings in the distance


Hole 2
405 yards
Par 4
A dogleg left this time, with bunkers again short of the green



Hole 3
383 yards
Par 4
A slight dogleg left this time, the bunkers on the right not really in play unless into a really strong wind, while the nest of bunkers around 50 to 80 yards short also shouldn’t come into play to often. Maybe they are there to play some mind games…


The green is set in amongst some of the shallow dunes



Hole 4
132 yards
Par 3
A tricky little par 3. Visually you are tempted to the right, but there is plenty of room left apart from a hidden little bunker



Hole 5
479 yards
Par 5
This was the first drive where I felt I had some genuine idea about where I was going! This first of the two par 5s doglegs left and played into the wind, so though its less than 500 yards, as both are, it was playing very long. In fact both play the same direction and are less than 500 yards so neither was within reach in two shots! The deep fairway bunker was in play, as it was into a strong wind, but if wind was behind, some ditches beyond make the drive tricky


The view from beyond the fairway bunker


One of the many ditches that cross the course


The approach to a bunkerless green, but its raised up with drop offs all round and also has some pretty interesting undulations within it.


Looking back down the hole from behind the green


Hole 6
367 yards
Par 4
A ditch crosses the fairway about 250 yards from the tee which needs to be avoided and then the green sits in front of some gorse covered shallow dunes with a deep hollow to the right



Hole 7
215 yards
Par 3
A long par 3 that heads directly towards the Solway firth. Several tricky bunkers and fall offs around the green



Hole 8
342 yards
Par 4
You now turn to run parallel with the coast, though its not really visible from the hole. I remember reading somewhere that the line of the drive is apparently towards the distant lighthouse, but left of this feels a bit better to me?


A couple of bunkers 30 or 40 yards short of the green are difficult to ignore…


…but when you get past them you see more bunkers right and left as well as these hollows short of the green


From behind the green you can see the some of the dunes that line the right side of the hole


Hole 9
404 yards
Par 4
There isn’t immediately a lot of trouble on the drive, but the approach is different, especially playing into a wind when its getting closer to playing like a par 5, where there is a bunker around 100 yards short on the left and a nest of bunkers 50 yards short and right


At the green you can see again that although the course does feel pretty flat at times, some of the contours around the edges of the greens are anything but!


That completes the front 9, with a yardage of 3,099 yards and a par of 35.

More to follow shortly…

[James Boon]

Hole 10
146 yards
Par 3
With the green sitting beyond the gorse and heather, its dangers aren’t immdeiatly apparent


7 bunkers guard the green, these are short and right


Hole 11
371 yards
Par 4
Again there isn’t much character or definition apparent on the tee shot, but it’s a different matter on the approach to the green. It sits beyond another small ditch (I should really be saying burn north of the border !), and above a bank with more hollows off to the side


Hole 12
387 yards
Par 4
The twelfth is often considered the finest on the course, which I’m not going to argue with as its probably one of the finest in Scotland! The drive has to between the bunkers, flirting with those on the right, unless its wind behind in which case there is the opportunity to fly over them! Not visible in this photo, but just off to the left are the hills of the Lake District in England on the far side of the Solway Firth.


The approach is directly out to the Solway Firth and is very inviting, but there are hollows short and a hidden wet area / pond in the gorse to the left



When you get to the green, the beauty of the hole, as well as its architectural merit, are very obvious. This is from the left of the green, looking back at the hills that formed a backdrop for much of the front nine




Hole 13
436 yards
Par 4
The 13th tee is as close as we get to the sea


The drive is past another decent sized dune and into the wind will be flirting with the bunkers on the left


This hole was originally the last before the new clubhouse was built. Its as close as we come to the village of Southerness and also its lighthouse. A burn and bunkers guard the green.



Looking back from behind and the bunker and hollows down the side of the green are clearly visible


Hole 14
418 yards
Par 4
Out of bounds comes into play up the right, with the ubiquitous caravan park just beyond the boundary.


Again hollows and a bunker well short of the green will keep you on your toes if you aren’t able to get to the green in two shots



Hole 15
195 yards
Par 3
A tough par 3 protected by 5 greenside bunkers and one well short that plays a few visual tricks when judging distance



Hole 16
414 yards
Par 4
The hole doglegs to the left slightly on the drive


Here is the approach


Hole 17
164 yards
Par 3
The penultimate hole, was for me the best par 3 on the course. There are no bunkers on the hole, but a large hollow short and left was originally a bunker




Hole 18
480 yards
Par 5
The final drive doglegs off to the right


A run of 4 bunkers cross the fairway about 60 or 70 yards short of the green



One last view of the course.


The back nine is 3,011 yards, par 34 from the yellow tees, giving a total of 6,110 yards, par 69. The course is 6,566 yards off white tees on the card, and there were some blue tees further back from that not noted on the card, that probably push the total yardage now closer to the apparently ideal Championship length of 7,000?

At first glance Southerness doesn’t appear anything special. The first impression will be of a flat course, not well defined, surrounded by agricultural land, all be it with some beautiful scenery in the distance. In all honesty, this isn’t too far from the truth, but don’t let these first impressions fool you. Yes, there is a stern championship challenge especially with regards to your driving to those fairways of which the ideal line may not be immediately apparent. However, there are still some moments of delight with some excellent greensites so if you find yourself in south west Scotland, its certainly worth a game.

Cheers,

James

[Tony_Muldoon]

Thanks James I've always wondered.

I think it suffers from not being adjacent to another course and heading North you drive on by. However it would be ideal for those taking the Larne - Stranraer Ferry, adding no more than 10 minutes to the drive?  It can be difficult to fit golf in on travel days and this looks a cracker of a breather course between the 'must plays'.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

James,

Lovely photos. Super course which grows on you the more you play it. It doesn't need Hillside-size dunes to be outstanding, and it was one of the cheapest courses ever built.

As Tony says, there's not much else golfing wise, but Powfoot is fun, Stranraer (Braid's last course?) is scenic, I love Portpatrick (formerly bunkerless), and Wigtownshire County is a genuine links. So if you are heading for the Ayrshire coast, Southerness is worth the detour. And, of course, don't forget to make contact with Alfie Ward and enjoy some hickory clubs and guttie balls.

[Niall C]

James

Excellent photo tour. Southerness is a good no nonsense links which as you say you appreciate more with each play. Did you notice that its got a fairly circuitous routing which gives you a good chance of getting most variations in wind direction. For those playing in the BUDA, Southerness has an open comp on the sunday before. Something like Ł15 or Ł20 for a two man team.

Mark

Totally agree with all but Stranraer which I've never played. You could also lump in Lochmaben which has some really good holes and some quirky holes in the original 9 holes by Braid and then some more modern holes, some of which are pretty good. Not necessarily great golf but great value from waht I remember on prices.

Tony

If you're going anywhere near it and you have the time, you'd be foolish to pass it by. Well worth a play.

Niall

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I expect I've said before on here, but my father and I first played Southerness in the early 1960s. You paid your green fee (minimal) at the local hotel. You changed your shoes in the car park and next to our car was a Daimler limousine - we had something very humble. A well-spoken elderly man and his wife were about to set forth upon the golf course but were getting ready by downing sizeable gins and tonics. We were offered glasses but turned them down. We needed clear heads for the golf course. 'Best fairway turf in the south of Scotland. Enjoy yourselves!' he said as we set off to the then first tee. It may have been the best fairway turf and we may have been sober, but we never hit the fairways to find out. We were in and out of gorse, burns - you name it! We were awful! We called our alcoholic friends through after a few holes while we were yet again searching in the rough or gorse - they were both in the middle of the fairway. Eventually we finished, beaten man and beaten boy, and trudged back to the car park. Our Daimler friends were still there, enjoying some Pol Roger. This time we accepted their offer of a glass - the boot (trunk) of the car must have had a fridge: the wine was beautifully chilled. We drank a toast to Winston Churchill and departed. The next time I played there was when they had a new clubhouse. I rather suspect that if I'd looked in on the original car park our friends would still have been there tucking into some vintage port before making an assault on the early-landed Cognacs.

[Niall C]

Mark

Excellent stuff. One time I was there as a sponsor of the Scottish Amateur which kicked of the day after I was there. The wind was across such that in playing the first you had to aim up the left hand rough, hoping just to end up in the right hand rough. Consequently more than a few balls got lost. Given it was a sponsors day their was an announcer with a microphone at the first tee which, not surprisingly, also happened to be beside the practice putting green. Every player that had to reload had the ignominy of hearing the announcers words "on the tee, AGAIN..."

Not ashamed to say I hit a 2 wood.

Niall

[Jason Thurman]

You probably could've crashed the site's server if you titled this thread "Southerness GC: A Mackenzie Ross design."

Looks like a fantastic setting.

[James Boon]

Thanks all, and thanks Mark and Niall for the tales...

Tony, I'd say its a bit more that a 10 min diversion from the main route to Stranraer, but certainly worth it if you are on that road.

I've updated the opening post to show an aerial view of the course.

Cheers,

James

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Thanks for the photo tour James.

Many years ago, back in the 1980s I came across a Southerness scorecard in my father's golf bag; he hadn't played the course, so I've no idea where the card came from. I just remember looking at the championship tee yardages and thinking that this must be a brute of a course. There were about 10 par 4s over 400 yds, with a par of 70. Anything over 400 yds in the 80s was considered long.

Is it as tough as it looks on the scorecard?

[James Boon]

Donal,

We played from the yellow tees when I was there, but it was quite a strong wind from the north east (the aerial photo is orientated with north up) so both par 5s played really long even though from the card they look reachable in two and decent birdie opportunities. Several of the par 4s weren't reachable for me either. Some tough cross winds also.

But I suspect on a slightly calmer day its not too bad from the yellows. The white or blue championship tees are probably a different matter though!

Cheers,

James

[Sean_A]

Boony

Thanks for the tour.  I have a lot of time for Southerness and really enjoyed our game there despite the impossible playing conditions - wind at 40mph.  There are several very good holes without any of it being outstanding.  I think its worth an overnight detour to play and prefer it to many of the 2nd tiers around St Andrews and East Lothian.

What were your favourite few holes?

Ciao

[Niall C]

Sean

12th not outstanding ?

Niall

[James Boon]

Sean,

As Niall says, the 12th is an obvious candidate for a favourite hole, but the other two which stood out for me were the par 5 5th, with a good test of your driving followed by the green perched up above the fairway and also the bunkerless par 3 17th. 7th, 8th and 13th are also decent holes.

Looking back on the pics, its also occurred to me that before the new clubhouse, the current stretch of 11, 12 and 13 would have made a challenging last 3 holes!

Cheers,

James

[Sean_A]

Sean,

As Niall says, the 12th is an obvious candidate for a favourite hole, but the other two which stood out for me were the par 5 5th, with a good test of your driving followed by the green perched up above the fairway and also the bunkerless par 3 17th. 7th, 8th and 13th are also decent holes.

Looking back on the pics, its also occurred to me that before the new clubhouse, the current stretch of 11, 12 and 13 would have made a challenging last 3 holes!

Cheers,

James

Yes, the 12th is a solid hole, but nothing special other than the view.  I agree with #5, I also liked the first par 3 a ton. 

Ciao
 

[James Boon]

Having finally managed to get round to posting my pics of Turnberry from the same trip as this, I thought I'd bump Southerness.

Another reason for doing so is that Buda is just around the corner and at one time there was plenty of discussion about hiring a boat and crossing the Solway to get a days golf at Southerness, though unfortunately this hasn't proved possible.

Never the less, anyone heading down from Scotland to Buda, having flown into Glasgow say, may fancy the detour?

Cheers,

James

[John Mayhugh]

Another fine photo tour, especially considering the course is probably not all that easy to photograph.  I'm sorry the Buda boat idea didn't work out, but I'll hopefully see Southerness another time.

Nice story, Mark.

[Peter Pallotta]

Thank you, James, that was excellent. I think I'm developing a theory: that in GB&I, any course described as the "lesser known older brother of" is going to be a wonderful place to play golf. 

Peter