Fall travels to Scotland, Part Two

      Each trip we take to Scotland takes on its own personality—some end up being castle trips, others are filled with ancient sites, and yet others we find centered around whisky distilleries.  This trip, though, has become more of a golf trip than we’ve had in years.  It was partly that I had planned a little more golf than usual, but it has also been because of the weather.  Scotland had a rubbish summer with loads of wind and record rain—our friends say simply there was no summer.  Autumn, on the other hand, has turned out glorious with almost no rainy days and that has meant that the golf is good.  Better than good; fantastic!  Let me tell you a bit about our now golf trip in four parts: competitions, golf course receptions, glorious days on the links, and a perfect day.

When planning this trip I noticed that there were a couple of Open Pairs competitions in areas we’d be in.  Because we’re members of a Scottish golf club, St Fillans GC in Perthshire, we are allowed to enter course open competitions, something fairly rare in US golf.  Cost is almost nothing, but we do have to play “greensomes,” which means we both tee off on a hole and then pick the best drive and play alternate shot through the green.  We entered an Open at Boat of Garten Golf and Tennis Club in the Scottish Highlands—a course we’ve played many times and quite enjoy.  We were paired with Mark and Fiona from a village near Aberdeen (about two hours away).

Anne, Fiona, Mark at Boat of Garten GC.

Boat of Garten GC

Mark works on the North Shore oil rigs and they were great playing partners as we hacked our way around the great James Braid course.  Anne and I ended up where we wanted to in the competition—not on the bottom.  A week later we played at Westhills GC near Aberdeen on Scotland’s northeast coast paired with Ian (who also works on the oil rigs) and Fiona (a popular name in Scotland) from Montrose about an hour south of the course.

Ian, Fiona, and Anne at Westhills GC.

Fiona tees off at Westhills.

This competition was different because neither of us couples had ever played the course.  It was quite an adventure for all us on a tricky, hilly course hitting blind shots without any idea where we were going or where we’d leave our partners to hit from.  The good thing was that again we weren’t on the bottom of the entries, though Anne did see parts of both courses she never would have normally seen.  The benefits of playing in Open competitions is the chance to play new or interesting courses cheaply (fees are minimal) and the chance to play and make new friends.

On this trip we’ve received some Rock Star receptions at courses we’re playing for the first time and courses we returned to, took a copy of our book to, and played again.  Courses usually grant us “courtesy of the course” (free golf), set up a tee time for us, and send us out.  When we return with a book, it’s drop off the book at the golf shop or bar and go out to play.  This trip was different.  At Hilton Park near Glasgow we were met by the golf pro who introduced us to the club secretary/manager and the club historian/past captain.

Craig and Murray on the steep downhill 2nd on the Alexander Course at Hilton Park a few miles from Glasgow.

A par 3 on the Hilton Park Course.

Craig Bell and Murray Ritchie then guided us around the Alexander Course.  After our round and drink in the lounge, Craig took us by buggy around the Hilton Park course.  A lovely reception and a full tour at a couple of lovely courses.  When we took a book to the little 9-hole course at Tarland in the Highlands we got a surprise reception.  The secretary had set up golf in exchange for a book, but when we brought the book into the small lounge the club captain was there but knew nothing about our visit.

Tarland GC

One of the best holes at Tarland is the 4th.

The clubhouse is small at Tarland GC, but the members are friendly.

When he saw the book with the Tarland write-up in it he was thrilled to see his course ing the book.  He also remembered photos I had sent to the club after we first visited.  He told the steward behind the bar to set us up with trolleys and not to charge us—he didn’t know the secretary had already arranged to comp us.  When we came in from our round the captain dropped in again to check that we had enjoyed our round and to tell us our visit was already up on the club’s Facebook page.  It did make us feel like celebrities, for at least a short while.  Then at Peterhead GC when we gave the book to the lounge staff, she immediately got the secretary, John Miller, to come out to meet us.  He made sure we had everything we needed and we enjoyed a great round on the links.

Peterhead GC

Anne relaxas at Peterhead.

After our round as we were putting our clubs in our car, some Canadian golfers came up to us and asked if we were the authors who had visited the course.  Evidently, the secretary had been talking about our book to everyone in the clubhouse all morning.  Our reception at the courses we visit or revisit is always positive, but sometimes a Rock Star reception is a special touch. 

Besides the special times at the courses, this year has been full of just plain wonderful golf—great and fun courses and beautiful weather.  Some days there have been clouds about, but we haven’t gotten rained on even once.  Old Moray GC is one of our favorite courses.  Nestled up to the Moray Firth the course plays in the low linksland between the sea and the Lossiemouth RAF base where on weekdays NATO fighter bombers practice take-off and landings with the usual flight pattern bringing them in directly over the course.

Jet coming in almost directly over us at Moray Old GC.

Some locals say the jets are a bother, but we think they are fascinating—noisy, but fascinating.

Besides the jets, traffic can be a distraction on a couple of holes.  Lossiemouth Lighthouse in the background.

John Murray, the club professional, sent us out in mostly sunny weather with about 15 mph winds—just enough wind to bring more of the troublesome gorse or whins into play.  Further east on the Morayshire coast  we caught a lovely day at the relatively new Maverston GC near the village of Urquhart.

Maverston GC

Anne teeing off on a par 3 at Maverston.

Almost no wind bothered our shots as we wound our way around the two-year-old cross between a heathland and parkland track.  This course will be featured in the revision of Golf in Scotland: The Hidden Gems.  On the northeast coast above Aberdeen we were booked into Newburgh on Ythan (EYE-than) GC on what turned out to be a perfect day to be on the links which run beside the River Ythan.

The first at Newburgh on Ythan GC climbs quite steeply.

Newburgh GC is in the direct path of helicopters ferrying workers to and from the offshore oil rigs.

The 16th at Newburgh is named "Short" because it's only 150 yards, but we named it "Hit and Hope" because you tee off over tidal marsh and gorse and can only see the top of the flag.

The light breeze was barely enough to keep us from getting too hot in the direct autumn sun.  But there was no breeze and nary a cloud when we played the highest 18-hole course in the UK, Braemar GC (about 1500 feet).  The course plays with water on every hole—we crossed the River Dee four time in the round and a burn four more times—but the water didn’t keep the temperature down.

The River Dee on Braemar GC.  We hit over it on four holes.

A par 3 at Braemar GC.

There are very few Scottish rounds of golf where I’ve wished I’d packed shorts, and this was one of those rounds.  On the last two holes the sun dipped behind the surrounding mountains and even then the coolness was just refreshing.  All these golf rounds were close to perfect (except for a few wayward shots), but they weren’t the best of this trip.

On Wednesday of last week we had a free day; no planned golf.  After a leisurely breakfast and a latte at a local tea room we struck out for some touring.

Steam train and the Broomhill Station.

After a stop the Broomhill Station on the Strathspey Tourist Rail line (it’s the old Glenbogle Station for those who watched Monarch of the Glen) to take pictures of the steam train, we decided see if we could get in a quick round at the nearby 9-hole Abernethy GC in Nethy Bridge.  Not only could we get on, we were the only ones on the course (other than the mower man).

Abernethy GC

A walk through the heather.

The parish War Memorial is in play on the 8th at Abernethy GC.

A beautiful Highland course all to ourselves was almost too good to believe.  We took our time—no one pushed us and we pushed no one.  There was a light breeze and a mixture of sun and heavy clouds, but though we saw heavy showers in the surrounding hills it never really threatened us.  We enjoyed the course and each others company.  As we were finishing up on the ninth we gave the course over to a couple getting ready to tee off on one.  Unplanned and unhurried, a Highland course to ourselves, no rain, some decent golf shots, a wonderful playing companion, what could possibly be better.

It’s all meant to change next week as the weather turns to days of rain and showers.  The next post might just be how we survived in the cold and wet of Scotland’s autumn.

NOTE: Today we played golf at Inverurie GC 40 miles from our digs in Ballater.  It took us five different road changes and 1:15 to drive there and that was ten minutes faster than the predicted time on a distance/time calculator.  Such is driving in the Scottish Highlands.