# Cardrona Golf & Country Club, Peebles. I don't get it!



## John_Findlay (Mar 16, 2011)

I played here the other day with a couple of pals. Snow on the sides of the road on the way down. Not looking good. Full waterproofs expected.

Got there and it's flat calm and after two holes the sun's out and the windcheater and the woolly hat had to come off or I'd boil to death. Lovely day. Glorious for March.

I don't get it. I've heard nothing but bad reports about this course but I just don't understand that at all. I thought it was a great track. I'd recommend it to anyone, especially at Â£20 a round whilst they're doing winter rates. Summer is around Â£60, I think, which is probably a little steep for me.

The course is picturesque, has a great variety of interesting holes all the way round (with the exception of maybe 2 of the par 5s on the back 9 which were ordinary), great bunker placement, a bit of water. You name it. I was well impressed. 

The greens were scarified that day but they were firm and undulating and should be fast in the summer.

It's a decent length on some holes. Examples. I creamed a Sunday best drive off the 3rd, well past my playing partners, and still had a full 3 iron in. And on the 7th (lovely hole) a good drive over the burn left me with a full 5 wood on to the green. In a wind that's gonna be harsh.

I'll let you judge for yourselves if you've not played it. I took video of every hole. YouTube vids of the front 9 and the back 9.



Cardrona. Holes 1-9 

Cardrona. Holes 10-18 

Oh. Food in the attached Macdonald Cardrona Hotel was all very nice but expensive. Â£5.80 for soup. Ouch. I had fish and chips. Â£12 I think. 

Anyway, the best thing was that we played and ate for free. Golf is always more enjoyable that way, don't you think? Scott's connections with the 59 Club. Yayyy.

Didn't play very well. Started par, birdie, par.....and finished birdie, par, par. We won't talk about the 12 in the middle. 28 points. Got gubbed by Scott on 37 points (off 8) and Gerry on 33 points (off 18) . Boo.


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## DCB (Mar 16, 2011)

Sounds good John. Playing there with my wife next month. Like you I've heard horror stories about it, but it's always looked okay when I've passed by. First chance I've had to play it.


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## John_Findlay (Mar 16, 2011)

You'll enjoy Dave (if the wind's not up) . I'm almost certain you will. It's grand.


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## Driven2Distraction (Mar 16, 2011)

thanks

nice to hear a decent review of the course - like a lot on here i've heard that it's only good for cattle grazing - I'll check out your vids when I get home

the only thing I have against it is - a few years ago I took HID there for a weekend and was refused entry to the Restaurant without a Jacket & Tie - had to borrow one from the Concierge!!


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## John_Findlay (Mar 16, 2011)

....like a lot on here i've heard that it's only good for cattle grazing
		
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Exactly what we'd heard. Nonsense. The three of us agreed we'd be back in a shot. 

Yes, we had criticisms (Scott had to write a fairly detailed report), especially about the service in the Hotel but no complaints about the course for this time of year. It was very playable and as much fun as I've had on a golf course in a while. I might baulk at paying the Summer rate...but that's just me.


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## DCB (Mar 16, 2011)

Ah... the good old days  




			the only thing I have against it is - a few years ago I took HID there for a weekend and was refused entry to the Restaurant without a Jacket & Tie - had to borrow one from the Concierge!!
		
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Smart casual seems to suffice nowadays.


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## Driven2Distraction (Mar 16, 2011)

Ah... the good old days  

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does that come with a wistful sigh?  

I'm more than happy to dress for the occiaision, but a heads-up at the time of booking, or in the literature would have helped greatly.......

i looked like a reject from the muppets with a 48S jacket draped over my 40L frame.......


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## Kellfire (Mar 16, 2011)

Makes me wish I had a Scottish accent, this.


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## Kellfire (Mar 16, 2011)

Does playing in Scotland really promote a low ball flight? You all seem to keep it quite low.


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## John_Findlay (Mar 16, 2011)

Nah. Not always. The low ball hitter plays at Craigielaw in East Lothian where it's very windy. Think he's been working on hitting the drives low. Don't think the other 2 of us do, though, unless we try (or thin it).


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## Dodger (Mar 16, 2011)

Aye but you also love Bamburgh.

I rest my case.


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## IM01 (Mar 16, 2011)

Just a typical resort course....like Linden Hall it suffers from drainage problems,although USGA spec greens help.If the conditions are good under foot it's a decent layout and makes for an enjoyable game aslong as your not paying top dollar.


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## John_Findlay (Mar 16, 2011)

Dodger, it's head and shoulders above Bamburgh. There you are. But as Ivan says I'd be irked at paying top dollar. Â£40-Â£45 tops and you wouldnt feel disappointed though.


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## Junior (Mar 16, 2011)

Nice review JF, i'd agree that it looks to be a bargain at Â£20....and some great scenery to go with it !!


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## Dodger (Mar 16, 2011)

Dodger, it's head and shoulders above Bamburgh. There you are. But as Ivan says I'd be irked at paying top dollar. Â£40-Â£45 tops and you wouldnt feel disappointed though.
		
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As it happens I would rather play Bamburgh!!

Head and shoulders...come on John,it's another run of the mill Thomas track,nothing more nothing less.


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## Owen_Thomas_14 (Mar 16, 2011)

Its the long walks between greens to the next tee that ruins it for me


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## John_Findlay (Mar 16, 2011)

Yeah, there are some long walks between greens and tees but pleasant enough on a nice day.

Dodger, we can debate it all we want but that's the benefit of a video review, I suppose. A picture paints a thousand words, as they say.

It's still better than Dalmahoy.


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## birdieman (Mar 17, 2011)

Have driven by a few times recently with work, looks like a nice track from the road and backed up by ths video. Attractive part of the country too.

A wee pull on the 1st tee there JF? 

For Â£20, you can't lose.


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## John_Findlay (Mar 17, 2011)

Exactly Stuart. As I said, I'd not be unhappy paying Â£40-45 in the summer when you pay nearly that for such places as Gullane 2 and 3. It was very enjoyable.

Yeah, a wee low draw pull on 1. I was suffering from a bit of a hangover after celebrating my girlfriend's birthday the night before. When my friend picked me up in the car we stopped for drinks and fuel at a petrol station on the way down and when I got back into the car I found myself sitting in the driver's seat wondering why I didn't have a key and all the controls were different. I wasn't quite "with it" for the first few holes shall we say.

Needless to say my best shots weren't on camera. They missed my best drives and the two birdies. My pals are sacked as videographers. Seems they can't press an "on" button.


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## Smiffy (Mar 17, 2011)

Looks like a nice track from the road and backed up by ths video. Attractive part of the country too.
		
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Those pylons definitely look a lot nicer than the pylons we get down here I'll grant ye


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## birdieman (Mar 17, 2011)

When my friend picked me up in the car we stopped for drinks and fuel at a petrol station on the way down and when I got back into the car I found myself sitting in the driver's seat wondering why I didn't have a key and all the controls were different. I wasn't quite "with it" for the first few holes shall we say.
		
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I did that without being hungover, used to drive a landrover, one snowy day I parked, went into post office, came back out and got in landrover to be greeted by a bemused looking labrador staring at me, my brain was in neutral....took me about 10 seconds to twig what the hell was going on and finally dawned on me it was someone else's landrover, mine was 5 yards away behind his one.....same colour though!


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## DCB (Apr 17, 2011)

Just back after a couple of days down at Cardrona. I used GolfBreaks.Com to book a short break for my wife and I. Having seen John's videos of the course I was looking forward to playing it but was unsure as to what the conditions would be like so early in the season. 

Well nothing to fear really. The ground conditions were dry and firm, so the ball did roll out quite a bit on some of the holes.Fairways were reasonably lush for this time of year and the greens were in good condition and although still showing signs of the hard winter we've had they did putt very well indeed. 

As a resort course there are all types of golfer out playing. When we played on Friday we almost had the place to ourselves. A calm overcast day  with no wind. A surreal experience indeed. Granted we did see one group who had merged from two groups into a five ball  , but they were far enough ahead that we didn't catch them up until nearer the end. 

On Saturday it was a different story.  A bright breezy day (for breezy read WINDY !) It was a local holiday weekend in Edinburgh, so the course was busy. There were guys out there who were way out of their depth on a course of this length. The opening two holes caused a major snarl-up as many struggled to get out into the wind.

Whilst there are some very appealing holes on the course, there are also some fairly dour if not plain boring holes. The 14 springs to mind. A long barren slog if you ask me.
The 3rd and 8th were visually appealing holes and the 10th & 15th likewise in the back 9.  The 18th was a fine closing hole. Needing a good drive and an accurate 2nd into the two tiered green. 

All in all a good couple of days golf. Some long walks between tees, but lots to see around the course on a nice day. Well worth playing, but maybe not at the full green fee


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