Colin L
Tour Winner
Had a couple of games on Aberfeldy this past week - one of them a shirtsleeved round in warm sunshine and hardly any wind, would you believe. It's a completely flat, riverside course which suffers in parts from being rather soggy even just from the rain and also from occasional flooding. Enjoyable but not hugely challenging, the SSS off the yellows is 64, but I managed to make my own challenges regardless of the course. It features a pedestrian suspension bridge over the Tay from one part of the course to the other which bounces as you walk across it. If you have ever seen the film of the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapsing, you will know why this makes for a nervous crossing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw
I can't say it is a course I would suggest going out of your way to play, but attractive and enjoyable enough if you are in the area. And to be honest, I wouldn't be playing it at all if Taymouth Castle were open. Now that was, and will again be a remarkably fine golf course. Designed by James Braid it is simply a joy to play and the scenery - especially in the autumn when the leaves are turning - is magnificent. It is a sad miss while it is closed. No-one seems to know what the current situation is with it - the steward at Aberfeldy saying that even the members of Taymouth Castle GC (which has kept going) don't know. The encouraging thing, though, is that the course is being maintained. I walked past it and noted that the fairways and greens were freshly cut and couldn't see anything to suggest why it couldn't be open.
A course of happy memories then - including the bizarre experiences of being startled out of a putt by two RAF fighters screeching low overhead and of absurdly feeling I ought to hold my drive off one tee as this huge bumblebee of a transport plane came lumbering up the loch and so low over the course it fooled you into thinking you could hit it with a Daly of a drive. Usually, however, it was a place of great tranquillity and beauty. I hope to be around to play it again.
I can't say it is a course I would suggest going out of your way to play, but attractive and enjoyable enough if you are in the area. And to be honest, I wouldn't be playing it at all if Taymouth Castle were open. Now that was, and will again be a remarkably fine golf course. Designed by James Braid it is simply a joy to play and the scenery - especially in the autumn when the leaves are turning - is magnificent. It is a sad miss while it is closed. No-one seems to know what the current situation is with it - the steward at Aberfeldy saying that even the members of Taymouth Castle GC (which has kept going) don't know. The encouraging thing, though, is that the course is being maintained. I walked past it and noted that the fairways and greens were freshly cut and couldn't see anything to suggest why it couldn't be open.
A course of happy memories then - including the bizarre experiences of being startled out of a putt by two RAF fighters screeching low overhead and of absurdly feeling I ought to hold my drive off one tee as this huge bumblebee of a transport plane came lumbering up the loch and so low over the course it fooled you into thinking you could hit it with a Daly of a drive. Usually, however, it was a place of great tranquillity and beauty. I hope to be around to play it again.
