So now we come to the second course in my tour of Highland 9 holers, Abernethy Golf Club
As will become apparent through the course of my 9 hole courses of the Highlands I am very much a ‘glass half full’ type of person when it comes to the golf course architecture of lesser known courses. Whilst many have their heads turned by conditioning, style of bunkering or vistas/surroundings these things hold very little water with me. The quality of the GCA in my book has more to do with the use of the land, the size of the budget and what the design asks of the player. I guess this point of view might have been formed due to growing up playing on so many early Mackenzie’s along with a good smattering of Braid and Colt which were built at a time when the designer was required to use the land not re-model it.
I have a bit of a soft spot for Abernethy as for most of my childhood the main family holiday was a fortnight staying in Nethybridge and the 9 hole course at the northern edge of the village was played on an almost daily basis. It is interesting and heartening to me that though certain things have been upgraded such as the carpark been an open tarmac affair instead of the random parking of cars under and amongst to pine trees or the splendid new clubhouse which replaced the old corrugated iron one with the chicken wire protected veranda the course has been left almost completely untouched except for the removal of some ball eating rough areas and improved drainage on a couple of holes.
There seems to be very little archive material on the clubs beginnings beyond the fact that it was established in 1893 as a six hole layout but moved to its present location just two years later when it was extended to nine holes. The course stayed pretty much the same with the only alterations occurring sometime after the end of WWII with the extending of the 7
th hole by some 50 odd yards and the rebuilding of the 2
nd green . Through the years various tees have been enlarged but stayed in the same locations so the course plays pretty much the same as it did in 1895.
So now to the course which is 2526 yard par 33 9 holer laid out on a heather heathland surrounded by a native pine forest.
The upgraded carpark with splendid new club house in the background.The first hole, called Balliemore is a 299 yard par four.
The tee shot is played across a valley to a fairway with a marked right to left slope and is slightly downhill. Ideally you should hit a drive down the right with a slight draw which will result in the slopes encouraging the ball ever closer to the putting surface. However, should the ball stay up to the right then the bunker right and short of the green along with the fact that the green is sloping away from the golfer will leave a tricky approach shot. A second sand hazard guards the left side of the green. The shorter hitter is better off going down the middle which should leave the ball in the left half of the fairway and an open shot to the green. There is plenty of room to the right but left is rough and the boundary fence.
The green like all but two on the course is a ‘lay of the land’ style which in this case means it not only has a strong right to left tilt but also runs slightly away from the player. Beyond and below the hole is the only way to leave the golfer with a straight forward putt.
Only the unfortunate planting of a row of trees some 20 or so years ago detracts from this opener and hopefully most will get removed leaving just a couple of specimen trees. The second hole, a par three of 114 yards is called Castle Roy after the ruins found just down the road behind the green. The first thing that is striking about this hole is the road the player must hit across and extra care must be taken that no traffic is crossing before playing a shot to the green.
Hole two called Castle Roy after the ruins to be found just down the road behind the green is a 114 yard par three. This green is guarded by three bunkers, one short left and two on the right. The first thing that strikes the golfer is that the tee shot must be played over a public road and care must be taken to play when no vehicles are passing.
A sign you do not find on many courses.The second striking thing is the green which is very much a manmade two tier affair which is out of character for the rest of the course. It does however give the hole some spice as hitting the wrong level makes for a very tricky putt up the sharp 18” step whilst short of the green leaves an equally delicate chip where the player must negotiate the green’s false front. The real danger however lies in being too long where a sharp ridge marks the back of the green complex. Any shot played from the far side of this will require a masterly touch to remain on the correct tier.
These days such ridges are thought to be too artificial by most architects but in dismissing them they are missing out on an effective yet simple defense
for the green.The tee shot at the par four, 301 yard third called Aultmore need only find the fairway it shares with the fourth. The only place not to go is left.
Hole three, Aultmore is a 301 yard par four which shares a fairway with the fourth hole. This part of the shared fairway falls away on the left and ends in a sharp climb up over a ridge some 50 yards shy of the putting surface. There is little advantage to any particular angle into the green as long as you stay on the fairway.
Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of the second shot something which I will remedy next time I play it. For the approach pick a line, wedge your ball over the top of the ridge and imagine it bouncing and rolling its way down the otherside on to the green and probably ever closer to the hole.
The green lays in a dish shaped hollow hidden by the farside ridge and framed by native pines. It is fairly easy to find the putting surface as it gathers the ball but due to the contouring some subtle, some not, the golfer needs to pay attention if two putts are to be ensured.
Hole four is a 313 yard par four called Broomhill. The tee is set high above the fairway on the ridge we have just played over and the full length of this hole is set out in its glory. The first part of the fairway which is shared with the third is flat and generous. It is narrowed from the 220 mark by a rough covered hillside and also becomes markedly tilted to the left. The heather, trees and boundary fence down the left side of this hole must be flirted with if the player is to leave the optimal angle into the green. The much safer shot to the right leaves a similar shot to that on the first but with the green sloping much more strongly.
The green is a circular lie of the land type devoid of contouring outside of the strong tilt. Care should be taken to leave the second shot below the hole but should this be achieved the player should have no problems finishing up.
This view from behind the green shows quite well the slope of the land and the difficulty that presents to the golferCroftcroy, the fifth hole is Abernethy’s first real tough nut. At 216 yards uphill to a fiendishly protected green anybody walking to the sixth tee with a par three on the card will be very happy indeed. The tee shot is bland enough until the last 25 yards when a hummocky ridge which is wrapped around the front and rightside of the green which blocks any view of the green or the flagstick. Indeed, this is the only example I have seen of a hole having a black & white marker post less than 10 yards short of the putting surface. The hummocky nature can lead to the odd random bounce making any running shot a little bit of an uncertainty. Yes you will find the green situated in a hollow on the otherside but maybe not as close as you think.
The green itself looks quite bland at first sight but the severity of the slopes around the green actually hide the real contours of this green and the golfer is well advised to study the surface very carefully before attempted a stroke. Two putts here is always good. 
Hole six called Donald Carr is a 304 yard par four. Played from an elevated tee set amidst a sea of heather the shot is played across a shallow, wide valley to a fairway that stretches away on the otherside. The fairway, whilst generous enough is full a micro contours which can make an accurate second shot a little more tricky than it first appears.
The green is the second on to have been altered from the original with it being pushed back some 50 yards and being benched into the hillside. It narrows quite a bit the further you get towards the back, with a banking going upward to the right and a steep drop off to the left. As with the second, a small ridge runs round the back quarter of the green acting as a backstop. The putting surface is the only one on the course devoid of contours making any putt easy to read, straight!
Seven is the next tough hole we face but its difficulty is not to do with the length for at 418 yards although not short it is hardly a ballbuster. The difficulty is with the shots it demands the player produce. This is a classic hole which produces through length of shot not the width of the hole.
Played over a wide, deep valley the player’s first choice is how far to hit the tee shot. Either lay up in the bottom of the valley, try to fly the ball to the fairway on the farside or hit it into the up slope. 
The first option leaves you with a flat lie but also a much longer shot of over 200 yards where you will need not only to get a high flighted shot to clear the valley side rising up in front of you but also you will need to draw the ball if you are to follow the upper part of the fairway and find the green. This way is really set up for a three shot strategy with the second shot being played with a more lofted club short of the green and then a pitch on. 
The second is to play the ball onto the upslope on the farside of the valley and use this as a launch pad for the next to the green. This usually will work fine though it does still leave a blind shot and there is a risk of a slightly awkward lie due to the higgledy piggledy nature of the ground. The second is to play the ball onto the upslope on the farside of the valley and use this as a launch pad for the next to the green. This usually will work fine though it does still leave a blind shot and there is a risk of a slightly awkward lie due to the higgledy piggledy nature of the ground.
The third option is the heroic carry which at about 230 yards is no mean feat for most especially as the shot landing too short will kick to the right into the heather flanking the sides of this hole. When you then add in the necessity to draw the ball or end up in said heather the risk part of the equation is apparent. Succeed however and the reward is a view of the green and a straightforward shot with a mid-iron.
The second half of this hole is played out over a rolling fairway to a fantastic ‘lay of the land’ green and the only slight detraction is that the club has allowed the once splendid bank of heather on the left of the fairway to become infested with silver birch which are gradually encroaching on the line of play. Still, an afternoon with the chainsaw would soon solve this problem and it is to be hoped the club will see the wisdom in restoring the width to the second half of the hole.
The green is laid out across a swale with a plateau on the farside forming the last third of the putting surface. The run up to the green and its first few yards are tilted to the left feeding the ball into its heart whereas once the downslope of the swale is reached the ball is fed away to the right and the possibility of running off the green away down the slope to the right is very real. The green demands the golfer’s respect and a three putt is a real possibility for those who do not pay attention.
Walking to the eighth tee the GCA connoisseur will be able to reflect on just having played one of golf’s truly great holes.
With the eighth we move from the sublime to the somewhat bizarre for in the middle of this 244 yard par three stands the village’s war memorial. Why they decided to erect it here (the course predates it) rather than in the village itself I do not know but it certainly adds a something unique to the round of golf at this highland course. The hole naturally takes its name from this feature and is called ‘Monument’.
The tee shot is a blind one played over a ridge on which the memorial stands and the ideal line is just to the left of it as the marker post suggests.
The green is set atop a small ridge with the front yard of the putting surface built up in a pronounced step and has a subtle yet definite tilt from right to left. With bunkers right and left as well as two behind the green is well protected. In truth the hole plays more like a par four and for many years I thought it was until at some point I made the mistake of looking at the card and in doing so turned all those pars into bogeys in the blinking of an eye.
The last hole comes into the kindly finisher category. At 319 yards playing slightly uphill ‘Nethy’ has a nice, wide open fairway though the best position to end up in is in the left hand semi from where a view of the putting surface makes the approach shot somewhat easier to judge. From the fairway itself the putting surface remains blind though should the flag be tucked in on the left side of the green then this must be overlooked in favour of not having to play over the left hand bunker.
The green is set in a saddle in the land to the left of the clubhouse which is afforded the best of views. It is guarded left and right by bunkers but the player should have no difficulty finding the green which tends to gather the ball into the center of the putting surface. Two putts should be fairly straight forward and the golfer can then finish off with a drink and something to eat in the clubhouse before deciding what next to do.
Abernethy will never be regarded as a great course nor is it one that you would or should travel a long distance to play but it is a very good test of golf. Should you find yourself in the area with a couple of hours available then it is certainly worth a visit.