DESTINATIONGOLF. TRAVEL
NORTH EAST
Newmachar
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-and-back 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.
Newmachar( 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.
Peterhead
Play on this linksland began in 1892, when Willie Park Jr laid out nine holes. It was later extended to 18 but that spirit of natural links golf remained... and has done to this day. The course is laid out to the north of the River Uige. Indeed, a bridge over the river takes you to the clubhouse. Peterhead starts gently and it is only when you climb higher, to the 5th tee, that you appreciate the startlingly natural dunescapes yet to come. These slip away to the sea and fill the middle of the round, reaching out to the farthest point. There are no better examples than the short par four 7th, named“ Valley’, which plays from the high ridge down into the dunes where the green is surrounded by stern pot bunkers, and the long, bunkerless par four 9th( Index 1) which glides through a dune-created hollow, all the way to the green. It is followed by Peterhead’ s signature par-3 10th.
Newburgh Links
Play in Spring and early Summer and you will be overwhelmed by the scent and sight of gorse drenching the landscape. It is everywhere on this links north of Aberdeen. This is a course of contrasts with two very different loops of nine returning to a modern clubhouse. The opening nine cavort over hilly, rumbling terrain and your balance may just be tested as you are gleefully tossed about. Greens are tiered which will test your approach play as they are often above or below you. The second nine throws you into the densest gorse. What first appears flat is anything but, with fairways whipping left, right, up and over. This is perfect old school links, with blind shots, tricky twisting fairways and some perfect green settings. A links with punch and raw adventure.
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