Help please!! Spey Valley??

[Dodger]

Hi all,looking for a bit of help here.....
I am off the play Royal Dornoch and Nairn Champ on Thurs Fri 16th 17th Oct and we are looking for a place to play on our way up from Berwick on the Wed 15th.We were going to play Boat of Garten but have found out that Spey Valley has a 4 ball offer of £160 for Oct which works out great seeing as there is 8 of us but the only thing holding us back from booking is that we are worried of the course being wet with it being Oct and what with this wonderful spell of weather we have had.Do any of you fellas have an insight into how the course condition is or is likely to be,does it drain well or is it a bit of a swamp a la St Andrews Bay after wet weather??

Thanks.

 

[madandra]

You need the help of John_Findlay and Birdieman on this one m8. I am up that way regularly and it is probably the driest part of Scotland so I don't think the weather will be a problem.

 

[birdieman]

The area can flood if the River Spey is way up but that's usually March after snow melt. You're all sandy gravelly soils up there that drain freely.
North Scotland has had a crappy summer but we haven't had the rain some areas have had.
I'm sure you'd be fine in October, haven't played Spey Valley so I don't know how close to the River Spey the course runs but you'd have to be extremely unlucky to have that much water in October. I would book it, if it's a wash out go to Boat of Garten only 5 miles away, it doesn't flood.

 

[John_Findlay]

Sound advice from birdieman there, dodger. I've not played Spey Valley yet but you'll love Dornoch and Nairn. Boat of Garten is a wee gem but tighter than a duck's you know what.

 

[Dodger]

looking at pictures of the course it looks kinda heathland but finding said pictures is bloody hard seeing as there seems very little in way of web based info around of the track so really could do with a 1st hand experience of it from someone.Couldnt really ask the guy at the shop when I phoned as he was Polish (possibly) and english was not great!
Being links men we are adverse to playing wet soggy courses so are eager to avoid mud of any sort!

 

[John_Findlay]

You wouldn't have any sogginess issues at the Boat for sure, dodger. Might be cheaper, too (actually £34 per round) and the scenery is amazing. It's a crime not to try this course if you're in the area.

Here's a flavour of the course from one of my YouTube vids;-

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz1JTqCjASc

 

[birdieman]

You could email GM's Fergus Bissett in the Opinion column, he did a review of the course in the magazine a few months ago!

 

[vig]

Couldnt really ask the guy at the shop when I phoned as he was Polish (possibly) and english was not great!

Was he scottish?
Sorry guys, couldn't resist it. I have loads of scottish friends BTW

 

[Marko77]

Spey Valley is a fantastic course - you will enjoy it. It is quite an open course although there are some heavy patches of rough dotted around the place.

I played it last October during a mixed period of weather and the course was very playable - no excuses or disappointments.

There did used to be website with a detailed hole by hole description but it seems to have disappeared?

 

[Dodger]

Marko a friend of a friend of a friend reckons it was better than Kings at Gleneagles would you agree is it that good?He thought this because the fact for him that you could see everything out infront of you unlike the countless blind shots at the Kings.And he said the scenery was better too!!??

 

[cm_qs]

Couldnt really ask the guy at the shop when I phoned as he was Polish (possibly) and english was not great!

Was he scottish?
Sorry guys, couldn't resist it. I have loads of scottish friends BTW

You'll have one less if there's any more of that!

(only kidding )

 

[thecraw]

Its a wonderful layout and a harder test of golf than the Kings Course. It certainly rewards the longer hitter. I found it to be a superb test of golf and the greens were superb. Mark my words this course will become one of the most talked about courses in Scotland in the next few years. Its miles better than the PGA course at Gleneagles but I would also rate the Kings miles better than that PGA layout which in my opinion doesnt work in Scotland, but thats only my opinion!

The scenery is very similar to the Boat which is also magic. Newtonmore is often over looked but it also holds it own with Boat and Kingussie. These three plus Spey would make up a wonderful trip plus throw in Granton-on-Spey and you have a great weeks golf.

Take buggies if you play Spey Valley you will be glad you did. All the par 3's are very very tough and long.The 17th is one of the best par 5's I have played. You wont be disapointed if you play here. I dont have any pictures I could post as my camera batteries died on me the night before.

Hope that helps, or put it another way I will be back and I will pay top dollar to play the course again. I enjoyed it.

 

[Marko77]

Better than the Kings? All down to opinion - I hold them both in high regard.

As craw says, the scenery is fantastic and I would say better than Gleneagles - its a great part of the world and like the craw, I can't wait to play up there again...