Top 100 Golf Courses in Scotland

Top 100 scoTland 2015
Braemar.
stroma.
Kyles of Bute.
alford.
661 and counting
German countesses, american artists and lethal beer – while playing every course in scotland.
alan Mcpherson is playing every course
(including ones most don’t know about!) in
scotland in an attempt to raise £10,000 for
cancer Research UK. The 10-handicapper was
already a keen travelling golfer when he
retired in 2009, having played 200 courses.
Keen to complete the list that he’s researched,
he joined eforts with colleague craig Watson,
who had started the same challenge with a
friend, stuart Fleming. little did Mcpherson
know his first round at alexandra park while a
student would add to over 660 more...
“I don’t intend to stop travelling to play golf in
obscure places even once I’ve played every
course we know about. I’ve never become
apathetic about the challenge, but am usually
first to bed when touring with the guys!
“scotland has some of the world’s most
famous courses so naturally I was keen to play
them however while travelling throughout
scotland for work I always seemed to be
passing little courses of the beaten track, so
I was also looking forward to playing them.
one thing I wasn’t expecting was that even at
The courses Ugadale that don’t Hotel, attract with the many visitors, there
links could of be Machrihanish a simply outstanding beyond. hole. Equally,
golf is about people and it is great to enjoy the
locals’ insights over a beer or three.
“Three favourite experiences? Top of the
list is our trip to play the six-hole lighthouse
Keeper’s course on Fair Isle, the most remote
course in scotland. It is managed by Tommy
Hyndman, an american artist who brought his
family over a few years ago, so we stayed with
him and his family. Just getting there is a
challenge but it was a great experience, not
least the late-night walk to see the pufns on
the clifs after ‘refreshments’ had been taken.
“next, skibo castle, a high-end course is
usually private for hotel guests. We loved the
course, and the hot bacon rolls brought to us
on the back nine – a small detail, but the kind
of thing that sticks in the mind long after
memories of the actual golf have faded.
“Finally, a trip I made to Iona, a tiny west
coast island with a religious history. There’s a
links laid out on wild grazing land (next stop
‘The six-hole Lighthouse
Keeper’s Course is the
most remote in Scotland’
canada) and each august it plays host to a
quirky golf tournament that attracts golfers
from distant parts. I played in relentless rain
and mist with an american professor and a
German countess. There’s 18 holes but only 11
are used as there’s a natural amphitheatre of
rocks behind the 11th, where the barbecue and
the bar are located. Most folk just go back the
next day to retrieve their clubs. This was golf
at its most natural, with plastic net floats for
flags – the only thing the sheep won’t eat,
apparently! I had to catch a ferry and it was a
long walk until some locals took pity on me.
“I’ve kept a card for each course since 2010;
some make pretty sad reading. Getting lost is
rare, although at Barra it was so foggy we
couldn’t find the course, despite my sat nav
telling us we’d arrived! We asked a schoolgirl...
and it turned out we were parked on the links!
“Best pint and bar meal? skullsplitter, a
local beer on orkney, is aptly named!
dunvegan Hotel in st andrews takes some
beating, as does a hotel on Westray that had
great seafood. a place by scrabster harbour,
and a pub in Ullapool also spring to mind.”
n justgiving.com/golfingcoasttocoast
n scottishgolfcourses-allofthem.blogspot.com
14
Golf World Top 100 scoTland 2015