DESTINATIONGOLF . TRAVEL
NORTHEAST
Murcar Links
Royal Aberdeen
The 6th oldest golf club in the world and a beauty it is , too . Spend some time in the clubhouse and enjoy the history . Balgownie Links , as it is also known , is a traditional out-andback layout , with a highly regarded front nine . The 1st hits down towards the North Sea , where oil tankers lounge in the water , while the next eight holes slide through the seaside dunes . There are wonderful twists to fairways – the approach to the 1st green sets the tone – although the landing zones are somewhat smoother and more generous as a result . Still , it is a battle of wits . The back nine sit on a higher level inland and are more exposed to the wind as a result . The views may be better , but the golf is tougher . This is a truly classic links with velvet greens begging for bump and run , and delicious pothole bunkering .
Murcar Links
Sitting so close to Royal Aberdeen that golfers could accidentally play ( and have played ) the wrong course , Murcar Links is a more chaotic and tumbling extension of these gorsedrenched dunes , next to the North Sea . It is also one tricky encounter , especially for the wayward . Fairways are tight and the hummock-like terrain won ’ t always be kind to good shots . At least such terrain promises high tees , sweet shapes and naturally sited greens . And then there are the views . Murcar Links may not be overly long ( back tees : 6,500 yards , par 71 ) but this is a course to be tackled with care and common sense . There is simply too much going on to go blasting it about . A very different links to Royal Aberdeen , but still heaps of fun .
Newmacher ( Hawkshill )
There are two golf courses here , a few miles inland and to the north of Aberdeen , and both were designed by Dave Thomas . The Hawkshill , with its heathland flourishes , receives the greatest plaudits and it is the bigger and more challenging of the two . Water hazards appear on several holes – including the 1st – and these add beauty and danger to a course which really comes to life amid the flanks of Birch trees and Scots Pines . Thomas has a reputation for strategically bunkering courses and Hawkshill is as good as it gets , squeezing greens to ensure there is no let up in pressure . Holes are tight and tree-lined with a manicured American flavour , but that only serves to emphasise the quality of a course regarded as one of Scotland ’ s toughest inland courses . Great facilities and an impressive clubhouse .
“ Water hazards appear on several holes – including the 1st – and these add beauty and danger to a course which really comes to life amid the flanks of Birch trees and Scots Pines .”
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